This study examines the element of surprise within the context of operational warfare. Specifically, the study examines the degree to which surprise has emerged as the prevalent factor in the shaping of the Soviet Army's organization, force...
This monograph explores the US Army's recently announced goal of quick decisive victory. This concept has emerged in the wake of US victories in Operations JUST CAUSE and DESERT STORM and reflects one of the National Military Strategy's principles...
United States armed forces have historically fought alongside allied forces, and are currently engaged in several multinational operations around the world. Most, if not all, future U.S. military peacekeeping, combat, or stability operations will...
Looks at issues involved with the development of daylight formation bombing, the most pressing being bombing accuracy. Techniques available provide a reasonably high degree of accuracy under conditions of fair visibility, but often factors combine...
In 1993, the Bottom-Up Review (BUR) concluded that the United States could fight and win in two nearly simultaneous major regional conflicts (MRCs). Nearly simultaneous required that the two MRCs be spaced at least 42 days apart to allow adequate...
This monograph discusses the elements and dynamics of tactical surprise on the mid- to high-intensity conventional battlefield. Surprise has been a decisive principle of war throughout history. Today, however, surprise is increasingly critical to...
This study determines whether or not unconditional surrender leads to a more lasting peace. The answer is paradoxical-yes, unconditional surrender can achieve the desired effects; however, it is no longer a suitable policy in the twenty-first...
The primary purpose of this study is to determine how surprise can be achieved today at the operational level of war. Two supporting questions are answered as well. These are: What are the theoretical and historical foundations for the concept of...
In the current war on terrorism, the President of the United States has specifically identified two former wartime enemies of the United States as members of an evil axis. The regimes ruling these two states (North Korea and Iraq) are the same ones...
On December 15, 2011, the U.S. mission in Iraq became State Department-led, and all U.S. military activities became the responsibility of the U.S. Embassy's Office of Security Cooperation--Iraq (OSC-I). There are few, if any, well-known examples of...
The work achieved by Marshal Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey (1854-1934) in Morocco between 1912 and 1925, while he served as the résident général, occupies a special place in French military history. Lyautey's work still applies today, and is...
This monograph examines the limited success achieved by the U.S. Army in implementing mission oriented command and control. Evidence from the National Training Center (NTC) suggests that there is a problem with intent communication and effective...
This monograph examines operational surprise by answering the question, "What are the essential elements for producing operational surprise?” This issue is important because very little has been written about operational surprise despite the...
After ten years the ESDP has reached an important milestone in its development. It is one of the most dynamic policy areas in the framework of the European Union (EU) and is a substantial integration project. Behind this background the study...
Throughout its history the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has exhibited brilliant tactical performance. The War of Independence, the Sinai Campaign, the Six Day War, and even the 1973 War placed Israel on a martial pedestal with few peers. On closer...
The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon left the American public in a state of anguish and anger. With the debris still smoldering in the streets of New York, Bush stated that the United States and all those who want global peace...
Until the end of the Cold War, NATO was the dominant organization for collective security in Europe. Throughout that time it had always been a particular American interest to increase the European contribution to security on the European continent...
This monograph analyzes whether U.S. light forces are trained adequately to successfully accomplish the assault of a fortified position. The assault of a fortified position held by a determined defender is a difficult task. A fortified position is...
Perhaps one of the most controversial theories proposed by the l9th century military theorist and historian, Carl von Clausewitz, was the proposition that the defense, not the offense, was the stronger form of war. This is the second of two...
As demonstrated by the U.S. military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, achieving favorable war termination requires more than defeating the enemy on the battlefield. Across the U.S. government, agencies have recognized the requirement to...