• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Three Block War = No More

Garett

Full Member
Inactive
Reaction score
0
Points
210
By order of someone in Ottawa, we can't call it Three Block War anymore.  It is now Full Spectrum Operations.
 
Why is that? Is the word "War" too aggressive for the huggy kissy Canadian public now or what. What a load of crap thing are getting a little too PC in this country. Changing the simplest things because wording seems aggressive or it may offend somebody I think we should start calling it what it is.

PS As you can tell stuff like this really burns me up.
 
Garett Hallman said:
By order of someone in Ottawa, we can't call it Three Block War anymore.   It is now Full Spectrum Operations.

Interesting....

The Army just distributed a whole hockey sock full of posters on Army Transformation featuring the phrase "Three Block War" quite prominently.

Since we're now gonna need more posters, I wonder what ad agency had a hand in re-naming this?  (oops... outside voice again...)
 
Haggis said:
Interesting....

The Army just distributed a whole hockey sock full of posters on Army Transformation featuring the phrase "Three Block War" quite prominently.

Since we're now gonna need more posters, I wonder what ad agency had a hand in re-naming this?   (oops... outside voice again...)

Who knows what agency they will use I just hope they watch the money a little more closely this time ( but we all know that won't happen) and somebody will get their pockets lined once again.
 
How much money do we waste on crap like this?  Ethics, Sharp training, our government is driving this military into the ground.  We are a military, our job involves protecting our national interests at all costs.... That includes killing people, you can't "Care Bear" that up.  I want my fellow army brothers to ready to go when there is a knock on the door.  There isn't time for "Care Bearing" in the heat of battle. 


Trying to make the military look soft is garbage IMO.  I want Canadians to be proud when they see men in uniform, not make snarky comments.

We seem to be respected more abroad than in our own backyard....................Those recruiting ads don't help either............

I posted a sunshine girl on the shredder in CCR on the regina, you know how long that lasted..... 2 hours.......... it was on the shredder!!! (a model in a canadian navy uniform, I added the quote shred it for your country then printed it off)   


 
Brad Sallows said:
Is there a fact underlying this interesting rumour?

I am interested in exactly where (ie. from who) this "order" came down from as well.  I just did 18 weeks of staff college and the term was used quite liberally, even by Comd LFDTS- who is in charge of army training.  Furthermore the Army has just published a poster with "the three block war" on it.  This leads me to believe that this is nothing more than rumour or someone mistaking the terminology.

There is a difference between the terms "three block war" and "full spectrum operations."  Full spectrum operations incorporates things like NEO, SASO (security and stabilization operations), SOF Ops, joint warfare, etc whereas three block war really doesn't.  Perhaps this is just a case of someone getting terminology mixed up.  If the army is going to incorporate full spectrum ops into individual training (Phase training, PLQ's and battle schools), great- that's what we need in addition to "block 1" type warfighting skills.
 
Perry said:
Why is that? Is the word "War" too aggressive for the huggy kissy Canadian public now or what. What a load of crap thing are getting a little too PC in this country. Changing the simplest things because wording seems aggressive or it may offend somebody I think we should start calling it what it is.


It has nothing to do with PC connotations of the words.

The rationale is that "three block war" is an over-simplification of the range of operations and tasks a formation or unit may find themselves participating in and or supporting. Three Block War makes people consider tasks in three discrete functional areas and then try to develop a limited number of ways they can be done, anticipating that one "block" will end and then the next begin. Use of full spectrum of operations acknowledges that the world and the situations we are sensing soldiers, sailors, and airmen into is much more complex and very fluid in nature, with strategic, operational and tactical situations likely to rapidly shift along that spectrum as the situation changes.

(Royal76, CLFCSC will be amending all of those documents you saw as the DS work their way through the curriculum doing updates.)
 
Sub_Guy said:
I posted a sunshine girl on the shredder in CCR on the regina, you know how long that lasted..... 2 hours.......... it was on the shredder!!! (a model in a canadian navy uniform, I added the quote shred it for your country then printed it off)      

I just posted a nicely perforated Fig 12 (5 rounds under a Toonie) on my office wall in Ottawa.  The other service members thought it added "character" to my cell.. err.. cubicle.  My civvie boss, his boss and my Director all saw it today and not a word was said.  I also hang a minefield marker across my cell door (oops, there I go again) when I'm really busy to jokingly show people that I don't want to be disturbed.  Nobody cares.
 
I am interested in exactly where (ie. from who) this "order" came down from as well.  I just did 18 weeks of staff college and the term was used quite liberally, even by Comd LFDTS- who is in charge of army training.


I'd tell you, then I'd have to kill you.........at Playstation.

I got an e-mail on my DIN account that shot like a lighting bolt from the heaven that is Ottawa, or maybe it was Kingston.  I'd post it but I'm at home, I'm sure you'll get the word very soon.

Furthermore the Army has just published a poster with "the three block war" on it.

I just finished decorating my office in building Militia-5 with the new posters, I put the "Three Block War" one on the back of my door which is open 90% of the time.  It's the ugliest one anyway.
 
Michael O'Leary said:
It has nothing to do with PC connotations of the words.

Agreed.  I get very sick of the terminology game.  Heard alot of bitching about "advance to contact" vs "manouever to strike."  Terminology changes as concepts evolve. 

Michael O'Leary said:
(Royal76, CLFCSC will be amending all of those documents you saw as the DS work their way through the curriculum doing updates.)

Hmmm...... sounds like a good task for you to take on before you get posted! :)
 
" posted a sunshine girl on the shredder..."

I have a Dillon Precision calender (Ladies  with Guns) on the wall at work.  Check it out online.  VERY classy ladies. Could be right out of the well dressed section of a Sears Catalogue.

"just posted a nicely perforated Fig 12 (5 rounds under a Toonie) on my office wall in Ottawa.  The other service members thought it added "character" to my cell.. err.. cubicle.  My civvie boss, his boss and my Director all saw it today and not a word was said.  I also hang a minefield marker across "

There is a VERY graphic SFOR mines poster meant for the "host nationals" that might make them cringe.  Of course, that would be a bit of a shock.  You would want to start a "Mine awareness poster of the week in this spot" program on your wall, then one Monday, seven weeks later, there it is.  "What? Hell no, I wasn't trying to make poor Courtney (the weak ones who hate men and all the things men do are invariably named Courtney) spew, this was just number seven in the series, hang fire for a sec, and I'll replace it with number eight, right here."

Ya gotta know how to plan these things.

;D

Tom
 
I don't think "Three Block War" was ever an official Canadian doctrine term: it was developed by Gen Krulak,  a past Commandant of the USMC to describe the type of ops the Corps could expect to be involved in post-Cold War. We use it semi-officially, and I do think it is a great term that captures the essence of modern operations, but the term "Full Spectrum Operations" is more accurate if less cool.

And I like those posters!
 
TCBF said:
"There is a VERY graphic SFOR mines poster meant for the "host nationals" that might make them cringe......  
Ya gotta know how to plan these things.

;D

Tom

Little steps, Tom.  ;)
I don't have any of the SFOR ones but I brought home a similarly graphic MAT poster from the Republic of Georgia.... along with some photos of 3 legged dogs.

PBI:

"Three Block War" is the perfect sound bite term.  Canadian military leaders (with some notable exceptions) have not mastered the art of the sound bite.


 
Full Spectrum Operations?? Would that make us Full Spectrum Warriors?? Yay!! The Army is just like a video game now... I wonder how long before they change it to something new...

http://www.fullspectrumwarrior.com/

 
I haven't heard of this official change, but it makes sense to me.  After the CDS' "big hand small map" plan for the changes in the CF, quite a few of us were left perplexed.  He made it adadamantlylear that he did not see us moving towards a Marine Corps style.  He wanted a Canadian design, (no problem here at all!). Yet, the next part of the presentation talked about why we had to change towards the 3 Block War concept. This being an American coined phrase, it seemed odd that we would adopt this as a reason.  The concept is not wrong, by any stretch, but if we want to chart a Canadian approach, lets use Canadian reasons!  Although it really is a case of semansemanticsarmchair strategists, it clarifies what leaders in the CF must adopt as our vision for the future.
 
Well, just to let you all know "3 Block War" is still an acceptable term on Army.ca.... :-*
 
Am I going about this the wrong way but why not look at all the lessons learned from all the armies in current conflicts and adjust and develop some cohesive plans around that instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.
 
CFL said:
why not look at all the lessons learned from all the armies in current conflicts and adjust and develop some cohesive plans around that instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.
I don't think we will reinvent the wheel.  However, you've hit the crux of it in your own observation.  We need to look at the lessons learned from all armies involved in such conflicts and pull away the best lessons and those lessons most appropriate to us.  In the end, we will draw lessons from the US, UK, Australia, Poland, Romania, Germany, etc.  However, because we are drawing the from all these sources, we will not end up with the US Marine Corps solution.  We will end-up with a Canadian solution.  This may include Canadian terminology, or borrowed terminology from any of the nations we've looked to for lessons.
 
Back
Top