As with a local insurgency, the Global War on Terror requires the US and her allies to win the support of neutral, wavering and hostile audiences in addition to defeating an enemy. At the tactical and operational levels of war, those audiences...
The Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) is the U.S. Army’s single analytical process used to assist the commander and staff in developing estimates and plans for military problem solving. A growing body of research and published works within...
At the core of U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine is the concept of “hearts and minds.” Although the concept has significantly deviated from its historical grounding and has become a nebulous concept that is frequently maligned, misunderstood, and...
This paper examines the battle of Teutoburg (9 A.D.), its consequences on the Roman world, and the role cultural misunderstanding played on the tactical, operational, and strategic levels. The Roman commander's cultural misunderstanding of his...
Since President Bush's announcement establishing AFRICOM, the Office of Secretary of Defense, the State Department, and European Command (EUCOM) began the initial planning of Africa Command (AFRICOM). As of October 1, 2007, the United States...
The War of the Triple Alliance, fought from 1864 to 1870 between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, was a Latin American regional war that spiraled out of control to become one of the bloodiest international...
Officially, Hungary started to develop its special operations capability in 2005. The Hungarian Defense Forces, however, already had units which were special operations capable, while the newly formed "34th Special Operations Battalion" does not...
A number of dramatic international events have significantly altered the strategic environment facing the U.S. These changes have led to a shift in operational focus away from Europe to a wider range of contingencies in other areas of the world....
Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States' armed forces and its coalition of allies have become deeply entrenched in the counterinsurgencies of Iraq and Afghanistan. These struggles are not just counterinsurgencies, but they also...
After 9/11 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established and has responsibility for natural disasters and first response to acts on domestic soil. A primary tool available to both DHS and the Department of Defense is the National Guard...
'Operational IPB' describes U.S. Army doctrine for the precombat intelligence estimate process employed at the operational level of war. Its methodology is contained in an appendix to a tactical field manual, FM 34-130, Intelligence Preparation of...
This monograph examines U.S. Army intelligence doctrine as it relates to operational intelligence in the post Viet Nam era. Until recent changes incorporated the concept into written doctrine, intelligence writings did not explicitly address this...
This monograph attempts to determine whether the current United States (US) five paragraph field order is the best format to use when transmitting the commander's intentions, combat information and tasks to battalions of smaller tactical units....
The United States Army is concluding its responsibilities in the Global War on Terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq by conducting Counter Insurgency Operations now doctrinally associated with Wide Area Security (WAS). The point of this paper is to...
The purpose of this monograph is to provide an in-depth study of how the U.S. miscalculation of Iraqi will to fight during the planning of Operation Iraqi Freedom contributed to post major conflict operational problems. The specific nature of these...
Campaign planning for major operations including Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW) continues to be a challenge for the United States military. This monograph proposes that a major deficiency in current Joint doctrine is the failure to...
This monograph highlights the lack of a doctrinal course of action development process for creating campaign plans. Such a process is needed due to the inexperience of both senior leaden and middle-grade staff officers with the operational level of...
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...
This monograph analyzes the campaign in the Aleutians of 1943 in which Japanese and U.S. forces struggled violently for strategic control of austere ground in what has been aptly called the "forgotten war". Several theoretical concepts are tested...
Tactical generalship is an obscure and often misunderstood concept. It is mistakenly thought of as being synonymous with senior level leadership of general officers. However, in wartime, our general officers are evaluated on their generalship more...