Rule of thirds (military)
Encyclopedia
The rule of thirds is a rule of thumb
used in military organisation, within this system one third of the total military force will be available for operations, one third will be preparing to go on operations and the final third having been on operations will be in a period of recuperation. Ideally units and individuals will rotate through each of the three phases.
At times of financial constraint rather than increase the total number of forces one temptation of politicians is to attempt increase available manpower by folding together the preparation and recuperation phases, creating a rule of halves. A rule of halves is actually the basis of British Army planning during the British Empire, each regiment consisting of a pair of regiments which would take turns recruiting/training/recuperating in the UK and being deployed overseas, however because of the nature of transport each of the phases at that time were longer (being a year or more) than is currently the case. Departing from a 3 phase rotation for short periods is not impossible but prolonged departure is detrimental to both the psychological health of service personnel and the operational life of equipment, leading to an unwanted turnover in personnel. For those who can afford it going to a four or five phase rotation actually increases a nations ability to conduct sustained military operations, even though it may appear that the majority of its serviceman are not doing anything.
As a critical cornerstone of their defence policies the British and French submarine-launched ballistic missile
forces uses a rule of fourths, one submarine on patrol, one preparing to go on patrol, one having returned from patrol, and the fourth in maintenance
, this force structure insures that they will always have at least one ballistic missile boat on patrol. In contrast to this British plans for its future aircraft carriers will mean that the Royal Navy cannot guarantee that a carrier will be available for operations at any one time.
The United States in order to keep the maximum number of its submarines available at anyone time assigns two crews, gold and blue, to each of its submarines, with the submarines themselves having a short as possible turnaround time. However the United States is one of the few nations who can both afford the manpower costs of doing this and have enough boats in service that it can stagger boats out for deep maintenance without very much affecting the total number available.
Rule of thumb
A rule of thumb is a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation. It is an easily learned and easily applied procedure for approximately calculating or recalling some value, or for making some determination...
used in military organisation, within this system one third of the total military force will be available for operations, one third will be preparing to go on operations and the final third having been on operations will be in a period of recuperation. Ideally units and individuals will rotate through each of the three phases.
Variations and implications
Different nations and militaries will vary the rule of thirds according to their own financial and manpower situations.At times of financial constraint rather than increase the total number of forces one temptation of politicians is to attempt increase available manpower by folding together the preparation and recuperation phases, creating a rule of halves. A rule of halves is actually the basis of British Army planning during the British Empire, each regiment consisting of a pair of regiments which would take turns recruiting/training/recuperating in the UK and being deployed overseas, however because of the nature of transport each of the phases at that time were longer (being a year or more) than is currently the case. Departing from a 3 phase rotation for short periods is not impossible but prolonged departure is detrimental to both the psychological health of service personnel and the operational life of equipment, leading to an unwanted turnover in personnel. For those who can afford it going to a four or five phase rotation actually increases a nations ability to conduct sustained military operations, even though it may appear that the majority of its serviceman are not doing anything.
As a critical cornerstone of their defence policies the British and French submarine-launched ballistic missile
Submarine-launched ballistic missile
A submarine-launched ballistic missile is a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that can be launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to...
forces uses a rule of fourths, one submarine on patrol, one preparing to go on patrol, one having returned from patrol, and the fourth in maintenance
Preventive maintenance
Preventive maintenance has the following meanings:#The care and servicing by personnel for the purpose of maintaining equipment and facilities in satisfactory operating condition by providing for systematic inspection, detection, and correction of incipient failures either before they occur or...
, this force structure insures that they will always have at least one ballistic missile boat on patrol. In contrast to this British plans for its future aircraft carriers will mean that the Royal Navy cannot guarantee that a carrier will be available for operations at any one time.
The United States in order to keep the maximum number of its submarines available at anyone time assigns two crews, gold and blue, to each of its submarines, with the submarines themselves having a short as possible turnaround time. However the United States is one of the few nations who can both afford the manpower costs of doing this and have enough boats in service that it can stagger boats out for deep maintenance without very much affecting the total number available.