This monograph discusses the recent changes in the Warsaw Pact threat and the resultant impact upon U.S. military strategy. The paper outlines the requirement for the Army to look for new and innovative ways to establish itself as a viable element...
As the Afghan Regional Security Integration Command-West (ARSIC-W) CSM in 2008, I would best describe the Italian commanded Western Afghanistan as a chicken wire canoe. Built quickly and on the cheap, even though it may have slightly resemble a...
Joint Force commanders, military services and governmental agencies recently stated an operational requirement for a persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability. The need for persistence implies a need to detect,...
Military forces conduct information operations against one of the most complex, adaptive systems – the human mind. Linear thought processes, prevalent in the military, correspond to, and understand well, the linear mathematics that measure the...
Since 1993, the United States has conducted numerous reconstruction and stabilization operations including Operation Joint Endeavor, 1995 to 1996, and the initial stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003 to 2004. Reconstruction and stability...
This monograph asserts that the United States military conducted World War II with few restrictions on its firepower beyond those imposed by the International Rules of War. An unlimited war justified unlimited fires, including the strategic use of...
It is dangerous to assume that in today's operating environment, a universally accepted definition of what war is, and what war is not, is readily available. While most Soldiers and policy makers claim to know war, "knowing it when they see it," is...
The 1975 Lebanese Civil War was one of the most disastrous and costly civil wars in modern history. The human toll of the "First Phase" of the war was immense, with estimates of 40,000 dead, 60,000 wounded and 600,000 Lebanese civilians displaced...
Given the importance of security force assistance in an era of persistent conflict and the need for counterinsurgency operations, what makes indigenous police forces effective in counterinsurgency? This monograph proposes that, if the Army faces an...
This monograph examines the viability of recent NATO out-of-area operations, specifically in Kosovo and Afghanistan. It illustrates that the complex decision-making bureaucracy of NATO can be a detriment to the capabilities of the alliance and...
Throughout its military history, the United States has demonstrated poor institutional memory resulting in a tendency to reinvent the wheel. The development of counterinsurgency doctrine in Vietnam, for instance, yielded valuable knowledge about...
This paper analyzes the U.S. Army process for recruiting and training soldiers to determine if Army Transformation is properly geared toward manning the Objective Force. The study begins by analyzing the nature of the battlefield of 2020 in order...
The monograph examines the friendly information system portion of the battlefield superiority dilemma. It focuses on a very specific portion of operational campaign design: the “Big Blue Arrow,” a metaphor for decisive operations requiring the...
This monograph examines the nature of air-ground operations within the context of interdiction and close air support, and their relationship to the Fire Support Coordination Line. The primary research question for this study was whether changes to...
War is the outward expression of competition between complex adaptive political and military systems. In war, competing systems introduce new technological means to gain comparative advantage over other systems and the environment. Greater...
This monograph examines the most effective theater positioning of a US Forces operational commander in a conflict conducted in 2O1O. The monograph first defines who it is who practices operational command (differentiating between operational level...
This monograph is attempted provocation an intellectual dare from the author to the reader to think about how the Army views risk taking by its tactical leaders. More specifically, this monograph attempts to answer whether the Army's capstone...
Since the end of the Cold War the United States Army has found itself conducting more and more operations that fall under the category of "Military Operations Other Than War” (MOOTW). Additionally, our National Security Strategy states that these...
Even though long-term support for the Warrior Transition Unit is unknown, the positive affects felt by Soldiers and their families should convince Department of Defense leadership that the current medical care system requires continued support in...
Major Brian Patterson, US Air Force, served as the air support operations center chief for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, Afghanistan, from May through August 2008 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In this...