This study details the events of 10 May 1940 at Fort Eben Emael, Belgium, and the elements which led to the successful seizure of the fort by the German military. The central focus of this thesis is the following question. Was the use of emerging...
This report details the specific XIX Corps engineer operations in the vicinity of Fort Eben Emael and crossing the numerous canals and rivers in the advance to Aachen, Germany.
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...
This study assesses the sufficiency of the current operations order format through an examination of its form and content. First, the study uses current communications and cognitive theory to evaluate the form of the operations order. These...
This study provides an analysis of the employment of the light infantry division in a mid- to high-intensity environment. The baseline assumption is that despite being "optimized" for low-intensity conflict, the light infantry division must be...
In the early 1980s, the United States' Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, ordered that all services re-emphasize special operations in their organizations. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) took this as a challenge to make changes. The...
This monograph examines tactical initiative and the types of information the commander's intent should provide to guide it. initiative became increasingly important beginning in the l8th Century as the dispersed, fast-paced nature of the modern...
This study is concerned only with the landing of airborne fighting forces in an area occupied or controlled by an enemy and with the subsequent tactical commitment of those forces in conventional ground combat. Contents include German airborne...
This monograph attempts to determine whether the current United States (US) five paragraph field order is the best format to use when transmitting the commander's intentions, combat information and tasks to battalions of smaller tactical units....
Battle Command Auftragstaktik and Innere Fuhrung: Trademarks of German Leadership. Major General Werner Widder, German Army Battle Command . Major General Russel L. Honore, U.S. Army Battle Command and Visualization. Lieutenant Colonel...
If military leaders do not learn from the mistakes of past operations, they are
destined to repeat them. Using examples from German airborne operations in Holland
and in Crete, I will illustrate how the German successes in these missions...
The paper will provide you with information about “Auftragstaktik” and it will explain with some examples how “Auftragstaktik” has proven its worth in history. “Auftragstaktik” is a command and control principle that emerged during the...
The successful formation and employment of the USCT regiments during the Civil War depended on many factors. The soldiers themselves were highly motivated to succeed. Victory in the war meant permanent freedom for themselves, and their families....
Globally, potential adversaries are building ever more complex, stronger, and deeper fortifications which are largely immune to the current United States weapons inventory. Advanced construction and design techniques coupled with technological...
This monograph addresses contemporary raid warfare and the effect it can produce at the operational level of war. "Can operational raids be decisive?" is the question that is researched and answered in the course of this paper. After establishing...
The problems in Afghanistan are not simple and there is no single solution. Indeed, the problems in Afghanistan are not limited to Afghanistan. Instead, the problems extend to all of Afghanistan's immediate neighbors as well as, among others, the...
The US Army's Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP) has been oft criticized as a time consuming and cumbersome process. Units typically devote so much time to developing and perfecting the plan that once the process is complete, there remains...
This paper explores the capacity of an airborne division to inflict operational shock in mid to high-intensity conflict as part of a Joint Task force (JTF). The United States faces a multi-faceted and complex security environment in its new role as...
This private war journal comprises seven volumes covering the dates 14 August 1939 to 24 September 1942, the date of Halder's dismissal by Hitler. The journal was kept by Halder personally in his own shorthand and contains notes on conferences,...
The modernization of the United States airborne forces is long overdue. As the Army transitions from a European-based forward deployed force to a "versatile, deployable and lethal" Army, the role of the airborne forces must increase. Unfortunately,...