The historiography of doctrinal change in the US Army that began with the publication of the 1976 version of FM 100-5, Operations, and ended with its replacement in 1982, settles on a general claim of controversy and rejection as the source of...
The emerging operational environment of the United States military is characterized by a changing myriad of complex dimensions, the elements of which are often uncomfortably and in some cases drastically different from those encountered during the...
This monograph addresses the usefulness of the concept of centers of gravity as a planning tool. The concept of center of gravity has been integral to the planning of military operations since its initial description by Clausewitz. It had been...
One goal of the United States (US) is a capabilities-based joint force designed to quickly achieve success along the continuum of conflict ranging from peace operations to war.' In support of this goal, US Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) authors...
The monograph's purpose is to explore the importance of the endstate, its degree of clarity and its effect on protecting national interests. It also investigates the importance the endstate serves in reducing friction within military forces. It...
This monograph seeks to determine if Americans have consistently favored one form of operational art over another. If we (the U.S. military) do not recognize that a tendency towards one or the other forms of operational art exists, we may...
This monograph addresses the question: What are the essential elements of operational design and commander's guidance that a campaign planner needs to produce an integrated operational concept for a joint campaign plan? While joint doctrine...
The current National Security Strategy is supposed to be the means by which the Nation expresses its fundamental national security goals, identifies national interests, and matches these interests with the necessary tools to implement the strategy...
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...
The creation of USNORTHCOM in 2002 was a clear indication that the security environment in North America had undergone a radical transformation. Canada and the United States have a history of bi-national mutual defense arrangements spanning more...
The emphasis on the changing global environment, the complexity of emerging military operational requirements, the U.S. Army's Transformation Campaign Plan concept, and combined U.S. Army conventional and special operations forces operations has...
The successful management of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 set an unfortunate precedent for crisis management and national security crisis decision-making that persists into the contemporary security environment. The Cold War norm, roughly...
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...
This monograph examines the most effective theater positioning of a US Forces operational commander in a conflict conducted in 2O1O. The monograph first defines who it is who practices operational command (differentiating between operational level...
The Global War on Terror (GWOT) requires that the military modify its methodology for conducting global operations. The military is transitioning from primarily lethal-focused offensive and defensive operations to full-spectrum operations that also...
This monograph examines what the author believes should be the critical first step in operational planning, defining and determining the end state. The operational end state is determined by an understanding of the strategic or political aim, and a...
From 1871 to 1897, France progressively expanded her colonization over Tonkin, in the North of Vietnam, also called Indochine. Three attempts were necessary to completely gain control, then pacify this territory. Navy and Army officers played a...
Beginning in the Korea War, through Vietnam and continuing with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, US forces have been involved in combat typified by close, sharp actions - often without the doctrinally prescribed firepower to support the...
This monograph analyzes the campaign in the Aleutians of 1943 in which Japanese and U.S. forces struggled violently for strategic control of austere ground in what has been aptly called the "forgotten war". Several theoretical concepts are tested...
The termination theories developed since the Korean War that influenced the development of joint doctrine are confusing and contradictory. Joint doctrine therefore did not address the military's role in obtaining US national interests in the...