This monograph examines the relationship between reconnaissance and the application of operational art. The operational artist requires reconnaissance to arrange tactical actions in time, space, and purpose to achieve an overarching strategic...
In "Maneuver in the Information Age," BG Wass de Czege challenged his readers to think about future war in the age of information systems and smart weapons. In this article, BG Wass de Czege argued that the fundamentals of war would remain...
Throughout the Cold War the U.S. Army prepared to defeat a Warsaw Pact attack into Western Europe. With the fall of the Berlin Wall came the end of the Cold War and increased involvement by the U.S. Army in Military Operations Other Than War...
This monograph examines the evolution of the British Army's tactics and doctrine during its employment in support of the civil powers in Northern Ireland and compares these evolutions to its conventional warfighting doctrine. The ultimate objective...
This monograph looks at the complexity, dynamic nature, and challenges associated with Command and Control ( C2) in Stability and Support Operations (SASO). Since its inception, the Army has been conducting SASO in both foreign and domestic...
The attack helicopter battalions within the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) sequentially transition to the AH-64D beginning January 1999 and lasting through May 2002. During this period, air assault operations will be conducted with three...
The importance assumed by trench warfare and the progress made in the application of field fortification and in the science of the attack and defense of elaborate systems of trenches, have rendered necessary special instruction in the details of...
This recollection of combat nightmares is dedicated to those who "stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat."
A little more than a century ago, my great-great-grandfather Backsight...
An treatise on the treament of troops on guard duty, in the prescence of an enemy. The idea of La Petite Guerre, or the operations of small bodies of troops is explored in this compilation of works.
In spite of a late entry into World War I, the United States found itself unprepared to adequately equip its expeditionary forces for combat operations in Europe. After the War, Congress passed the National Defense Act of 1920, which tasked the...
The catalyst for this monograph is the current trend in the U.S. Army of using battalion tactical plays and battle drills. Such an approach could be worthwhile if it increases a unit's combat power. The purpose of this monograph is to determine...
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....
This study is a historical analysis of how encirclement operations have been and still are important offensive operations. These operations need to be given priority in planning and execution by the United States Military. Encirclement operations...
National strategic policy and strategic military leadership affected the engineer force structure over the last 90 years despite little change to the mission of the military engineer. Regardless of force structure issues, engineers performed their...
This study determines whether or not unconditional surrender leads to a more lasting peace. The answer is paradoxical-yes, unconditional surrender can achieve the desired effects; however, it is no longer a suitable policy in the twenty-first...
The purpose of this monograph is to examine the development of the 1998 FM 100-5. The primary research question is: Do the changes proposed in the coordinating draft of the 1998 FM 100-5 mark a return to the concept of operational art? This...
This paper addresses the question, “what happened to Battlefield Air Interdiction (BAI)?” and what that question has to do with the development and evolution of Air Force doctrine. The answer goes much deeper than just the simple disappearance...
Military service is obligatory for each male citizen between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years. According to this 1916 volume, he must plan his life to meet this obligation and be prepared physically, mentally, and morally through proper...
Marches are classified under two general heads-those executed in the presence of the enemy, in which tactical considerations govern, and those executed in the absence of the enemy.