The Combat Studies Institute (CSI) is pleased to present its latest publication in the Occasional Paper Series, "We Have Not Learned How to Wage War There" The Soviet Approach in Afghanistan,1979-1989, by Mr. Matt Matthews. For this work, Mr. Matthews collected a wide variety of sources on the subject, many of them of primary accounts, and used these materials to provide an overview of the evolution of the Soviet operational approach in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989. This Soviet experience offers a number of useful insights for American military professionals who are, as of this writing,...

A staff ride to a major battle eld is an excellent tool for the historical education of members of the Armed Forces. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, has been conducting staff rides since the 1900s. Captain Arthur L. Wagner was an instructor at Fort Leavenworth in the 1890s, and he believed an of cer's education had become too far removed from the reality of war. He pondered how to get the experience of combat to of cers who had only experienced peace. His answer was the staff ride, a program in which stu-dents studied a major battle and then went to the actual eld to complete the study. Wagner did...

In this timely Occasional Paper, Dr. Tom Bruscino analyzes a critical issue in the GWOT, and one which has bedeviled counterinsurgents past and present. He examines the role played by sanctuaries as they relate to irregular warfare in two conflicts. An active sanctuary refers to the practice of using territory outside the geographical limits of an irregular war to provide various forms of support to one side, usually the insurgent or guerrilla force. In the first case study, he looks at the United States' efforts to defeat the advantages gained by the Viet Cong (and later the North Vietnamese...

Although the Russian war plans of both Napoleon and Hitler miscarried seriously in terms of casualties and materiel even prior to the onset of winter, "General Winter" was indeed a major contributor to the magnitude of their subsequent problems and casualties. No consideration of warfare in European Russia can ignore the harshness of that region's climate, and the successful war planner must adapt to those conditions or risk emulating their powerful predecessors. Fighting the Russians in Winter: Three Case Studies cites three examples drawn from history to illustrate the nature of a winter...

Originally published in 1982, this a volume in the Combat Studies Institute "Leavenworth Papers" series. Abstract: "Night combat has frequently been the recourse of the inferior military force or, as in World War II, of the army seeking either to find some respite from air power or to reduce casualties in the face of great firepower. Still, despite the difficulties associated with conducting military operations at night, military planners and leaders cannot escape one salient fact: darkness is a double-edged weapon. During World War II, the Soviets effectively exploited darkness in a variety...

First published in 1986. An in-depth analysis of the Battle of Bastogne, focusing on the ability of a light division to defeat heavier ones, leads to predictable conclusions. At Bastogne, well-coordinated combined arms teams defeated uncoordinated German armored and infantry forces committed to an unrealistic plan. Results of isolated cases in which American infantry fought German armored forces point out how important the attached package of tanks and tank destroyers was to the 101st. The infantry, fighting alone, would have lost Bastogne early in the battle. Coordinated German attacks in...

The Six Day War of June 1967 saw the Israel Defense Force (IDF) achieve a decisive military victory over Egypt, Jordan, and Syria while sustaining relatively few casualties. Despite the subsequent image of Israel as a regional military superpower, Egypt attacked again in 1973, eventually resulting in a peace treaty that promised to return the entire Sinai to Egypt. It is the contention of "The 1973 Arab-Israeli War: The Albatross of Decisive Victory" that the IDFs dramatic 1967 victory unconsciously created an albatross in the form of a belief in its own invulnerability coupled with the...

Ad bellum Pace Parati: prepared in peace for war. This sentiment was much on the mind of Captain Arthur L. Wagner as he contemplated the quality of military education at the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, during the 1890s.