This monograph examines the role of initiative in Soviet operational level command. It seeks to answer the question: Do Soviet operational commanders have the personal initiative and latitude to react to unexpected or changed situations on their...
This study attempts to determine whether the theoretical concept of the culminating point is relevant today to planning and conducting campaigns or major operations. The study begins with an examination of the culminating point during the conduct...
This thesis is a historical examination of the eastern front battles in southern Russia during February-March 1943. Field Marshal von Manstein, Commander of the German Army Group South, defeated a Soviet two Front offensive with an exceptional...
This monograph explores the issue of whether or not the United States Army should have an institutional mechanism to collect, interpret and apply the lessons of operational combat in order to correct the inevitable errors of peacetime planning and...
This monograph seeks to determine whether the counterattack demands prioritization in the operational defense. It examines the operational defender's force allocation when he confronts a major enemy offensive thrust. The study includes a review of...
This study attempts to determine if the Clausewitzian concept of the culminating point is useful in planning offensive operations at the operational level of war. The study postulates that the Army's AirLand battle doctrine includes theoretical...
This study tests the hypothesis that, at the operational level, there are essential elements of operational transition that the commander may use as a guide to determine the actions that must be taken to pursue the positive aim, the...
The purpose of this monograph is to determine the conditions necessary for a successful counteroffensive. The study seeks to identify these conditions through historical analyses of four of the greatest counteroffensives of modern military history:...
This study is a historical analysis of the campaign waged by Field Marshal von Manstein on the Russian southern front during the winter 1942-1943. The study begins just after the 6th Army's encirclement in Stalingrad and describes the four...
This monograph investigates that portion of operational art known as "sequencing operations". The purpose of sequencing operations is to determine when, where, how, and for what purpose the available military means will be employed within a theater...
This monograph inquires into the nature of operational maneuver by addressing the following research question: Can operational maneuver be used to create the decisive point? It uses the following methodology to answer this question. First, it...
This study analyzes three World War II operational mechanized forces in the offense to determine if there are common recurring characteristics or traits exhibited by those forces that precede and foretell a unit is approaching its culminating...
The Second Chechen War, which began on 23 September 1999 with massive Russian air strikes, bore little resemblance to the inconclusive campaign that had ended just three years earlier. In the earlier conflict, Russian Air Force operations...
The Russian battles for Grozny, Chechnya provide relevant contemporary examples for the study of urban combat involving modern, conventional forces on one side and a guerrilla force on the other. The first and fourth battles for Grozny, a city of...
Several military publications, including FM 100-5 Operations and FM 34-3 Intelligence Analysis, have identified the importance of knowing the opposing commander's style and idiosyncrasies. Despite this emphasis, experience shows that we know rather...
This monograph examines the organization and missions of the Army-of-Excellence divisional cavalry squadron as outlined in the 1980 Operational and Organizational Concept for Division and Corps 86 Cavalry and in Field Circular 71-8, AOE Close...
This study investigates the relationship between depth and agility using the historical method, identifies principles which govern those relationships, and seeks to apply these principles to NATO's current posture. Historical cases used include the...