Railroads have played an important part in wars throughout modern history. Today, the contributions rail can make to America's national defense include U.S. commercial rail help with mobilization of military units stationed in the United States....
Railroads have played a key role in the conduct of war for well over a century. Few can dispute the contributions rail has made at the strategic and operational levels of war. Tactical use of railroads, however, is an entirely different matter....
This monograph attempts to determine whether the current United States (US) five paragraph field order is the best format to use when transmitting the commander's intentions, combat information and tasks to battalions of smaller tactical units....
This monograph examines whether or not the structure of the current U.S. Army Light Infantry Division is consistent with the demands presented by deployment and employment across the broad spectrum of conflict. The U.S. Army has expended a...
This monograph considers whether the emphasis upon "campaigns and major operations" expressed in the definition of operational art in the current FM 100-5, Operations, is consistent with the most probable threats facing the U.S. Army of the 1990s...
This monograph discusses whether the U.S. Army has developed appropriate organizations for the conduct of tactical reconnaissance at the Corps, Division, Brigade, and Battalion/Task Force levels of command for the heavy forces in accordance with...
This monograph discusses how the establishment of command relationships at the operational level of war impacts on sound operational design and execution. It uses the 1940 French campaign and the Allied campaign of 1944 in Burma as case studies of...
In 1932 J.F.C. Fuller published a book entitled Lectures on FSR III (Lectures on Field Service Regulations, Vol. III). In this book, Fuller presented a vision of future war that was shown to be highly accurate by later events. This vision was based...
The campaign conducted by General Helmuth von Moltke into Bohemia against the Austrians was the most brilliant of that era. The Koniggratz campaign is a classic example of the art of war practiced at the operational level. The Chief of the General...
This is a theoretical paper on campaign planning. The paper examines the processes and principles involved in campaign plan formulation and modification within the context of all three levels of war. A series of theoretical models are used to...
This monograph discusses the elements and dynamics of tactical surprise on the mid- to high-intensity conventional battlefield. Surprise has been a decisive principle of war throughout history. Today, however, surprise is increasingly critical to...
This monograph discusses how well U. S. Army doctrine exploits the development of weapons. With the rapid ongoing modernization of our forces, it is imperative that the army make the most out of new technology. The premise is that current U. S....
This study determines whether the U.S. Army is prepared to sustain U.S. units operating behind enemy lines as guerrilla forces. History provides many examples where guerrilla forces complement conventional operations. The "center of gravity" for...
This monograph explores the issue of whether or not the United States Army should have an institutional mechanism to collect, interpret and apply the lessons of operational combat in order to correct the inevitable errors of peacetime planning and...
The individual soldier's physical and mental preparation for battle are arguably two of the most important factors considered when deciding whether a force is ready for commitment to combat. While many believe technological advances reduce the need...
This monograph uses Major General Nathanael Greene's Southern Campaign, 1780-1781, as an historical case study to demonstrate both the validity and the utility of current operational art as it applies to understanding the design and execution of...
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...
FM 100-5, Operations, published in May, 1986, contains AirLand Battle doctrine which our Army will use into the next century. The new doctrine is considerably different from the Active Defense doctrine of the 1970's. Supported by the Army's top...
In September 1943 allied armies of the United States and Great Britain landed on the European mainland in its "soft underbelly" taking another step toward the defeat of Nazi Germany. Expecting to be in Rome by the end of that year, the Allies...
This paper examines the conduct of continuous operations from the theoretical, historical and doctrinal perspective. To define the problem, it begins with an overview of the recent research in the field. It then closely examines a division which...