CONCLUSION[ToC]
The discussion of "Sound Military Decision" now closes with a brief review of the application of mental power to the solution of military problems.
Mental power, which includes the ability to arrive at sound solutions of military problems, is a recognized essential component of fighting strength because ([page 18]) it is the source of professional judgment.
The procedure most likely to ensure sound solutions is the studied employment of a natural mental process, differing in no fundamental respect from that effectively utilized in all other human activities. The basic mental procedure remains unchanged, irrespective of the nature of the problem,—be it simple or complex, its solution instantaneous or slow. The procedure is especially adapted to the needs of the profession of arms through the use of the Fundamental Military Principle. By outlining the essential elements involved, this Principle, a valid guide for the solution of military problems, covers the full scope of the application of mental power as a recognized component of fighting strength.
It is more especially during the swift-moving action of the tactical engagement that moral capacity to command, and mental ability to solve military problems, experience the maximum pressure of events. It is then, also, that the responsibility of the commander creates an added demand for intelligent application of mental power because of the vital issues which may hinge upon his decisions. That this pressure be successfully sustained, and this responsibility effectively discharged, is the goal of any system of mental training in the profession of arms ([page 114]).
On a fundamental basis of earnest thought, mental ability, character, knowledge, and experience, finally rests the soundness of decision.