The primary question this thesis aims to answer is--did the Studies and Observation Group (SOG) covert and clandestine operations contribute significantly to the Vietnam War effort? The scope of research is an examination of SOG operations...
This study examines the U.S. Army's use of tank destroyers in World War II, particularly the origins and evolution of tank destroyer doctrine, changes in training at the tank destroyer school at Camp Hood, and selection of weapons systems taken to...
Ethnic and religious clashes have continued in Africa’s most densely populated nation. Nigeria is a nation of vast human and natural resource potential that has experienced extreme strife during forty years of transition from colonial rule to...
With USSOCOM assuming the role as supported command in the Global War on Terror, Army Special Forces will no doubt to play a primary role in that effort. The unspoken assumption seems to be that America's new, unconventional foe will best be...
The careers of the senior Army officers at the end of the nineteenth century were highlighted by extreme self-sacrifice and devotion to duty and country, but history has largely forgotten these patriots. One of these officers was Brigadier General...
US Army aviation is undergoing an organizational and doctrinal evolution in order to be a relevant and capable force in the contemporary operational environment and on the battlefields of the future. Aviation has traditionally provided a unique...
On 11 March 1943, the Chief of the British Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, made a momentous decision in committing an entire British armored division, the 79th, to the task of developing equipment, tactics, and capabilities...
Since man’s initial contact with space in 1957, the U.S. and Russia have flirted with putting weapons in space. Today, two camps exist in the space weapons debate: sanctuary and weaponization. The sanctuary camp argues that space should remain...
This thesis examines the strategy of the United States Army's Punitive Expedition into Mexico following the raid on Columbus, New Mexico, by Francisco "Pancho" Villa and his followers on 9 March 1916. In analyzing this topic, the thesis focuses on...
The Irish Defense Forces have conducted peacekeeping operations since 1958. Many of these have had a humanitarian aspect. Since 1994, however, the Defense Forces have become involved in dedicated humanitarian operations, notably in Africa, Central...
This study investigates the viability of replacing manned aircraft with unmanned combat aerial vehicles in the armed reconnaissance mission. Increased costs associated with operating a viable Air Force combined with a growing aversion to human,...
Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has been drawing down its military. The national military strategy was altered to require the military to be able to defeat two adversaries in two nearly simultaneous major theater wars. With the drawdown...
Future war concepts envisage dispersed formations roaming deep into enemy territory to achieve a disproportionate effect on their enemy. The effect they seek to achieve is not simply attritional, but the shattering of an enemy's cohesion. Many of...
Ever since the collapse of the world of the bipolar opposition between the former USSR led Warsaw Pact and NATO, political and military leaders have been facing a different security environment with overwhelming instability and uncertainty. In this...
Asymmetric threats counter an adversary’s strengths by focusing on its weaknesses. In the post-Cold War world asymmetric threats to U.S. national security are far more likely than they were just a decade ago. This paper considers asymmetric...
Corps engineer battalions have acquired more responsibility to provide support across the spectrum of conflict in the areas of mobility, countermobility, survivability, and general engineering. The various organizational designs of corps engineer...
The Army is undergoing transformation to an effects-based force capable of functioning in an emerging operating environment characterized by a thinking, flexible enemy that will use weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as an anti-access capability to...
This qualitative thesis examines the Coast Guard's historic participation in special operations and a potential national requirement for designated Coast Guard special operations forces. Some observers have rejected the label, “Global War on...
Mission, threat and capabilities adaptations in the twenty-first century continue to change the tasks assigned to U.S. Army Infantry units. Traditional infantry tactical training does not prepare U.S. infantry forces for many of the tasks required...
The thesis of this research is that the U.S. Army aviation engineer units played a crucial role in the success of General Douglas MacArthur's island hopping campaign in the Southwest Pacific Theater at the tactical, operational, and strategic...