Emory Upton believed that politicians should leave war to professionals. This led to two assumptions that became conventional wisdom: first, an apolitical army represented a more professional force; and second, the problems at the tactical and...
Field Marshal William 'Bill' Slim ended World War II in command of Fourteenth Army. His understanding of what motivated men in the most trying of times is well publicized. Indeed, he is most well-known for his thoughts on morale and leadership....
Field Marshall Viscount Slim holds a special place in modern military history. He soundly defeated the Imperial Japanese Army in Burma in 1945, retaking the strategically important Burma Road, and safeguarding the Chinese Theater from sure...
Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Bush administration chose to pursue a broad, offensive, and preemptive campaign against terrorists and their purported state sponsors, versus executing a focused response against Osama bin...
For the last decade, the PLA has been building its cyber capabilities and expanding the importance of cyber technology military operations. Observers interpret recent cyber incidents as evidence the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the People's...
Foreign aid is considered a continuation of diplomacy by other means and a tool of foreign policy. However, in the current lean economic times, the competition for limited budgetary resources is fierce and the effectiveness of U.S. foreign aid at...
From 1945-1950, the United States Army transitioned from a conventional force designed for maneuver warfare in Europe to a role, which supported the Air Force in their delivery of nuclear weapons. This secondary role emerged from strategic studies...
Gen. Helmuth von Moltke, the Chief of the Prussian General Staff during the Franco-Prussian War, defined Auftragstaktik as the actions a subordinate took in the absence of orders that supported the senior commander's intent. The use of mission...
General Abrams presents a sound historical example of the practical application of operational art as viewed through the lens of the Army Design Methodology. When General Abrams' assumed command of Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), he was...
General Laurence S. Kuter served as both an operational planner and commander during the Second World War. As a planner, he co-authored Air War Plans Division Plan 1 (AWPD-1); the basic strategy upon which the United States Army Air Forces waged...
Historians have largely agreed that Pemberton should shoulder the blame for the poor Confederate performance during the Vicksburg campaign. General consensus exists among American Civil War historians that Pemberton proved a confused, indecisive,...
Historical examples are an expedient way to develop an understanding of operational art theory and concepts. A historical illustration of both operational success and failure is the Korean War. Several aspects of the Korean War remain relevant to...
Historically, the United States Army has had difficulty articulating and justifying force requirements to civilian decision makers. Most recently, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq reinvigorated the debate over estimated force requirements. Because...
History illustrates that genocide is a reoccurring phenomenon. A variety of indicators suggest that the potential for the US to deploy military forces to prevent or stop genocide or mass atrocity is increasing. Continued involvement in limited...
I Field Force effectively conducted operational art from 1965 through 1967 under the leadership of LTG Stanley Larsen in the II Corps Tactical Zone (II CORPS). This accomplishment is all the more noteworthy considering LTG Larsen and his staff...
In 1969, President Nixon started the now well-known "War on Drugs." The reason behind his "declaration" of war was the increasing national security threat posed by the transnational drug trafficking organizations. With the aim of making as much...
In 1996, Joint Vision 2010 (JV2010) established a template for transforming the armed forces that continues to define sustainment transformation within the U.S. Army, while the publication of Network Centric Warfare in 1999 provided the theoretical...
In 2001, the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) shifted away from a selection process for Army Majors to attend Intermediate Level Education (ILE) of Professional Military Education (PME). Providing this education across the field invests in...
In 2009, Lt. Gen. Thomas G. Miller, Commander, First Army, directed the development and implementation of an improved method to train and certify deploying units. Lieutenant General Miller directed First Army's operations and training support units...
In December 2011, the United States removed all combat troops from Iraq, leaving only a handful of military personnel within the U.S. Embassy. This military presence--in the form of the Office of Security Cooperation–Iraq (OSC-I)--seeks to assist...