“Combat is about breaking things and killing people . . . war is about much more.”1 Fred Kagan. The leadership development and professional education system since the end of the Cold War has been a key factor in many U.S. battlefield...
A key requirement of military forces following major hostilities is to reestablish security. Lasting security can only be achieved with the restoration of civil authority, the reestablishment of the rule of law, and the institutions that uphold the...
Accepting that post-conflict operations are part of campaign planning continues to be a challenge for the U.S. military. This monograph proposes that current Joint and U.S. Army doctrine is deficient in addressing the importance of post-conflict...
After toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein in a few weeks, the decisive operational maneuver victory was not enough to defeat the enemy’s will to fight. Instead of challenging US forces in a conventional military battle, the enemy has now sought...
Although operational level intelligence was assessed as adequate for the initial phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom, discussion about the inadequacy of tactical intelligence support for commanders continues to resonate within the Military...
Although seemingly as antiquated as the horse cavalry, the lessons from the Apache Wars of 1865 to 1886 are still relevant to the US Army. Indeed, the US Army’s current occupation of Iraq is remarkably similar to the occupation of New Mexico...
As described in the 2004 National Military Strategy, the US military must be capable of rapidly projecting military power to achieve full spectrum dominance over any situation or against any adversary in any theater. The US military projects land...
Asymmetry is a United States Army doctrinal term. Research indicates that soldiers have a poor appreciation of asymmetry. The concept is often overused or just misused altogether. The cause for this is likely the doctrine itself. The primary Army...
Commanders routinely undervalue logistics, despite the fact that logistics is arguably nine-tenths of the formula for winning. For the United States, this reality has significant consequences since every war beginning with the Spanish-American War...
Despite its domination of conventional warfare the United States military finds itself in a quagmire concerning the unconventional fight in Iraq. Never a strong suit of the United States military, the insurgency is testing both the patience and the...
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...
Distribution and Supply Chain Management are key processes for military logistics in the future, however the Army and DoD has done little to educate officers in these concepts and processes. This monograph describes distribution and supply chain...
Do Information Operations (IO) contribute to success in counterinsurgency campaigns? What IO measures of excellence exist to demonstrate achievement of success in counterinsurgencies? These questions currently challenge U.S. military forces...
Following the fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan in late 2001, members of the former regime and Al-Qaeda found refuge in Waziristan. Waziristan is a tribal area in Pakistan located along the border with Afghanistan whose majority ethnic...
Foreign language proficiency and cultural understanding are and will remain critical skills for United States Army personnel. The Department of Defense (DoD) has recognized the importance of foreign language skills to national security. Future...
From the Classical Period until the Seventeenth century, the study of warfare was practiced predominantly using the vehicle of history. The scientific revolution, ushered in by Newtonian laws, had a major impact on Western military thinking. By...
From the end of the Vietnam War until Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States military did not engage in significant counterinsurgency (COIN) operations. The decline in the U.S military’s experience in this area is evident in the fidelity...
History shows that the U.S. Army can fight and defeat its opponents using centralized command concepts, but the challenges of the contemporary operating environment place a premium on the abilities of subordinate commanders to act independently and...
In an effort to explain how the military can better engage the media, this paper provides insights to the question, “How can the U.S. military proactively engage the domestic media in the planning and execution of military operations?” By...
In meeting the challenges of post-hostility Iraq, the area of information operations (IO) has received a great deal of attention. Unlike combat operations, the center of gravity in post-conflict Iraq has been restoration of basic services and...