Recent assertions have been made that the nature of warfare in our current operating environment has changed in such a way that phasing in military operations has outlasted its utility and become problematic, requiring it to be eliminated or...
The Army 'Battlefield Visualization Concept' is the center piece of Battle Command. A key component of battlefield visualization is understanding how terrain and the spatial aspects of the environment impact on military operations. This monograph...
Planning is the crystallizing of the Will to act. In its minor functioning, planning results in decisions. In its major functioning, planning results in a set of decisions that constitute a plan. As a function, planning is an ordering of decisions....
In recent years the contemporary operational environment has increasingly included multinational operations, which have fault lines in understanding and visualizing the common operational picture. These fault lines are typically associated with...
Complexity theory has attracted considerable interest from operational artists in recent times. However, because it is still an emerging field, there are few -- if any -- historical case studies that show how complexity applies to military...
Effectively applying operational art and battle command is a challenging task. Several factors associated with the operational level of war create an environment that is uncertain and complex. The expanding size, scope and depth of joint areas of...
This monograph addresses the question, “Does one battlefield framework fit all environments?” The 1993 version of FM 100-5, OPERATIONS, prescribes the deep, close, and rear (DCR) battlefield framework. Evidence presented in this monograph...
This monograph examines why many commanders continue to have problems writing effective commander's intent statements. Doctrine writers reintroduced "Commander's intent" to United States Army doctrine with the 1982 version of FM 100-5, Operations....
Field Manual 3-0, Operations, identifies that in 2001 military forces must control the tempo of full spectrum operations in war and military operations other than war (MOOTW). Adding to the complexity of operational control is the broad range of...
This monograph proposes that current Army doctrine provides an adequate tool to achieve the desired results proposed in the concepts of operational Design. Because Army doctrine prescribes approaches that solve problems, it is important to...
General Matthew B. Ridgway’s astonishing ability to visualize a military campaign matured based on his leader development, the lessons that he learned from failure and from personally mastering operational art. During World War II, Ridgway...
The purpose of this monograph is to recommend the retention, modification, or abandonment of certain concepts of the current elements of operational design based on their continued validity within the contemporary operational environment. Military...
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...
There are nine chapters in this monograph -- the first three describe design in the context of battle command (FM 3-0 in relation to the terms "understand", "visualization", and "describe"). Chapters four and five discuss the key components of...
This monograph examines the problem of battle tracking within the battalion command post. Effective battle tracking enables the battle staff to appraise the current battlefield and forecast the future battlefield for the command. Battle tracking is...
This monograph analyzes the manual wargaming portion of the U.S. Army's decision-making cycle in order to determine if the process deduces the optimum course of action. The monograph begins by examining game theory, which is the theoretical basis...
From the initial invasion in 2001 through the ongoing counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in Afghanistan, the U.S. Army has been challenged with truly understanding the socio-cultural dynamics of the local populace which has become known as the...
The most important role the commander plays in any Army unit, According to FM 6-0 Mission Command and Control of Army Forces, is that of combining the art of command with the science of control. This is accomplished through visualizing the...
This monograph analyzes whether dislocation theory is an appropriate military theory for the Interim Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) to use in developing its warfighting doctrine. It argues that the IBCT’s unique mission, force structure, strengths,...
Hybrid threat actors seek to master unrestricted operational art in order to reconcile overmatch and protect or advance their interests. As interest-based rational actors, hybrid threats translate strategic intent into unrestricted distributed...