Modern commanders receive information from satellites, intelligence assets, radar, and sonar, creating a need to filter what reaches them. Access to that information can encourage micromanagement, while the resulting communication delays slow decisions and endanger the force. Destroyer officers in the 1920s worked mainly from radio reports and what they could see, with no radar and only limited early sonar. They therefore had to develop professional judgment under uncertainty. Repeated exercises let officers learn from mistakes and build confidence before taking senior commands.
Notable Point · 26:27-28:20
Information overload and the judgment learned in destroyers
Modern command systems can overwhelm officers with information, while interwar destroyer exercises developed judgment from limited radio reports and visual observation.