ABSTRACT
In the purely theoretical meaning of the term, a position consists of an indefinite number of geometrically connected and closely spaced points that allow one's forces to control and strike the enemy's forces. Admiral Mahan observed that among many positions only those which might decisively affect the outcome of war in a given theater of oper ations must be selected.1 It is possession of power plus position that constitutes an advantage over power without a position, or, more instructively, equations of force are composed of power and position in varying degrees, surplus in one tending to compensate for deficiency in the other.2
