Congress governs the United States Armed Forces by writing laws for the Department of Defense (DoD) to implement. In 1993, Congress passed a federal law banning homosexuality in the armed forces. The DoD created a policy to implement the law, but...
This monograph evaluates the security implications for the European continent as NATO enlarges its membership to include former eastern bloc countries. Specifically, it addresses whether NATO enlargement will enhance or jeopardize European...
United States. Army. Engineer Center and Fort Leonard Wood.
The Guidon came into being as a weekly publication in 1966 under the title Fort Leonard Wood Guidon. Between 1966 and 1987 the title was simplified to Guidon before becoming Essayons in 1988. The name reverted back to Guidon in 1999. It has been...
This monograph examines whether US Army doctrine and US Air Force doctrine are compatible. In particular, this study assesses the current Air/Ground Operating System and the offensive air support it provides to U.S. Army corps commanders. The...
FM 100-5 cites the theoretical concept of the culminating point as one of the essential considerations in campaign design. In his work On War, Clausewitz introduced this concept to the lexicon of operational theory. In doing so he advised that even...
On 7 December 2005, President Bush signed the National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD) 44, Management of Interagency Efforts Concerning Reconstruction and Stabilization. NSPD 44 established the State Department Office of the Coordinator for...
Coercion theory is traditionally segmented into compellence and deterrence. Recently
theorists have begun to consider coercion comprehensively. This monograph continues that line
of study and defines coercion as the threat of, or use of, elements...
In an attempt to protect the U.S. following the horrific events of September 11th and to conduct the Global War on Terrorism, the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base was established. Yet the continued operation of the facility,...
The debate over the service of black Americans in the U.S. Army centered around three questions: Could they serve? Would they be allowed to serve? And, if allowed, in what capacity would they serve? This is similar to modern debates about the...
This monograph examines the viability of recent NATO out-of-area operations, specifically in Kosovo and Afghanistan. It illustrates that the complex decision-making bureaucracy of NATO can be a detriment to the capabilities of the alliance and...
Impressed with the tactical lessons of the Boer War, the British Army reformed its doctrine and training from 1899 to 1914, deploying a combat ready force, the “Old Contemptibles” of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in 1914. Because of...
In September of 2001, 90% of America received most of their news on the terrorist attacks against the United States from television; a number that would hold steady at 89% throughout Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In April of 2003 while the United...
This monograph examines the origins of the concept of conveying the intentions of the commander to subordinates from its initial appearance in Army doctrine in 1905 until the present day. While many believe they understand the genesis of this...
Doctrine is under attack from within the military and by the American press. The length of the current conflict has been "perceived" as too long, and the United States Military, according to some has been to slow to adapt. Accusations of "gaps"...
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...
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...
Col. John Boyd, USAF (Ret),famous for developing the OODA (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) loop model, spent most of his adult life trying to convince the U.S. military establishment of the merits of his theory for maneuver warfare later called the Boyd...
Over the years, there has been debate within the services about whether Clausewitz's theories should be used as a basis for modern warfighting doctrine. The majority of debate has focused on the specific issue of whether Clausewitz's most well...
As America finds itself answering to the needs of the world, the costs associated with less-than-vital military operations have become a growing subject of debate. One inevitable part of this debate is the issue of combat casualties and the widely...