In January of 2006, I arrived at the 3rd Battalion 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment as a newly promoted First Sergeant of a Patriot Unit. Going into a Patriot unit was going to be a major challenge in itself in that I had never served or worked...
In the wake of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the most intensely debated issues concerning the conduct of the war has been the level of troops committed to the effort. Military observers, policy makers, military officers, and...
In this edition of the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) Special Operations newsletter, we will examine the special operations forces (SOF) perspective of irregular warfare (IW) at the operational and tactical levels through a selection 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...
It is the duty of every professional Army leader to study military history and apply it, as necessary, to current and future operations. Possessing a vast knowledge of past military successes and failures is critical in planning for and executing...
Leonard Wood served as a Military Governor in Cuba from 1898 (Santiago) and 1899 to 1902, later as the Military Governor of the Moro Province in the Philippines from 1903 to 1906, and eventually as Governor General for the Philippines until his...
Mistreatment of civilians not party to a large-scale, violent conflict is not new. The perceived lack of empathy for civilians (historically and presently) points to ambiguities about who the enemy is, rules of engagement, as well as the ongoing...
Monograph examines the use of security barriers and delves into circumstances leading to the removal of security barriers. The purpose was to explore whether there existed specific conditions or criteria for removal of security barriers. Specific...
Negotiation has become for many military leaders a daily task in their role of stabilizing, securing, transitioning, and reconstructing. Negotiation is a means of providing commanders with an alternative to solutions involving the use of force....
Officer education is a major component in the preparation for the next war. The Command and General Staff College (CGSC) is the Army's principal institution for educating field grade officers. War's chameleon nature sometimes denies and frustrates...
On July 12, 2006, Israel went to war with Hezbollah in response to the killing and capture of Israeli soldiers along the southern Lebanese border. Believed at the time by many in the West to be an overreaction to a relatively minor border incident...
On March 20, 2003, a United States led coalition invaded Iraq. The character of this conflict can be defined by the West’s ability to conduct precision strikes, to manoeuvre and to overwhelm the enemy’s command system. Emerging U.K. and U.S....
Ordered to war, Task Force (TF) Thunderbolt l-252d Combined Arms Battalion (CAB) mobilized, deployed and conducted Full Spectrum Combat Operations in Iraq. TF Thunderbolt learned new lessons, pursued the enemy with proven doctrine, adapted, and...
Over the past 60 years, the Sino-Indian relationship has swung from a cool détente to all out war. Many Western international relations theorists applying the "realist" school of thought view China as a dangerous threat to not only the region but...
Recent years have seen the US, UK and other ISAF and Coalition nations enmeshed in protracted, complex and intense campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Resilient and highly adaptable opponents have operated asymmetrically, and amongst the people, to...
Several recent targeting studies have fundamentally shaken the Air Force to its core by challenging the service's ability to employ precision munitions. The erosion of the targeting skill sets occurred gradually. Protracted low-intensity conflict...
Since 2001, the capabilities of the Afghan state have been a priority on the world stage. The reign of Amir Abdur Rahman, who established the current state of Afghanistan, is critical in understanding the development of the current state, and the...