In the wake of the Cold War, the U.S. Army increasingly finds its institutional focus shifting away from preparing for sustained mechanized land combat. This trend serves the Army’s immediate operational needs and addresses its perceived need to...
Asymmetry is a United States Army doctrinal term. Research indicates that soldiers have a poor appreciation of asymmetry. The concept is often overused or just misused altogether. The cause for this is likely the doctrine itself. The primary Army...
The U.S. Army is smaller today than at any time since before World War Two. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Army is reducing significantly not only its size but also its forward presence, preferring instead to rely more on power...
This study investigated whether the Department of the Defense (DOD) policy should include civil, foreign, or commercial meteorological satellites to meet DOD objective environmental requirements. The study investigated if non DOD meteorological...
This monograph analyzes whether dislocation theory is an appropriate military theory for the Interim Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) to use in developing its warfighting doctrine. It argues that the IBCT’s unique mission, force structure, strengths,...
The current revolution in military affairs includes a confluence of changes that are forcing the US military to reexamine its methods of warfare. Significant advancements in informational technologies and precision weapons are providing an...
This monograph examines the doctrinal and acquisition focus of Force XXI in light of the projected future strategic environment. Despite its conceptual overtones, Force XXI is currently physically manifested in both a doctrinal publication and in...
Within the literature on Systemic Operational Design, discourse is generally treated as a mechanical communicative process. The monograph presents alternative ways to consider discourse, the implications of this for theory of Systemic Operational...
The purpose of this monograph is to investigate each service's perspective of the battlefield to understand how those views can be integrated for maximum joint effect. Its thesis is that battlespace can be an enabling concept that facilitates this...
One week after the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain hit 85 percent of their targets during the four days of Operation Desert Fox in December 1998, Iraq again challenged the United States by firing surface to air missiles at...
Throughout the history of warfare, there have been periods when technological developments have dramatically affected the balance between firepower and maneuver on the battlefield. When the new technology enhanced the effectiveness of firepower,...
This research explores how the peaking of world oil production influences the global balance of power. On the one hand, the geological phenomenon of peaking, modeled by the Hubbert's peak curve, gives the timeframe and the evolution of oil...
This monograph examines the Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP) as presented in the 1997 version of FM 101-5, Staff Organization and Operations. Numerous military professionals and decision-making theorists hold that an analytical process such...
The purpose of this monograph is to recommend the retention, modification, or abandonment of certain concepts of the current elements of operational design based on their continued validity within the contemporary operational environment. Military...
The 1993 version of FN4 100-5, Operations, formally added the theoretical term of decisive points to our professional warfighting lexicon without providing a useful methodology for their identification. This monograph undertakes a study of decisive...
Surgeons during the Civil War have been classified by soldiers from that time period as incompetent butchers. However, evidence of head injury cases from the battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, and Petersburg, evidence suggests that...
The US Army relies on tactical-level leaders, not for their physical warfighting skills, but for their ability to employ cognitive thought during stressful situations. Cognitive tasks include sensing patterns, deciphering complex environments,...
The United States Army has spent substantial resources and effort developing a cohesive plan for adapting to the changing world environment of the twenty-first century, commonly called ‘transformation.’ The Army has experimented and fielded new...
The noted Prussian theorist, Carl von Clausewitz wrote about the concentration of forces in space, and the unification of forces in time, as though they were two separate entities. Albert Einstein, however, with the advent of his theories on...
Operational design is an intellectual exercise that draws on the creative vision, experience, intuition, and judgment of commanders to provide a framework for development of detailed operation plans. Recently, a number of authors have questioned...