The 1986 edition of Field Manual (FM) 100-5, Operations, introduced a theoretical basis to AirLand Battle, the U.S. Army's basic fighting doctrine. One of the new concepts introduced into the doctrine was 'center of gravity.' The manual indicated...
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...
This paper addresses the current misunderstanding surrounding the term known as strategic maneuver. Strategic maneuver is considered many different things to include: preclusion operations, moving units from theater to theater, and the use of...
This monograph addresses whether current doctrine adequately prepares armor and mechanized infantry forces to successfully conduct the final assault of a prepared position. Offensive operations culminate with actions on the objective, yet...
Throughout the history of warfare, there have been periods when technological developments have dramatically affected the balance between firepower and maneuver on the battlefield. When the new technology enhanced the effectiveness of firepower,...
This monograph examines current U.S. doctrine on the subject of battle handover to determine its applicability to the conditions of maneuver war. Army theorists are considering a new operational concept that assumes the likelihood of maneuver war...
One week after the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain hit 85 percent of their targets during the four days of Operation Desert Fox in December 1998, Iraq again challenged the United States by firing surface to air missiles at...
This thesis investigates ways to contend with Carl von Clausewitz's center of gravity concept. It describes the concept's importance and the alarming degree of confusion regarding its application. The thesis describes the use of knowledge...
In February 1991, the Allied Coalition forces led by the U.S. achieved a stunning victory over the Iraqi forces in the Persian Gulf War. Did the U.S. Military validate the Army's new Airland Battle doctrine with its emphasis on maneuver warfare...
In 1986, the US Army published a revision of FM 100-5, Operations, that, for the first time, clearly linked military theory and its doctrine. In this manual, a term defined by Carl von Clausewitz as the hub of all power and movement, the center of...
American military doctrine and professional literature in the past decade have stressed maneuver warfare and the operational level of war. This monograph traces the evolution of maneuver theory and its conceptual opposite, firepower theory, and...
This study is an analysis of how to apply the fundamentals of AirLand Battle doctrine to the tactics of company and platoon level maneuver units. The fundamental tenets and imperatives of AirLand Battle doctrine described in FM 100-5, Operations,...
The information sphere is an integral part of the current environment. The center of gravity (CoG) theory currently is matched for conventional, linear, industrial age warfare in the physical domain. The CoG concept is thus not suited to work in...
Theory and doctrine Warfighting's moral domain. Lieutenant Colonel Antulio J. Echevarria II, US Army, and Major Jacob D. Biever, US Army Blending maneuver and attrition. Colonel Lamar Tooke, US Army, Retired Revamping...
This monograph defines blitzkrieg as a way of operational-level systems thinking that evolved over a twenty-year period. In the on-going debate over whether blitzkrieg was operational or tactical in nature, much of the discourse centers either on...
This monograph examines the question can modern metaphors, based on late twentieth century nonlinear scientific thought, better explain concepts described by Clausewitz, using early nineteenth century linear scientific thought. Clausewitz...
This monograph determines the utility of the “reconnaissance-pull” concept for division commanders. Although the term, “recon-pull” is becoming widely used by many Army leaders, analysis proves that the concept is rarely applied in...
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the viability of combined arms brigade employment in AirLand Operations. As criteria, the study imposes the Operational Operating Systems (OOS) contained in the April 15, 1990 TRADOC Pam 11-9, Army Programs...
This monograph develops a framework for focusing military operations at an adversary's decision making processes by developing the concept of decision space, analyzing theories pertaining to decision making (specifically, Boyd's...