Unambiguous command and control is the key to effective use of the military instrument. This principle cannot be violated in a military system that must always be war-ready. The Services structure is built on those lines with minor variations, if any. As technology improves or is inducted with capability enhancement, it remains housed under the same construct responsible for it in the first place.

Slight tweaking to add specialisation if needed only strengthens the system of optimal employment and effective utilisation. Unity of commands is thus ensured, even in the most diverse capabilities. Any major change to the command and control in the military is made only if it makes the response more efficient and effective. Laborious and weighty bureaucracy is anathema to the military's effective and optimal employment.

Pakistan's military system, despite two superfluous nomenclatures — the Supreme Commander, which is more symbolic, and the Chairman JCSC, now rescinded — has retained its integrity very effectively. Slight issues of synergy and integration were overcome with experience and a better understanding of one another. The system has worked well and delivered well to date. As we stand on the verge of another tweak, we need to be conscious of the pitfalls that may, over time, creep into the system, slowing its effectiveness and optimal employment. This is how it can be done.

Technology has enabled newer and more effective tools of war that can bring about a synergistic employment of assets, resulting in force multiplication. The short skirmish with India over four days established the inevitability of force fusion and cooperative and coordinated employment. Nothing stands out more starkly than in campaign planning for missions by the Air Force.

The PAF leadership,........

© The Express Tribune