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Military Campaign Against Gangs: Internal Security Operations in the United States by Active Duty Forces
"This study examines the historical precedents and the laws that allow federal troops to combat domestic enemies, the current environment that may call for the use of active duty forces, and a model that can be used to deal with domestic disturbances within the United States. There are three Constitutional laws and two unwritten laws that give the President the authority to commit federal forces to quell a domestic disturbance. In addition to these laws, there are two laws that limit the President's use of these federal forces in a domestic situation. Street gangs are analyzed using a methodology developed by Bard E. O'Neill. This methodology shows that street gangs are a form of Preservationist insurgency. After identifying the threat (street gangs), the Internal Defense and Development (IDAD) model is analyzed and used to establish a base for planning a campaign. The conclusion of this study is that street gangs and the associated domestic violence is a threat to the United States, but not an organized military or political threat, that is unified under one individual. It is a state problem that may require federal assistance in the forms of law enforcement, economic aid, social aid and military support. Insurgency, Gangs, Internal defense and development, Domestic use of military forces, Street gangs, IDAD."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Hogg, David R.
2006-11-22
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Structuring U.S. Ground Forces to Meet All Threats
"Potential adversaries of the United States have learned that they cannot compete with the U.S. in a conventional war but that the U.S. is vulnerable to asymmetric or insurgent threats. It is clear that the United States must find a way to transform its ground forces to meet these threats without losing the ability to deter any conventional threats. To this end, some leaders and analysts are calling for the United States military to break its ground forces in two; one focusing primarily on major combat operations and one focusing on stability and counterinsurgency operations. This study shows that two forces are not necessary. Instead, the military must develop tactical and operational commanders with the mental flexibility to adapt to any situation they face. This study analyzes three cases where ground forces had to transition between these two forms of warfare. The first case study is the United States Army in the Indian Wars that conducted stability and counterinsurgency operations immediately after fighting major combat operations in the Civil War. The next is the British Army in the First World War that fought a conventional war after 58 years of stability counterinsurgency operations since the end of the Crimean War. The final case study is the British Army in Malaya that had to conduct stability and counterinsurgency operations immediately after fighting major combat operations in the Second World War. The focus of this study is whether tactical and operational commanders have the mental flexibility to transition between these to two kinds of warfare."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Curl, Jason
2008-04-03
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Role of Sanctuary in an Insurgency
"Current and future adversaries are able to create and sustain complex and adaptive networks of physical, social, virtual, and legal sanctuary from which they wage global campaigns. As long as insurgents can claim refuge for their ideologies and control the resources necessary to impose their objectives, terrorist organizations will remain a threat to international peace and prosperity. Sanctuary allows the insurgent to preserve and protect limited resources and provides protected access to additional resources. Traditionally, insurgencies relied upon the physical and social sanctuaries provided by geography and social conditions. Advances in technology and globalization provide insurgents with additional forms of refuge unavailable during the eighteenth century--virtual and legal. Individually these modern modes of sanctuary consist of a complex array of nodes and links. Collectively, they form a system of great structural and interactive complexity. Defeating, mitigating or containing sanctuary requires a holistic, qualitative, and systemic operational approach. SOD/CACD uses systemic framing to gain an appreciation of the entire insurgent system of sanctuary and to understand the behavior of the nodes and links across the entire spectrum of physical, social, virtual, and legal modes. Changing the way we think and act against these complex adaptive adversaries will enable us to mitigate their impact."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Wise, David J.
2008-05-22
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U.S. Maritime Strategy in a Post-Cold War World
"This monograph examines the impact of future U.S. military force reductions in Europe upon the Maritime Component of U.S. National Military Strategy. A chain reaction of historic events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union has dramatically altered the strategic paradigm of East-West relationships. If the Cold War is over, as many pundits and policymakers would argue, then a major strategic reassessment is in order. This research attempts to define those key tenets of America's current maritime strategy which will have continuing relevance in a changing geopolitical environment. The monograph lays the theoretical and historical foundations of U.S. maritime strategy as currently written. It also discusses the forces of change which are driving troop reductions in Europe. The U.S. maritime strategy is one element of a national security strategy based on deterrence, forward defense and alliance solidarity. American defense policy has been focused toward the Soviet Union for over 40 years, and logically the Maritime Component of U.S. National Military Strategy has evolved to meet this threat."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Hendricks, Douglas O.
1990-05-16
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Insurrection Act Restored: States Likely to Maintain Authority over National Guard in Domestic Emergencies
"Before 2006, the President had multiple legal bases available to authorize his use of federal military forces in a variety of law enforcement and natural disaster circumstances. Nevertheless, Congress amended the Insurrection Act in 2006 to create the Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order. This statute stirred controversy as it arguably represented an unwarranted expansion of Presidential power. Additionally, while statute attempted to address the kind of lawlessness seen in New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the provision arguably offered no improvement over the Insurrection Act in instances of lawlessness or the Stafford Act in instances of disaster. Without ever having been invoked, and in the face of strong opposition, the Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order was repealed on January 28, 2008 and the previous Insurrection Act was restored. This monograph reviews the Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order statute and concludes that it was prudent to repeal this legislation. Moreover, this monograph recommends that future laws and policies to improve disaster response across the whole-of-government and the private sector should be consistent with the principles in the 2008 National Response Framework, which advocates tiered response rather than a primarily federal response in most instances. The rare instances of catastrophic disaster that might require the President to shortcut tiered response and assume federal control at the outset of the situation should be clearly defined in law. "
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Beckler, Mark M.
2008-05-22
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Ongoing War between the United States National Counter-Terrorism Structure and Militant Islamists: Is the Next 9/11 Preventable?
"The purpose of this paper is to investigate the militant Islamist threat within the United States, to determine whether the current United States National Counter-Terrorism Structure can prevent the next significant terror attack in the homeland, and recommend improvements to the National Counter-Terrorism Structure organization and practices. The first two chapters define militant Islam and explore the likelihood that it remains a persistent threat within the United States. The paper focuses on militant Islamists rather than all ideological threats in the United States and on the most damaging of potential terror attacks. A selection of six terrorist events illustrates the history of militant Islamist actions in the United States from 1993 to 2007, defines the threat, and aids in the analysis and evaluation of the US National Counter-Terrorism Structure later in the paper. Support for a persistent and plausible militant Islamist threat inside the United States and the six-year absence of a significant terror attack in the homeland is shown to be a result of slow, patient militant Islamist planning for an attack more powerful than that of 9/11. Using the defined threat as a foundation, the third chapter describes the existing National Counter-Terrorism Structure comprised of federal, state, and local law enforcement and homeland security organizations. The chapter focuses upon the Structure's policy, procedure, and resource implementation; communications and information sharing; and contingency plans and rehearsals. The fourth chapter analyzes whether the US National Counter-Terrorism Structure can defend the homeland against the next militant Islamist terror attack in the homeland."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Demko, John M.
2008-05-22
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Considerations for SOF in Domestic Homeland Security
"The purpose of this monograph is to ascertain what missions are appropriate for Special Operations Forces (SOF) in a domestic setting under the auspices of Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) and Homeland Defense (HD). Since 9/11 the military has been given a larger role in responding to incidents of terror and natural disasters in support of federal, state and local governments. This support is viewed largely as augmenting the capabilities and capacity of first responders and emergency management coordinators. SOF is likely to be given an expanded role in this environment, but careful evaluation of what missions are suitable is required to mitigate potential negative effects on the Global War on Terror (GWOT) abroad. The potential exists for direct and indirect support to domestic civil agencies during times of emergency, but modifications to the organization's training and doctrine may be necessary to ensure effective interoperability. Additionally, changes to the command and control of SOF within US Northern Command's (USNORTHCOM) AOR are examined. SOF must identify those areas that require self-improvement prior to conducting these domestic missions, and evaluate whether the potential exists to cross train with first responders to improve civilian capabilities as well. SOF maintains the potential to positively affect the domestic security situation provided an honest and careful examination of its likely roles and responsibilities are undertaken."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Peaks, Matthew K.
2008-03-22
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Defense Support to Civil Authorities
From the thesis abstract: "Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) in the post 9-11 era has received intense scrutiny with regard to the military's ability to effectively respond to natural or man-made disasters. The two party political nuances at the local, state, and federal levels, the media's amplification of any perceived failures, and statutory constraints, have forced the Department of Defense (DoD) to reexamine how it supports civil authorities when it is not the lead federal agency. The federal government's slow and inadequate response to the seminal devastation created by Hurricane Katrina exposed weaknesses in the National Response Plan and DoD's contribution to that plan despite prior successes using the same plan. The response weaknesses are complex as they cut through three levels of government, transcend multiple federal and state agencies, and specifically for the military, cross between Title 10, Title 32, and state active duty forces, where the parent authorities of those forces are reluctant to share control for political, fiscal, and mission realities. DoD should view DSCA as a core mission and, irrespective of the current military operational tempo, they must seasonally source forces, for planning purposes, to satisfy the most likely DSCA response. A sourced capability that is initially designed against pre-scripted capabilities to meet predicted response requirements will allow tasked units to prepare for a potential response."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Langowski, Thomas J.
2008-05-22
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Multi-Domain Operations: The Historical Case
From the Thesis Abstract: "This study demonstrates that air superiority, maritime superiority, and favorable political constraints are prerequisite military conditions, serving here as criteria for evaluation of the case studies, that enable convergence and allow the US Army to achieve strategic objectives in the land domain during armed conflict. This study analyzes and compares two historical cases, Operation Overlord (1944) and the Korean War (1950-1951). The cases highlight crucial differences in the achievement of convergence in a war with absolute political aims as in the Second World War, and the wars following 1945 dominated by limited political aims and correspondingly limited military means and strong political constraints. The comparison of the two cases highlights the temporal differences associated with achieving air and maritime superiority and the different political constraints associated with each case. The outcome of the study is analytical support for the thesis that air superiority, maritime superiority, and favorable political constraints are prerequisites to convergence in Multi-Domain Operations. This study confirms that historical cases provide powerful antecedents for modern, emerging, or future military concepts and domains."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Burgoon, Matthew W. P.
2019-05-23
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Decisions Based on Experience in the Absence of Doctrine: The Risk with Allied Partners
From the Thesis Abstract: "[D]uring multinational operations, the US Army and joint doctrine are silent in their discussion of how to assess and mitigate risk for operations involving allied partners. Therefore, a commander must identify, assess, and mitigate risk another way when including allies as part of a multinational operation. By examining Operations Overlord and Desert Storm through a methodology of structured focused comparison, this study examined how these two commanders understood coalition risk, and what steps they took to mitigate it. It examined the relationship between education and experiences that shaped their ability to influence the planning of their operations."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Desjardin, Randy S., Jr.
2019-05-23
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Moving Beyond Reflection and Discussion: The Case for Canada to Craft a National Security Strategy
From the Thesis Abstract: "This paper engages the reader in understanding the vital role a national security strategy plays in the policy-strategy relationship as a tool to centrally manage all instruments of national power in the pursuit of Canada's interests. Moreover, through an examination of the global security environment, the application of power and the conceptual approaches a state may take to national security strategy formulation, this paper demonstrates the relevance and value a national security strategy could bring to Canada's national security framework. Strategies are not born of 'immaculate conception.' A positive change is required in Canada's national security framework."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Murphy, Shane R.
2019-05-23
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South China Sea: A Strategic Flashpoint
From the Thesis Abstract: "The South China Sea (SCS) is a resource-rich strategic waterway that has steadily grown in global significance. China and its Southeast Asian neighbors have a long, complicated history of overlapping and competing claims of territorial sovereignty in the SCS. [...] This monograph analyzes two scenarios in the SCS that could potentially lead to conflict between the United States and China. First, the enduring disputes between China and its neighbors could escalate to the point where the United States gets drawn into the conflict as a third party. Secondly, a direct conflict between China and the United States could result from China's discontentment with the United States' execution of freedom of navigation operations in the SCS. An analysis of US and Chinese writings on escalation theory provides a useful framework for explaining how the ongoing disputes in the SCS could lead to an escalation into conflict."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Rosales, Jacob J.
2019-05-23
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Logistical Response to Assist in Answering the Call of Defense Support to Civilian Authorities in Disaster Response
"This study will specifically focus on the logistical responses necessary to react to a catastrophic incident. An examination of the governmental laws and policies will provide the basis of the legal requirements in supporting the Defense of Civilian Authorities. These laws and policies will lay out the constraints that the President and DOD [Department of Defense] must work though in order to provide the type of response that the public was looking for in Hurricane Katrina. This paper conducted an examination of the National Response Plan (NRP) to determine which areas would fall under the purview of DOD. Focus of the investigation into the NRP also concentrated on the abilities of logistic units that can resolve some of the specified and improvised tasks for DOD. The end-result was the creation of an appendix that allows one to examine each of the Emergency Support Functions within the NRP that provides purpose, scope, and specified tasks for DOD elements. Finally, this paper offers a proposal for instigating a logistics headquarters that could respond to national response in a timely manner and prevent some of the ad hoc command structure that was evident in the responses to Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina. The logistical headquarters is developing within the Army's drive to transformation but will need some refinement to assist in the difficulties facing a response to natural or manmade disasters."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Britton, Jeffrey J.
2007-03
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How Terrorist Groups Survive: A Dynamic Network Analysis Approach to the Resilience of Terrorist Organizations
"The purpose of this paper is to explore the question of how modern terrorist groups manage to survive in the face of aggressive counterterrorist operations by security forces. Al Qa'ida survives to this day, despite the destruction of their Afghanistan sanctuary, the loss of countless key personnel, and continuous pressure by the United States and their allies. Why has al Qa'ida survived? Since much of the literature on terrorism focuses on how to eliminate them, this research paper focuses on why they still endure. In other words, instead of asking, 'How do we kill them,' this research asks, 'Why don't they die?' This research employs a dynamic network analysis approach to explore the primary research question of terrorist survival. This analysis combines aspects of traditional social network analysis with a new multi-agent model that describes how terrorist groups raise agents through the organization to positions of prominence. The key to this process is the radicalization of members based on time, connectivity, and belief intensity. The testing dataset comes from the 1998 Tanzania Embassy bombing, expressed in the form of a meta-network. After four testing program iterations, the author concludes that terrorist organizational survival is based on the internal dynamics of leader selection and growth within the group as new members advance. These findings imply a number of recommendations for counterterrorist operations and intelligence activities in order to disrupt the growth and development of new leaders. Additionally, these results imply that current Joint and Army doctrine on network analysis insufficiently addresses the dynamic processes that network diagrams are intended to depict. American military counterinsurgency and counterterrorist operations can be greatly enhanced by moving from a network analysis approach based on structure to one based on dynamics."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Henke, Glenn A.
2009-05-21
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Rising Importance of Women in Terrorism and the Need to Reform Counterterrorism Strategy
"It is evident that women are increasingly playing a role in terrorism. The war on terror has restricted freedom of action within the security environment for terrorist organizations, making it more advantageous for terrorist organizations to use women to support or execute terrorist activities. In countries where terrorism originates and extremist organizations find safe haven and freedom of movement, the social environment also can play a significant role in leading women towards supporting terrorism. Discriminatory religious and social customs in these same countries leave women as a largely untapped resource in supporting the ideological causes of terrorist organizations. Female terrorist acts can also generate much greater media attention than those conducted by males, further encouraging terrorist organizations to expanding recruiting of women. Counterterrorism strategies tend to ignore gender as a relevant factor, and in doing so exclusively focus on male imposed threats. Although women taking part in terrorist and extremist acts is not new and dates many years, their presence in terrorist organizations as both leaders and executors is increasing around the globe. It is important that the U.S. and regional combatant commands integrate gender into national and military counterterrorism strategy to address this alarming trend. The purpose of this monograph is to examine the role of the female gender in terrorism and in terrorist organizations, and to determine if U.S. counterterrorism strategy should specifically address women. The main hypothesis is that approaching counterterrorism strategy with a perspective on the female gender as well as the male gender will have a positive impact on the ability of the U.S. to combat terrorism in the long war. The monograph concludes with several recommendations for national policy and counterterrorism strategy that address the role of women in terrorism. It is important that extensive cultural analysis be conducted in a specific regions or countries where female involvement exists in order to fully understand the context of the situation so policy and strategy can be tailored to that area. Recommendations include a variety of means that can be used by the U.S. to influence the social, political, and economic environment of an area to discourage women from supporting or participating in terrorist activities."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Sutten, Marne L.
2009-05-21
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Army National Guard and Civil Support Operations: Closing the Interagency Gap at the Local Level
"Currently, an interagency gap exists between local civil authorities and tactical military forces preparing for and conducting all phases of domestic civil support operations. The gap exists for two primary reasons: (1) military forces operate in a supporting role during domestic civil support operations, resulting in fewer allocated resources as compared to combat operations where the military is normally in the lead, and (2) military and civil authorities take significantly different approaches towards disaster response. Civil authorities follow the bottom-up, locally driven National Response Framework which relies upon specific local training and capacity to meet the basic needs of the local community. The military on the other hand follows a hierarchal, top-down, regional approach dependent on baseline or core competency training and delivering capacity better suited for offense, defense, and stability operations. This monograph recommends nine domestic civil support planning themes to close the gap and improve civil military relations by integrating military forces, specifically the National Guard, at the local level. […]. To improve domestic civil support operations and civil military relations at the local level, three things must occur to close the interagency gap: (1) military commanders and planners, especially those in the National Guard, must prioritize domestic civil support preparation at the local level, (2) operational and tactical military organizations must decrease their current reliance on core competency training and non-domestic experiences and increase interagency, domestic civil support specific training at the tactical level, and (3) the Department of Defense must view domestic civil support operations from a long term, local partnership perspective."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Herrera, John D.
2010-05-17
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National Guard Intelligence Support to Domestic Operations
"The commission formed after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 identified a need for a better domestic intelligence capability, and policy decisions since then have directed increased information sharing between the intelligence community and the collective law enforcement community. This monograph outlines how the new operational environment, which includes the establishment of a new combatant command and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, affects domestic intelligence operations through a review of current regulations and policies affecting domestic intelligence operations. It advocates provision of intelligence support to established state level intelligence centers by each state's National Guard predominantly through information sharing, with the National Guard assets serving as a conduit for information between the intelligence community and the state intelligence fusion centers. It is beneficial to the each state's National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters to support this because of the capability for increases situational awareness, with little change to existing regulations due to the requirement to maintain a common operating picture. "
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Coble, Mark L.
2009-05-21
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Engaging the Borderlands: Options for the Future of U.S.-Mexican Relations
"The security of the U.S.-Mexican border is an issue of considerable interest for both countries. The North American Free Trade Agreement has created a web of symbiotic links between the two countries. Unfortunately, this has also presented opportunities for illegal transit. These opportunities are increasingly exploited by Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO) whose actions are destabilizing Mexico and increasingly penetrating into the United States. Increasing levels of violence, intimidation, and influence have rapidly become intolerable, demanding a government response. While widespread use of the U.S. military remains an option, the costs both economic and operational, make the use an unviable one. Rather a mixed approach of U.S. and Mexican capacity building and economic assistance is a preferred alternative. The increased capacity of U.S. and Mexican security and law enforcement organizations will over time disrupt, then dismantle the Mexican DTOs. Simultaneously, economic assistance aimed at developing impoverished Mexican regions will both legitimize the Mexican government while marginalizing the influx of narco-dollars. This combined approach provides stability to the region, increases cooperation between neighboring governments, and fosters further legitimate economic growth in the region."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Brown, Matthew M.
2010-12-02
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Oddity of Waging War on a Tactic: Reframing the Global War on Terror as a Global Counterinsurgency
"The US Global War on Terror is actually a Global Counterinsurgency as defined by FM 3-24 and Al Qaida is the global insurgent currently opposing the US. Al Qaida is held up as the global insurgent through the use of their own declarations in open-sources and their actions pursuant to what was stated in those open source reports. The Kinetic nature of terrorism and Al Qaida leads one to focus on the tactic of terrorism, not the insurgent nature of Al Qaida. There are two conflicting approaches being used now by the US: Law Enforcement and Military. A more effective and holistic method that blends the two approaches may prove more successful in the future. Key to this approach is to acknowledge the people as the center of gravity in any counterinsurgency and to act accordingly by separating them from the insurgents through methods both kinetic and non kinetic. One of the most effective ways nonkinetically to accomplish this is to go after the money of Al Qaida while ensuring economic opportunities for the people in play. A holistic counterinsurgency strategy would lend strategic clarity to the current fight against Al Qaida and allow for a broader approach to the problem on all levels."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Nelson, Jr., Judson P.
2009-05-21
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Multi-Domain Operations: The Army's Future Operating Concept for Great Power Competition
From the Abstract: "Enduring and emerging powers are reshaping the geopolitical landscape by heavily investing in military modernization programs to achieve domain overmatch, physical stand-off, and superiority in military power. The Department of Defense published the Defense Innovation Initiative in 2014 to identify and invest in innovative ways to sustain and advance America's military dominance for the twenty-first century. Through the initiative, the Department of Defense developed a third 'offset' strategy to contend in great power competition and win during armed conflict. The US Army developed a new future operating concept called Multi-Domain Operations in order to support the new defense strategy, drive modernization, and prepare for the future fight. Multi-Domain Operations theory proposes three interrelated tenets that solves the problem of contested domains and Anti-Access/Aerial Denial threats presented by Chinese and Russian operations in conflict. Those tenets are calibrated force posture, multi-domain formations, and convergence. This monograph examines the efficacy of the three Multi-Domain tenets through the lens of a historical case study--Solomon Island Campaign during World War II. The case study will help drive discussion, analysis, and further refinement of the operating concept with military professionals."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Garn, Alex R.
2019-05-23
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Re-Understanding End States
From the Thesis Abstract: "Tactical understanding of the term 'end state' can be inadequate and inaccurate when used to describe operational and strategic aims and objectives. These aims are less about ends and specific momentary conditions and more about transitions, building potential and maintaining positions of positive advantage. Therefore, military leaders transitioning from tactical execution to operational and strategic planning must divest themselves of their tactical understanding of end states and adopt a more fluid and transitionally focused view. This study conducted a structured, focused comparison of Operation Desert Storm in Iraq from 1990 to 1991, Operation Restore Hope in Somalia from 1992 to 1993, and the Canadian operations in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Four research questions were asked of each case relating to national strategic aims, military end states, the adjustments made to both, and if their flexibility led to positions of positive advantage. The case studies showed that there are several interpretations of terminology to describe operational and strategic goals. Furthermore, success came less from flexibly written strategic aims or military end state conditions and more from flexible leadership and transitional planning when creating those aims and end states. The theories and empirical evidence examined supported this monograph's thesis that clear strategic aims combined with flexibly planned military end state conditions will better maintain positions of positive advantage than the use of rigid military end states that are focused on momentary success."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Lafave, David B.
2019-05-23
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Trial by Combat: Interwar Evolutions of Operational Art from World War I to Desert Storm
From the Thesis Abstract: "The US Army is currently emerging from near two-decades of continuous asymmetric combat with a renewed focus on large-scale combat operations (LSCO). The preponderance of the officer corps are educational products of the counterinsurgency officer education model. The Army is now restructuring from an organizational standpoint, while simultaneously producing new operational doctrine to best deter or defeat potential near-peer adversaries. A revision of officer education and training has historically followed broad military reform, connecting new theory and doctrine to operational implementation. The period between World War I and World War II saw critical updates to doctrine and officer education, eventually leading to Allied success over the Axis powers. Following a much different combat experience, American military reforms after Vietnam were also met with a successful combat trial, climaxing in Desert Storm. As a catalyst that framed each of these institutional reform periods, this monograph discusses the MeuseArgonne Campaign and the Yom Kippur War. Both campaigns created a new understanding of the future threats the US Army would face in a potential large-scale conflict. Using both as case studies, the Army redesigned its doctrine and aggressively pursued an educational program for its officer corps. By focusing on creating a professional officer corps at the operational level the Army found success in the following large-scale wars. This monograph investigates the notion that the common thread permeating the focus of both interwar periods is the attention given to understanding the operational level of war, operational art, and designing a professional military education (PME) system to promulgate it. By investigating these ideas, the Army can extract and adapt historically successful concepts to prepare the Army of today."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Withington, Joshua J.
2019-05-23
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From the E Ring to the Convention Floor: Retired Flag Officers and Presidential Elections
From the Thesis Abstract: "Although the concept of an apolitical professional military has widespread acceptance, active and retired general and flag officers have been involved with presidential politics throughout US history, either running as candidates for office, or endorsing candidates for office. Many observers consider such partisan endorsements by retired flag officers problematic. They view this partisan advocacy as potentially upsetting US civil-military relations and opening debates surrounding the apolitical professional ethic and its applicability after retirement. This monograph argues that partisan political activity by retired general and flag officers (GOFOs) is inappropriate and is potentially detrimental to effective civil-military relations between civilian leaders and serving senior officers."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Simontis, Nicholas R.
2019-05-23
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US Inter-Agency Unity of Effort in Stability Operations: Ad hoc Solutions for Recurring Problems
From the Thesis Abstract: "The synchronization between US military and US civilian agencies during stability operations has proved problematic during past and present conflicts. While there has been an acknowledgment by the US government and US military of the importance of unity of effort, the current organizational structure present during stability operations is inadequate to achieve a unified effort and the United States has relied on ad-hoc structures to compensate. Counterinsurgency theory and US military doctrine both emphasize the importance of unity of effort during stability operations, but solutions like the National Security Council have failed to solve the ongoing problem. The Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development (CORDS) structure during the Vietnam War and the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) structure during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan pose two ad-hoc models developed during stability operations in an attempt to unify the civilian and military efforts. Both cases provide frameworks illustrating positive and negative practices, and the dangers of relying solely on ad-hoc organizations to solve institutional organizational problems."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Cowne Jr., Stephen M.
2019-05-23
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China's Use of Power and Implications for the United States Military
From the Thesis Abstract: "Over the last two decades, with US military forces primarily focused on conflict in the Middle East, China's power projection proliferated from the Indo-Pacific region and spread Beijing's influence across all US geographic combatant command (COCOM) areas of responsibility (AORs). China's efforts put US national interests and security at risk and challenged the presence of US hard power resources in regions outside the sustainable operational reach of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). To fill the gap in the PLA's capabilities, China fostered relationships outside its immediate borders and challenged the Western-dominated status quo across the globe."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Schmidt II, Donald A.
2019-05-23
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Africa: China's Newest Stage for Great Power Competition
From the Thesis Abstract: "China's investment, development, and growing influence in Africa has significant consequences to the United States. China competes using unrestricted warfare. Thus, investment does not guarantee sustainable growth for African countries and potentially destabilizes economies. Furthermore, this practice leaves nations vulnerable to violent extremist recruitment and criminal networks. The purpose of this study is to provide insight into Xi Jinping's Chinese Dream, Africa's role in Xi's vision, and China's use of unrestricted warfare. The underlying thesis of this study argues China's strategy in Africa effectively employs elements of UW [unrestricted warfare] as a means to project strategic influence in Africa by extending operational reach for its military forces and thus, threatens US security. By understanding how China uses unrestricted warfare in Africa, US military planners gain insight into the China's deliberate employment of unrestricted warfare to accomplish President Xi Jinping's grand strategy. This more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of China's investment on the continent enhances US efforts to stabilize, counter VEO [violent extremist organization] emergence, and create self-reliant partners to increase regional security."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Bruning, Ingrid Faith
2019-05-23
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Operational Art of Sustaining Operation Avalanche
From the Thesis Abstract: "In early October 1943, General Dwight D. Eisenhower surveyed the destruction left behind in Naples, Italy, by the retreating German army. Despite the destruction, the Allies secured the port and successfully began the buildup of men, equipment, and material to continue combat operations in Italy. The Fifth Army achieved Operation Avalanche's objective to secure basing in Italy for further operations. The success of combat operations during Operation Avalanche depended on well-coordinated logistical planning and execution. US and British logistic planners supported an emerging strategy in the Mediterranean by anticipating requirements and linking strategic resources to tactical consumption. Using the lens of operational art provides clarity as to how logisticians supported large-scale combat operations in a contested environment. The elements of operational art and principles of sustainment are tools to help understand the development of Operation Avalanche as the Allies' strategy evolved in the Mediterranean."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Iwen, Craig M.
2019-05-23
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Ballad of Odysseus: A Return to Surprise and Cunning in Operational Art
From the Thesis Abstract: "This monograph presents the elements and characteristics of the principle of surprise on the modern battlefield. For ages, commanders and theorists regarded surprise as the cornerstone of operations. Given the changing operational environment with the potential for contested domains in the future, the principle of surprise will be pivotal once again in US military planning and operations. The essence of surprise is cunning. The context of surprise in US Army doctrine is no longer clear for the practitioner. Doctrine should provide a holistic concept of surprise that allows for the practitioner to use it as a guide in any situation of war. Surprise is a key element in achieving operational shock. The Soviet theory of Deep Battle highlights that operational shock requires the elements of surprise: preconceptions, deception, secrecy, and response time. The essence of operational art is cunning."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Craig, Cameron S.
2019-05-23
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The All-Volunteer Force: LSCO, Cost, and a New Implicit Tax on Reserve Forces
From the Thesis Abstract: "This monograph examines the creation of the All Volunteer Force (AVF) and the neoliberal economic ideas used by the 1970 Gates Commission which recommended it. It examines the neoliberal concept of cost and illustrates the difference of budgetary cost and actual economic costs employed in analyses of the draft and volunteer force models, with emphasis on the concepts of opportunity cost and implicit tax. The paper then explores the impact of budgetary cost increases on the AVF throughout the 1980s and 1990s, leading to decreasing force structure and the increased utilization of the Total Force-and particularly how reduced active-duty force structure led to increased utilization of the reserves in the prosecution of security operations. Finally, the paper shows that the increasing use of reserve forces has led to a new implicit tax born disproportionately on reserve soldiers for national defense requirements. These examples show how the salience of budgetary costs have undermined the neoliberal argument of actual economic costs, and through the reduction of the active force, imposed a new implicit tax disproportionally [sic] born by the reserve force and their employers. Thus, in any future great power conflict, the increasing costs of the AVF and the social inequality of the new implicit taxes on the reserves forces a greater possibility of a return to the draft."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Daily, Joshua J.
2019-05-23
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Employment of Operational Art: 'Daesh's' Offense into Iraq During the Summer of 2014
From the Thesis Abstract: "In the Summer of 2014, the world learned of a new horror as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) stormed its way into the sovereign state of Iraq. Fueled by a religious fervor and united through Salafist dogma, ISIL overwhelmed Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) through use of tempo and deliberate lines of operation to achieve strategic aims. Within a two-month period, ISIL advanced hundreds of kilometers, secured multiple population clusters, and established a governmental regime to replace the Iraqi government. With the withdrawal of US combat power from Iraq, and the lucrative investment of Iraqi forces, multiple questions remain unanswered. How could a group of jihadists, with limited training, armed with technical vehicles and various small arms weapons overwhelm the security forces of the Iraqi government? [...] This monograph examines the presence of lines of operation, tempo, center of gravity, lines of effort, phasing and transitions during ISIL's offensive and consolidation activities. The monograph discusses ISIL's adherence to Salafist ideologies and the unique requirements to maintain a global caliphate. United by their interpretations of pure Sunni Islam, members of ISIL can converge both lethal and non-lethal action against belligerents. The monograph concludes with the understanding of ISIL's deliberate arrangement of lethal and non-lethal activity to accomplish strategic objectives."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. School of Advanced Military Studies
Jimenez, Moises
2019-05-23
