The Arab Spring has demonstrated the power and potential of social mobilization and collective action as a form of political warfare in support of unconventional warfare strategies. This power and potential is not isolated to the Arab Spring or to...
This monograph began as an investigation to determine if either Effects-Based Operations (EBO) or Systemic Operational Design (SOD) should replace the traditional Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP). It soon became clear that the approaches do...
Operational level commanders and their staffs require relevant and current joint doctrine that articulates the critical function of operational design and its role in the Joint Operation Planning Process (JOPP). Since operational design is the...
This monograph examines whether or not the current U.S. Army Operational Design methodology could increase the effectiveness of airpower. Analysis of existing design literature provides a common understanding of the U.S. Army’s design methodology...
Based on experiences with long-duration operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States Army recognizes the need for commanders and their staffs to have new tools and ways of thinking to deal with complex problems. The specific approach the...
Sorrells, William T., Downing, Glen R., Blakesley, Paul J., Pendall, David W., Walk, Jason K., Wallwork, Richard D.
Systemic Operational Design (SOD) is an application of systems theory to operational art. It is an attempt to rationalize complexity through systemic logic employing a holistic approach that translates strategic direction and policy into...
Operational design is an intellectual exercise that draws on the creative vision, experience, intuition, and judgment of commanders to provide a framework for development of detailed operation plans. Recently, a number of authors have questioned...
Insurgency is a time-honored form of warfare that allows a weaker opponent to subvert the power of a stronger foe. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Spanish guerrillas waged an effective insurgency against the premier army of the...
The challenge is in deciding what to automate (effective use of technology) and what remains a human function. The 1999 US National Security Strategy emphasizes the importance of information technology. However, the decisive point of all future...
As design emerges throughout the United States Army’s planning and operational doctrine, the intelligence community must leverage this structure of inquiry to identify and refocus the scope of what is collected, analyzed, produced and...
Planning for Action: Campaign Concepts and Tools is designed to be used as a handbook for developing campaign plans at the US Army Command and General Staff College. This book provides working definitions of campaign concepts and tactics,...
With the transition from the Army of Excellence logistics structure to the single logistics command and control of the modular force logistics concept, the traditional command relationship between logistics organizations and the maneuver forces...
The premise of this monograph is that the Elements of Operational Design are incapable of linking the tactical employment of forces to strategic objectives and that Systemic Operational Design is a viable alternative. This monograph introduces the...
The Armed Forces of the Netherlands are currently in a reorganization process in order to improve the balance between tasks and capabilities. Specific materiel is being disposed of and organizations are downsized to achieve this balance. The...
Bias caused by organizational culture is a constant companion of military planning. Cognitive models dominated by Newtonian, mechanistic, and reductionist thinking, have all but entrenched bias at the operational level of war where contextual, or...
The purpose of this monograph is to answer the research question: does the current process for executing mission analysis give commanders the information they need to develop timely, relevant, and constructive commander’s intent and commander’s...
The monograph analyses the origins of the use of violence in the name of religion by the Salafist movement in Europe in order to enable identification of key characteristics to shape national strategies of prevention that are appropriate for...
The U.S. Army is engaged in operations as part of the global war on terror. This presents a difficult and complex problem that requires the best possible methods to address. Although this is not the first time the Army has faced complex problems,...
This monograph answers the question of whether operational air commanders have the necessary doctrinal tools to plan for effective airpower employment in gradually escalated, coercive warfare. It concludes that current Air Force doctrine does not...
United States. Army. Engineer Center and Fort Leonard Wood.
The Essayons, originally published as the Fort Leonard Wood Guidon in 1966 then as the Guidon from 1966 to 1987. Became Essayons in 1988 and remained that way until 1999 when it reverted back to Guidon. It has been and continues to be a record of...