Download or read book Toward Operational Art in Special Warfare written by Dan Madden and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hybrid irregular and conventional military operations are playing an increasingly prominent role in international conflict. To counter this trend, the United States should adopt a new form of operational art for special warfare.

Download or read book Toward Operational Art in Special Warfare written by Dan Madden and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Special Operations Irregular Warfare and Operational Art written by United States Army Command and General S and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-06-24 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph proposes theories of SOF and irregular warfare to describe how states can use SOF to achieve strategic objectives. The theory defines special operations forces as those forces organized to combat irregulars and irregular warfare as war fought by institutionally weak combatants, as opposed to conventional warfare between institutionally strong states. A study of the evolution of irregular warfare and its theoretical underpinnings leads to five characteristics that differentiate it from conventional warfare. These characteristics define an opaque form of warfare, requiring physical, cognitive, and moral access to successfully pursue strategic objectives. The theory then proposes a set of tenets to guide operational planners and leaders in arranging SOF tactical actions to achieve a strategic objective.

Download or read book Past and Potential Theory for Special Warfare Operational Art written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-02-18 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the context of escalating instability in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Africa, special warfare may offer policymakers a valuable strategic option. To succeed, however, special warfare campaigns that apply operational art must be founded upon distinct and sound theories of war and warfare. This monograph argues that from 1952-1965, the US Army Special Forces developed two theories of special warfare, one of guerilla warfare and one of insurgency (revolutionary war). Special Forces' institutional theory of insurgency, an adaptation of Mao Zedong's theory of people's war, remains a primary framework for special warfare operational artists. Furthermore, this monograph contends that a synthetic academic theory of contentious politics provides a more sophisticated theory of insurgency that has potential value for future applications of special warfare operational art. Current US policy explicitly favors empowering regional partners as a means to avoid costly troop deployments while actively addressing local and international security threats. In the context of escalating instability in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Africa, special warfare may offer policymakers a strategic option that provides more depth than targeted strikes and less fiscal commitment than the execution of large-scale wide area security operations. To provide such options, special warfare campaigns that evoke the application of operational art must be informed by the conceptual distinctions of the forms of war and warfare. Without conceptual clarity, special warfare campaigns are doomed to failure. As Samuel Huntington described several decades ago, guerilla warfare is a form of warfare, while insurgency, or revolutionary war, is a type of war. Specifically, Huntington defined guerilla warfare as "a form of warfare by which the strategically weak side assumes the tactical offensive in selected forms, times, and places," while describing revolutionary war as "a struggle between a nongovernmental group and a government in which the latter attempts to destroy the former by some or all means at its command, and the nongovernmental group attempts by all the means at its command to replace the government in some or all of its territory." Huntington's definitions provide much-needed theoretical distinction on a subject that, at least in the English-speaking world, is fraught with terminology that often confuses methods and outcomes.

Download or read book Special Operations Irregular Warfare and Operational Art written by United States Army Command and General S and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-12-14 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book proposes theories of SOF and irregular warfare to describe how states can use SOF to achieve strategic objectives. The theory defines special operations forces as those forces organized to combat irregulars and irregular warfare as war fought by institutionally weak combatants, as opposed to conventional warfare between institutionally strong states. A study of the evolution of irregular warfare and its theoretical underpinnings leads to five characteristics that differentiate it from conventional warfare. These characteristics define an opaque form of warfare, requiring physical, cognitive, and moral access to successfully pursue strategic objectives. The theory then proposes a set of tenets to guide operational planners and leaders in arranging SOF tactical actions to achieve a strategic objective.

Download or read book The Evolution of Operational Art written by G. S. Isserson and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Going Big by Getting Small written by Brian S. Petit and published by Outskirts Press. This book was released on 2013-08 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Going Big by Getting Small examines how the United States Special Operations Forces apply operational art, the link between tactics and strategy, in the non-wartime, steady-state environments called Phase Zero. With revised and innovative operational art constructs, US Special Operations offer scalable and differentiated strategic options for US foreign policy goals. This book analyzes light footprint special operations approaches in Yemen, Indonesia, Thailand, and Colombia. When a large military presence may be inappropriate or counterproductive, Colonel Brian Petit makes the case for fresh thinking on Phase Zero operational art as applied by small, highly skilled, joint-force teams coupled with interagency partners. The past decade (2002-2012) of operations focused on large-scale, post-conflict counterinsurgency. Less publicized, but no less important in this same decade, was the emerging application of nuanced campaigns, actions, and activities in Phase Zero. These efforts were led or supported by special operations in countries and regions contested, but not at war. This book fills a gap in the literature of how to adapt the means, method, and logic of US military foreign engagements in a diplomacy-centric world with rapidly shifting power paradigms. Going Big by Getting Small is not a yarn on daring special operations raids nor a call for perpetual war. It is the polar opposite: this book contemplates the use of discreet engagements to sustain an advantageous peace, mitigate conflict, and prevent crises.

Download or read book Operational Art and the Clash of Organizational Cultures Postmortem on Special Operations As a Seventh Warfighting Function written by Jan Kenneth Gleiman and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2012-09-16 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the United States Army stands in the midst of a transitional period, it must determine what type of Army it will be. In doing so, the Army must come to grips with new realities of the strategic context that demand a capability to use “Engagement” as defined in the National Security Strategy and an inculcation of “Operational adaptability” as defined in the Army Capstone Concept. Recently, the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) proposed a change to Army doctrine that would have made Special Operations a seventh warfighting function for the Army. The proposal failed to pass and the Army is now taking a much slower approach to changes. This monograph uses this failed proposal as a singular case study, or micro-event that illuminates a macro-phenomenon, which could be preventing the Army from meeting its challenges of engagement and operational adaptability. Using key elements of organization theory as a lens for understanding why the proposal failed, this monograph applies process tracing and argument mapping. It demonstrates that the fragmented organizational sub-culture of SOF may have influenced not only the failure of the proposal, but also continues to prevent the Army from leveraging the institutional strength of the SOF community toward engagement and operational adaptability.

Download or read book Special Warfare written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Operational Art and the Silent Warrior Special Operations Forces in MOOTW written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Special Operations Forces provide the operational commander with the flexibility to respond to a multitude of contingencies across the spectrum of armed conflict. The operational CinC must also ensure that his subordinate staff is attuned to the benefits of integrating SOF with conventional forces. He and his staff must also never forget that the level of training of SOF personnel is superior, and that SOF is a formidable force multiplier particularly in the areas of ---Direct Action, Psychological Operations, and Civil Affairs.

Download or read book Innovative Practices for Special Warfare Army Special Operations Forces and Collaboration Structure and Incentives Case Analyses of Google the Joint Special Operations Command and Silicon Valley written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-09-09 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Special Warfare forces are tasked with conducting operations in uncertain environments defined by rapidly changing environmental elements (instability) and the interaction of many diverse external factors (complexity). In order to succeed, organizations operating in uncertain environments should decentralize decision making to the appropriate level and emphasize an "organic" approach that focuses on the importance of people, adaptation, and innovation. The current USASOC bureaucracy, mirroring the conventional Army, is built to maximize internal efficiency and specialize in previously predicted scenarios. Due to persistently high operational tempo, personnel downsizing, and fiscal constraints, redesigning USASOC is not feasible at this time. However, the improvement of processes and incremental enhancement to align better with the operational environment within the existing design is possible. This study explores best practices from innovative and adaptive organizations that ARSOF can draw upon to increase its capability to conduct special warfare. Through the examination of these best practices, the study identified four key factors that lead to innovation: collaboration, organizational structure, incentives, and acceptance. This study recommends that Special Warfare forces apply these factors by increasing career flexibility, internal and external linkages through broadening opportunities and liaisons, and the collective intelligence of the organization through the use of cross-functional teams and increased communication measures. Adopting these enhancements may promote innovation and adaptation and increase Special Warfare forces' contributions to national defense. CHAPTER I - FRAMING THE PROBLEM * A. INTRODUCTION * B. DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR SPECIAL WARFARE * C. ARSOF ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND INCOMPATIBILITIES WITH SPECIAL WARFARE * D. RESEARCH QUESTION * E. METHODS * CHAPTER II - LITERATURE REVIEW * A. INTRODUCTION * B. ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN THEORY * C. IDEA DEVELOPMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS * D. MILITARY INNOVATION * E. CORPORATE APPROACHES TO INNOVATION * F. IDENTIFIED INNOVATION THEMES * 1. Collaboration * 2. Structure * 3. Incentives * 4. Acceptance * CHAPTER III - CASE ANALYSES * A. INTRODUCTION * B. GOOGLE * 1. Conclusions * C. JOINT SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND * 1. Conclusions * D. SILICON VALLEY * 1. Conclusions * E. INNOVATION OUTSIDE OF THE MILITARY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES * 1. Conclusions * CHAPTER IV - COMPOUNDING FACTORS OF INNOVATION AND ADAPTATION * A. COLLABORATION * B. STRUCTURE * C. INCENTIVES * D. ACCEPTANCE * CHAPTER V - RECOMMENDATIONS * A. APPLYING THE LESSONS LEARNED TO SPECIAL WARFARE UNITS * 1. Career Flexibility * 2. Broadening Opportunities * 3. Liaisons * 4. Cross-Functional Teams * LIST OF REFERENCES * FOOTNOTES

Download or read book United States Special Operations Forces Posture Statement written by U.S. Special Operations Command and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Special Warfare written by and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Evolution of Operational Art written by John Andreas Olsen and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2010-11-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Broadly defined as the grey area between strategy and tactics, operational art spans the theory and practice of planning and conducting campaigns and major operations aimed at accomplishing strategic and operational objectives in a given theatre of operations. An intermediate link between strategy and tactics has always existed, but a distinct concept that encompasses a systematic and deliberate plan of campaign for major operations is a mere two hundred years old. Based on country specific case-studies, this book describes how the concepts that underpin operational art originated, how they received practical expression in various campaigns, and how they developed over time. The point of departure is the campaigns of 'the God of War', Napoleon Bonaparte. The book then proceeds with chapters on the evolution of operational art in Prussia / Germany, the Soviet Union / Russia, the United Kingdom, United States, Israel, and China. The final chapter deals with the future of operational art in irregular warfare. Theory is critical to refining and improving existing methods of applying operational warfare, and its importance cannot be overstated; however, to be useful, theory and its accompanying vocabulary must be combined with a proper examination of historical trends and practical experience. The present volume attempts to achieve that combination. This book is a project of the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War.

Download or read book U S Army Special Warfare Its Origins written by Alfred H. Paddock, Jr. and published by The Minerva Group, Inc.. This book was released on 2002-04 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Colonel Paddock traces the origins of Army special warfare from 1941 to 1952, the year the Armys special warfare center was established. While the Army had experience in psychological warfare, the major recent U. S. experience in unconventional warfare had been in the Office of Strategic Services, a civilian agency, during World War II. Many army leaders, trained and experienced in conventional warfare, hesitantly accepted psychological warfare as a legitimate weapon in the Armys wartime arsenal, but questioned the validity and appropriateness of the Armys adoption of unconventional operations. The continuing tensions of the cold war and hostilities in Korea resolved the ambivalence in favor of coordinating in a single operation the techniques of both types of warfare. Colonel Paddocks extensively documented work traces a portion of a brief episode in our Nations military hisotyr, but an instructive one. For the historian and military scholar, it provides the necessary backdrop for understanding the subsequent evolution of the Armys special warefare capability. For the national security policymaker, it suggests the value of the innovative impulse and the need for receptivity to new ideas and adaptability to change. John S. Pustay Lieutenant General, United States Air Force President, National Defense University

Download or read book Operational Design written by Jeffrey M. Reilly and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Toward a Primer on Operational Art written by David L. Ward and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: