Strategic leader transitions constitute narrow windows of opportunity marked by high pressure, high expectations and general lack of organization awareness for many new leaders. During the transition period, an incoming leader must effectively utilize the existing time to develop a keen understanding of the organization and its environment while developing strategies for organizational success. If managed properly, transitions can enable organizational improvement in a number of ways. On the other hand, poorly managed leader transitions have significant ramifications. The Army's transition...

The first official use of the term "transformation" is often attributed to the document Joint Vision 2010 published in 1996. Logistics, an integral component to this transformation, is adjusting as well. As a part of logistics transformation, maintenance has been thoroughly reworked. Maintenance transformation must address the issues presented by a transforming Army while it is at war. General Systems Theory offers many valuable insights into how a transformed maintenance system should develop. Used in conjunction with pertinent historical data and developed with Army transformation goals in...

The Army is under stress from repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and is limited to ten AC division HQ to fill operational command and control missions. Nine of the ten AC division HQ have had a total of 30 deployments between September 11, 2001, and December 2010, for operations in OEF and OIF. By comparison, during this same period, only two of the eight ARNG division HQs deployed in support of OIF. As of December 2010, the AC had 50 percent of their division headquarters deployed with three division HQ in Iraq and two division HQ in Afghanistan. This monograph will answer the...

Failed, failing, and collapsed states and regions all provide opportunities for conflict and intervention in order to promote the security of the United States. Recognizing the opportunity to implement a change in how the United States plans and executes reconstruction and stabilization assistance for foreign states and regions, the President of the United States issued National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD)-44. The result was DoD Directive 3000.5, Military Support for Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction (SSTR) Operations, stating stability operations are a core U.S....

The Department of the Army decided to re-structure the combat divisions into modular, brigade units in order to better address the difficulty inherent in fighting a long war on terrorism, while simultaneously providing combat units to OIF and OEF for SSTR operations. These new modular combat units are based on predominantly infantry and armor capabilities and have resulted in a large divestiture of engineering units and capabilities. However, the Army's reduction in its premier re-construction capability lies in stark contrast to the US Department of Defense (DoD) policy directive 30000.05 of...

U.S. Army commanders seek to balance the requirements to conduct offensive, defensive and stability operations simultaneously. Within this framework, commanders have also had to balance the conduct of traditional military actions and non-military activities. In order to do so effectively commanders employ operational art. The forthcoming Army Doctrinal Publication, Unified Land Operations presents the "principle that operational art is the connection between strategic objectives and tactical actions, and provides a common construct for organizing military operations." This manual defines...

Given ongoing conflicts and the likelihood of executing counterinsurgency in the future, it is vital to conduct effective campaign planning for counterinsurgency. Additionally, effective campaign planning is essential for rapid and effective operational and tactical adaptation. Center of gravity analysis is a tool that can be useful to support these activities. This monograph validated the hypothesis that there are multiple centers of gravity in counterinsurgency that vary by insurgent purpose, location, approach, and phase. Leaders and planners need to place centers of gravity in their...

Increased expeditionary military operations tempo over the past sixty years highlighted the increasing need for base camps to enable force projection for the U.S. as well as allied partners in a variety of locations in the world. Base camps evolved based on mission and the environment, while the ever-changing needs of the force inadvertently established (and often cemented) cost prohibitive practices, inconsistencies in decision making, management and quality, and resulted in ad hoc solutions. Projections for future engagements make it very likely that the need for base camps will be an...

This monograph elucidates lessons of trust learned through the study of historical command relationships between soldier and airman. The purpose of this monograph is to highlight the need to apply the lessons learned from these case studies in today's operating environment. To accomplish this purpose, the work examines three historical case studies: Generals Bradley and Quesada in WWII, Generals Schwarzkopf and Horner in Operation Desert Storm, and Generals Clark and Short in Operation Allied Force. By illustrating differing airpower conceptualizations in these case studies, this monograph...

This paper explains that in order for a fractured society to forge a lasting, stable peace, it requires not only a holistic approach to amnesty, reintegration, and reconciliation (AR2) but also a balance of three critical dimensions within its process: the political, security, and economic dimensions. It contends that if the process of AR2 is not complete or there is an imbalance in the system, the fractured society will either remain at an unstable peace, if contained, or move to crisis or possibly to war. On the surface, a government may seem successful in its quest at conflict resolution,...