Historically, the U.S. Army faces numerous challenges planning for counterinsurgency (COIN) operations. Insurgencies by their very nature occur within the context of a complex operating environment that typically last years if not decades. The...
Both the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy recently recognized that insurgency is causing an increased threat to the security of the world. This recognition combined with the fact that the military’s counterinsurgency...
This monograph's purpose is to provide tools for campaign planning and to assist planners in considering all actions necessary for success in winning any type of war.
The purpose for this monograph is straightforward: to provide tools for campaign planning and to assist planners in considering not only the traditional warfighting aspects of campaign planning but also all of the other actions that are necessary...
As of November 2006, the United States (US) military maintains custody of over 15,000 detainees at four theater interment facilities and one strategic internment facility. With such large populations, there are significant risks of creating radical...
In the summer of 2003, the United States Army was ill prepared to wage an effective counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq. The lack of institutional readiness can be seen in many areas, but one of the most glaring was its utter lack of doctrine...
The monograph explores US intervention in Somalia, Bosnia, and Haiti as case studies to determine how the concepts of operational design were applied to peace operations. It also reviews the theories of Clausewitz and Jomini with a comparison to...
This monograph describes a possible technique to allow military planners to identify key objectives that may be affected in gaining control of a city without destroying it. This technique involves viewing a city as a complex "system of systems"...
This monograph began as an investigation to determine if either Effects-Based Operations (EBO) or Systemic Operational Design (SOD) should replace the traditional Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP). It soon became clear that the approaches do...
The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon left the American public in a state of anguish and anger. With the debris still smoldering in the streets of New York, Bush stated that the United States and all those who want global peace...
This monograph attempts to define the underlying cause of today’s tension between the Western and Arab-Islamic worlds, along with identification of existing similarities which can be utilized and exploited to bring about common understanding and...
Conflict in the twenty-first century involves a complex interaction of variables. Equally complex are modern stability operations that occur concurrently or immediately following war or combat operations. This study examines planning methodology...
U.S. military forces are conducting peace operations more frequently than ever before. Commanders in peace operations are faced with the dilemma of having to provide stability and security in an environment where the use of force is severely...
Operational level commanders and their staffs require relevant and current joint doctrine that articulates the critical function of operational design and its role in the Joint Operation Planning Process (JOPP). Since operational design is the...
There is a strong institutional push in the Army today emphasizing technology and systematic command processes over human ability as keys to battlefield supremacy. This argument discounts the historically vital role of the ground tactical...
Current and past military commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, and Vietnam have been influenced by military advice to civilian leaders over the past 60+ years. This monograph examines whether today's military processes and culture adequately...
Terrorism is a real threat to the lives of the citizens of the United States and of her allies. Osama bin Laden’s organization sponsored the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole which resulted in seventeen dead U.S. sailors, dozens of injuries,...
This monograph explains the ability of the military decision-making process to inform the decision-maker in the current operational environment. A comparison of the operational environment, as envisioned through the U.S. Army’s doctrine, before...
The Army conducts operations in complex environments with Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental and Multinational (JIIM) partners. Doctrine provides several concepts designed to create and sustain effective partnerships. One of these concepts, the...
This monograph asserts that DoD should establish a Unified Combatant Command (COCOM)-level USLOGCOM. DoD should begin a deliberate 10-20 year process to establish a USLOGCOM. As an intermediate and immediate step, DoD should make the Defense...