Island

November 30, 1941

SOUND MILITARY DECISION was first published at the Naval War College
in 1936. It included the essential features of THE ESTIMATE OF THE
SITUATION which, since 1910, had been issued at intervals in a series
of revised editions. The new material that was added in 1936 was
intended to assist in enlarging the viewpoint and in broadening the
basis of professional judgment.

Primarily intended for the purposes of the Naval War College, this
work is the cumulative result of years of untiring and loyal effort on
the part of the College staff and student body. Equally important have
been the advice and assistance contributed by other officers of wide
professional experience and attainment.

The objective has been a brief but inclusive treatment of the
fundamentals of the military profession, i.e., the profession of arms.
The emphasis, naturally, is on the exercise of mental effort in the
solution of military problems, more especially in our Navy. An
enormous literature has been consulted, and research has included all
available and pertinent military writings. Care has also been taken to
include, from civil sources, the findings of those authoritative works
which deal with related matters and with the applicable underlying
truths.

In a work of this type and scope, it is manifestly not possible to
illustrate the abstract text by historical examples and analogies.
These are complementary features of the War College resident and
correspondence courses; provision for the necessary historical
background is otherwise the concern of the individual student.

In this edition of SOUND MILITARY DECISION no radical changes have
been made; the revision has been confined to rearrangement and
amplification of the subject matter.

E.C. KALBFUS,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy,
President.

[Illustration: SOUND MILITARY DECISION
THE SOLUTION OF MILITARY PROBLEMS

Through the studied employment of the Natural Mental Processes

(Foreword) The Scientific Approach to the Solution of Military
Problems

PART I

PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT
in its relation to the successful Conduct of War

(Chapter I) Command and its Problems

(Chapter II) Mental Processes and Human Tendencies

THE FUNDAMEN