General Matthew B. Ridgway’s astonishing ability to visualize a military campaign matured based on his leader development, the lessons that he learned from failure and from personally mastering operational art. During World War II, Ridgway...
This paper will introduce to you the sequence of events that took the 659TH Forward Support Company to Afghanistan and then to Saudi Arabia in route to Iraq, in order to support Special Operations Units. This unit was able to change their day to...
The essays reprinted here are shorter statements of Bloch's basic beliefs. Bloch was not entirely right in his views on war. He failed to note the heavy influence that indirect fire would have on World War I battlefields. Obviously, he could not...
Over an astonishing history dating back more than seven thousand years, Egypt maintained an advanced and relevant military force. This experience gave guidance for developing ways of war that were decisive in assuring victory in some of the most...
The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) is a high casualty producing weapon. During 2004 through 2005 the IED really came into existent and it was determined by the US Armed Forces, to be the Insurgents most lethal weapon on the battlefield. After...
Operation Iraqi Freedom has been a serious challenge for the United States military and the citizens that we protect. The military has seen many changes that affect our Soldiers during day to day operations. One of these changes has been a simply...
The effects of climate change as well as national interests over control of vast amounts of natural resources in the Arctic seem to be destabilizing the geostrategic environment involving the circumpolar states. A traditional conflict scenario in...
The preponderance of literature and scholarly debate on counterinsurgency (COIN) focuses on the strategic or operational approach: leader-focused; large group-focused; special operations; conventional operations; enemy centric; and the latest,...
Social media has become an additional element within the operational environment within which nearly anyone with an Internet connection can participate. The speed at which participants can add content, truthful or not, to that battle space has...
This monograph investigates Khalid Bin Waleed's seventh century (AD 633-634) campaign against the Sassanid Persian Empire in Mesopotamia to trace the evidence that substantiates application of modern characteristics of operational art. The question...
The purpose of this monograph is to search for, identify, and discuss the emergence of elements of operational art during the Napoleonic wars. James Schneider has tied the emergence of operational art to the technological advances of the industrial...
This document gives insight into the organization of the POW camp system. It discusses prisoner of war labor, food, clothing, medical service and hygiene, Russian treatment of POWs, attitudes of German prisoners of war, propaganda, cultural work,...
The office of the sergeant major went through several major overhauls and is still undergoing constant, albeit casual, realignments. Over the last 37 years we have not had any major milestones that mark the advancement of the position, but the...
Waiting for Godot in Iraq. F.J. Bing West; As the war in Iraq enters a period of uncertainty, a highly regarded former Assistant Secretary of Defense addresses the four biggest challenges facing our military effort.