Deteriorating nation states are a significant threat to U.S. and Western interests. Ineffective nation states frequently generate economic, social and humanitarian crises for their ungoverned populations, imperil the security of neighboring...
This monograph analyzes the American practice of the operational art during the Vietnam War. It focuses on Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) from 1965 to 1968. This question provides valuable relevant lessons to current military operations...
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 1993 version of FN4 100-5, Operations, formally added the theoretical term of decisive points to our professional warfighting lexicon without providing a useful methodology for their identification. This monograph undertakes a study of decisive...
This monograph examines the application of special operations forces (SOF) as a means to achieve strategic ends across the operational continuum. In war, political constraints are minimal, and a theater commander-in-chief (CINC) is allowed to...
The problem is, valid but incompatible service theories of operational warfighting inhibit rather than promote jointness. One cause of this problem is the joint definition of the center of gravity, which is vague and ineffective. This monograph...
The marked changed in the types of wars fought over the last ten years in Afghanistan and Iraq have demonstrated the need for commanders at echelons below the campaign level to develop and continuously refine operational approaches to guide their...
In 1993, the Bottom-Up Review (BUR) concluded that the United States could fight and win in two nearly simultaneous major regional conflicts (MRCs). Nearly simultaneous required that the two MRCs be spaced at least 42 days apart to allow adequate...
U.S. military, Department of State, and Iraqi officials face many challenges moving a unified Iraq forward. This paper attempts to answer a critical question: Can local Iraqi grassroots councils facilitate a strategic endstate like achieving...
Throughout history, the process of targeting the enemy and its elements of power has been an essential component of achieving victory in warfare. The process of identifying, prioritizing and affecting targets in accordance with national goals and...
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...
The evolution of the Armor and Infantry branches into a single functional branch is occurring due to several factors – business efficiencies, tactical integration of movement, maneuver, fires and engagement on the GWOT battlefields, formalization...
The 2010 U.S. National Security Strategy emphasized that the U.S. would use security sector assistance to build the capacity of at-risk nations and reduce the appeal of violent extremism and assist in resolving the world's armed conflicts. The 2010...
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 addresses the Advanced Civilian Team concept developed by S/CRS. Its purpose is to propose an organizational approach for the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization whereby the Advanced Civilian Team...
This monograph examines Jomini's theoretical components of a theater of operations, including decisive points, lines of operations, pivots of maneuver, and pivots of operations, to determine their contemporary significance to operational design....
This monograph investigates that portion of operational art known as "sequencing operations". The purpose of sequencing operations is to determine when, where, how, and for what purpose the available military means will be employed within a theater...
This paper seeks to answer what type of command will best serve the Army's Objective Force in gaining the initiative, building momentum, and exploiting success to achieve land dominance in the future by synchronizing forces and by making better...
Since the end of the Cold War there has been an increased willingness for countries to engage in coalition operations for peacekeeping, peace enforcement and resolving regional conflict. Coalition operations have increasingly become the primary...
This monograph discusses how the Information Revolution is leading the Revolution in Military Affairs. Specifically, it examines the operational implications of the changing information environment, the army's doctrinal response (Information...