One of the most complex challenges facing the U.S. military today is the problem of imposing stability over the chaos that follows major combat operations. Despite the U.S. military’s predilection to distill warfare into the linear, Newtonian...
This private war journal comprises seven volumes covering the dates 14 August 1939 to 24 September 1942, the date of Halder's dismissal by Hitler. The journal was kept by Halder personally in his own shorthand and contains notes on conferences,...
In early October 1990, President Bush asked General Colin Powell to present him with military options to liberate Kuwait. For General Powell, the President's request significantly altered his approach to the crisis in the desert. His problem had...
This monograph examines Soviet operational centers of gravity during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Specifically, the examination focuses in two areas: (1) German planning for Operation Barbarossa; (2) the...
The German General Staff launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 assuming the eastern campaign would last only three months. However, within six months after the initiation of hostilities the Red Army blunted the Wehrmacht’s attack outside the...
This study analyzes the German failure to decisively conclude Operation Barbarossa by capturing Moscow, asking whether this failure was the result of disregard for the principle of the objective. The failure at Moscow was the first significant...
This monograph examines the historic attack by Adolph Hitler's Germany against the Soviet defenses in 1941. It examines actions of both armed forces to analyze what went wrong and what went right for each side. It focuses on Soviet defenses to...
The operational level of war translates strategic goals into guidance for tactical actions. Because war has expanded in terms of time, space, and mass, modern wars cannot be decided in a single battle; instead commanders must concentrate combat...
The monograph's purpose is to explore the importance of the endstate, its degree of clarity and its effect on protecting national interests. It also investigates the importance the endstate serves in reducing friction within military forces. It...
Hartig, Larry A.
Harn, Robert P.
Linville, Ronald W.
Wilkins, Hartman
Thesis Statement: The German Army lost its October-December 1941 campaign against Moscow because of three factors.
Discussion: Hitler and his military staff overestimated the ability of the German Army and underestimated the ability of the Soviet...
This monograph analyzes the modern doctrinal concept called operational art with regard to its practical utility for operational level commanders and staffs. It uses three campaigns, examined in light of criteria which form the component parts of...
This monograph examines the challenges of defending vital Combat Service Support (CSS) assets at the brigade level. The self defense mission inherent for Forward Support Battalions is evaluated to determine if current doctrine is adequate. Self...
The United States' military power and capabilities are singularly enabled by unequaled sustainment capability and reach of our transportation and logistics systems. The current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are highlighting an emerging trend in...
Blau, George E.; Office of the Chief of Military History
The purpose of this study is to describe German planning and operations in the first part of the campaign against Russia. The narrative starts with Hitler's initial plans for an invasion of Russia and ends at the time of Germany's maximum...
This paper provides an excellent survey of the intricacies of employing defensive tactics against a powerful opponent. Using after-action reports, unit war diaries, and other primary materials, the author analyzes the doctrine and tactics that the...
This study examines the evolution of the German Army's defensive doctrine on the Russian Front from 1941 to 1945. It begins by reviewing prewar doctrine as expressed in German field manuals and professional journals. German defensive techniques are...
On 20 May 1941, Generaloberst Kurt Student’s Luftwaffe XI Fliegerkorps conducted the first operational airborne invasion in history to seize Crete. Major-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg VC, 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, commanded the...
The purpose of this text is to provide the Army with a factual account of the organization and operations of the Soviet resistance movement behind the German forces on the Eastern Front during World War II. This movement offers a particularly...
Following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Coalition forces discovered that the military, security, and intelligence agencies of Iraq were well suited to transition into an insurgency after conventional defensive measures had failed. This paper argues...
The purpose of this study is to describe the German campaigns in the Balkans and the seizure of Crete within the framework of Hitler's military policy during the second year of World War II. Sections include: the military-political situation in the...