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The Lt-Col, who is an army strategist, prepares officers to think quickly, anticipate enemy movements and act effectively. He reckons the main difference between modern warfare and battles fought in the two World Wars is that today soldiers have "real time" information. There is no waiting for situation reports from the front line. 

Planners can watch the action unfold on their computers, as images are downloaded from spy planes and satellites and information is received from special forces behind or
near the enemy lines. Such information can be relayed through secure radio networks to officers leading attacks.  

Any change in the enemy's direction is known as a "decision point". At these moments, military planners have to adjust their plans and calculate when to draw down their firepower according to the enemy's rate of movement. Lt-Col Allfrey says: "There is no second-guessing. You plan. You analyse which way the enemy is going. And you bring up your own forces." 

At a basic level, decisions taken on the battlefield relate to a chain of command, something the Lt-Col refers to as the "one-third, two-thirds rule". So if a brigade commander had 12 hours to plan an attack, the first four would be taken up with planning and briefing his immediate subordinates and the next eight with passing that information down the chain of command. 

In army terminology, the moment that the troops move into action, guns range on their target and all hell breaks loose is called "H" hour. Lt-Col Allfrey offers a vivid example. He says: "The Gulf War only lasted 100 hours and our tank crews were awake for most of those. Time,
as we understand it, ceased to exist for those men. What mattered was the 'H' hour for a particular operation. All the forces were synchronised to act as one." 

But technology has its drawbacks. A battle commander may be able to time his engagement with enemy forces to the last second but satellite technology also enables TV news crews to broadcast the fighting to audiences around the world as it takes place. This brings a political
dimension. Lt-Col Allfrey says: "In the old days it might have taken days for news of the fighting to filter back to newspapers. Now soldiers and their commanders have to
be very conscious of the importance of their actions." 

The other side of the coin is that army commanders use the TV news reports as additional intelligence. The Lt-Col says: "If I were a commander in the field, I'd want to be watching CNN." 

Some army traditions die hard. The Shakespearean soldier looking for a signal for battle to commence would have been listening for the cannons to start firing. Lt-Col Allfrey says: "Traditionally, the gunners were the custodians of time on the battlefield. We still refer to time
in battle as 'gunner time'."