China's growing military capabilities serve its ambition to become the greatest power in Asia. Correspondingly, the PLA continues to modernize its forces. Established American economic and military relationships in Asia dictate national strategies...
This paper presents the author's views regarding the center of gravity, a concept which has created a surprising amount of disagreement among people studying operational art. The problem seems to stem from differences in interpretation of Carl von...
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...
Stability operations are not a recent phenomenon, but have been particularly common since the end of the Cold War. All the major deployments of the US Army since 1991 have involved such operations. In all these deployments, the US Army has been...
The United States Army began transformation to meet the needs of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Senior leaders within the military initiated the transformation from a division-based organization to one built around brigades. This...
This study examines the role of U.S. Army Engineers fighting as infantry in AirLand Battle by analyzing the actions of the 1111th Engineer Combat Group during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. The 51st and 291st Engineer Combat Battalions...
The 1956 Suez Crisis is the first example of a preemptive strike after World War II. The episode provides lessons about the lengths to which nations will go to secure their interests and the limits of the United Nation 's influence. How the UN...
In the wake of hostilities, military professionals should not foreswear changes and adjustments designed to make their forces more proficient on future battlefields. Military forces that have just suffered a costly defeat often manifest a greater...
In 1979 the age old struggle for the control of Islam between the Shiite and Sunni sects re-emerged in the Middle East. Four events occurred in 1979 that defined the context of contemporary Middle Eastern politics: the Islamic revolution in Iran,...
The focus of this thesis is to analyze whether or not current scout doctrine, coupled with the OSUT (One Station Unit Training) and unit available training time, permits us the time to adequately train 19D Cavalry Scouts to perform reconnaissance....
The debate over the service of black Americans in the U.S. Army centered around three questions: Could they serve? Would they be allowed to serve? And, if allowed, in what capacity would they serve? This is similar to modern debates about the...
This monograph explores the problem of mission creep. The trend toward ethnic and regional unrest has characterized the world security environment since the breakup of the former Soviet Union. The United States has struggled to find its place in...
The Australian (AS) soldier has a short but very proud military history. In the 104 years since federation the digger, the colloquial name given to the AS soldier, has displayed courage, initiative, and teamwork; the AS Army values. Day to day...
This monograph develops an alternative approach to counterinsurgency, and explains how the current narratives in the field of counterinsurgency are not completely accurate. Counterinsurgents only need to properly understand the environment and then...
On 28 March 2001, the United States Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory's embedded "think tank," the Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities, announced its intentions for developing a follow-on volume of the Small Wars Manual. This Small...
Turkish Culture had a profound influence on the conduct of its counter-insurgency campaign against the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK). The independent variables shaping Turkey’s response to the insurgency were a unique brand of nationalism,...
The Army After Next concept is a significant part of the U.S. Army's role in future operations. The proponents are developing doctrinal concepts that break current paradigms of multiple battlefield operating systems at the tactical level. The...
During Desert Sword, I was a Civil Affairs specialist and attached to the French for the invasion of Iraq. I received a 19-year-old Kuwaiti man named Nasser as my interpreter. The French occupied the Iraqi town of Al Saman and Nasser and I had the...
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...
This study examines the planning, execution, and results of U.S. military involvement in the 1970 Cambodian incursions. Named Operation Rockcrusher, the attacks targeted North Vietnamese sanctuaries in officially neutral Cambodia. Strategic...