Falling further into the realms of doctrine-geekiness, I've become interested and obsessed with the golden rule in that we fight the enemy on a 3-to-1 ratio. From what I've seen it appears to reside in the area of corporate knowledge only, without it being doctrine in any ABCA nation.

The closest I've come to finding out info on the ration is in the British Army's Doctrinal Note 00/5 (Annex B - Calculating Force Equivalence/ Ratios) - a restricted doc, so unfortunately I can't post or fd it to anyone - which lays out various other ratios, such as a guide that we can undertake a delay mission with a 1:6 ratio. The doc is meant to assist as a guide for wargaming and has no links to other doctrine or history for further research.

Does anyone know where the 'ratio' system came from? WW2? Does it have any links to doctrine, logic, history or tactical practices that anyone knows of?

I don't doubt the validity of the concept when used as a very general rule for quick appreciations that are qualified by situational factors, however I do like to know as much about the tools I employ as is possible.