This study investigates the decisive factors that affected the Chickasaw Bayou Campaign, General Ulysses S. Grant's first effort to seize Vicksburg. By December 1862 Grant's forces had fought into north central Mississippi. Simultaneously, Major General John A. McClernand had convinced President Lincoln to allow him to command an independent amphibious force to operate on the Mississippi against Vicksburg. Grant hastily organized his own river expedition under Major General William T. Sherman to seize Vicksburg. The resulting campaign ended in the repulse of Union forces at Chickasaw Bayou....

This study investigates the decisive factors that affected the Confederate command during the Fort Henry-Fort Donelson campaign in February 1862. The thesis is relevant not only to the study of history, but as a series of lessons for senior leaders today. In the final analysis, the ultimate failure of the Confederates during the campaign can be attributed directly to Albert Sidney Johnston. As the department commander he failed to develop an adequate strategy to meet the invasion of Grant's army or to insure that each subordinate command was prepared. Most damaging of all, Johnston neglected...

A radical islamic insurgency named Alshabab has appeared in Somalia in recent years. African Union forces, with the support of the international community are actively engaged to defeat this movement. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), composed of nine thousand troops from Uganda and Burundi, is confronting Alshabab, alongside the Transitional Federal Government's (TFG) forces. On October 2011, Kenya also launched a military campaign into Somalia to defeat the radical group. The research question is to investigate the emergence of Alshabab in Somalia. This movement has adopted a...

Over the past two decades, China's rapid military expansion has raised concern among U.S. policy makers and defense officials. While it publicly claims a policy of "peaceful development," China continues to develop high technology weapons systems and force projection platforms that are widening its military advantage over its neighbors and could possible deny American military access to the region in the event of conflict. China's true ambitions and long-term strategy are difficult to discern, as it is intentionally secretive about its military development and foreign policy. Despite its...

This work examines the effect of civil defense forces on a counterinsurgency campaign through a study of the Civilian Irregular Defense Group in the Republic of Vietnam. This work challenges a common U.S. Army viewpoint on counterinsurgency that conventional combat power, training a host nation's national security forces, and expenditures on large civil reconstruction projects are the Army's main contributions to counterinsurgency operations. This work is a chronological study that outlines the U.S. Army's major successes and failures in the refinement of counterinsurgency doctrine. This...

Basing is a critical component of American warfare, and the expeditionary posture of the United States military poses challenges to operational planners and logisticians alike. Force projection is a key requirement for the US Army, and the use of basing directly speaks its success. From the "iron mountains" of Operation Desert Storm, to forward operating bases along the zone of separation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, to forward logistics bases and combat outposts of Iraq and Afghanistan, basing provides a critical position to deploy, stage, project, and fight forces. A lack of clear guidance for...

This book looks at the interventions of US forces in the Caribbean nations of Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Grenada between 1898 and 1998. It considers these interventions against the background of the relationships that Caribbean nations have historically shared with imperialist powers, looking specifically at US foreign policy towards the region for the period of the study. For each intervention, the causes, conduct and long term consequences are examined. The main question to be answered by the research is how Caribbean nations should now organize themselves to provide the response...

Over the last decade, wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and global counterterrorism operations have led to a significant increase in the partnership between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Defense (DoD). While recent conflicts helped develop the CIA/DoD relationship, legislative action and organizational changes that began in the 1990s in response to Desert Storm and the changing post-Cold War landscape set the foundation for partnership development. Although the CIA/DoD partnership appears to be closer than ever before, there are certain issues and conditions that could,...

The Hungarian Revolution exposed the contradictions in United States (U.S.) policy that had existed since the formation of the Psychological Warfare Campaign during the Truman Administration and grown during the Eisenhower Administration. Because of leadership failures and organizational problems within the Eisenhower Administration, this psychological warfare effort encouraged the Hungarian people to rise up in rebellion, even though the Administration was unprepared to support such an uprising and the Department of State had opposed such agitation. Throughout the revolution, Radio Free...

The purpose of this book is to establish whether or not there is a link between the Chinese government, transnational organized crime, and terrorist organizations operating in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Latin America and explore possible strategic implications. The author utilized a combination of structured analytic techniques in order to examine relationships among state and non-state actors and identify the intentions of each while maintaining an unbiased perspective. This book focuses on transnational organized crime and terrorist organizations actively operating in the TBA and the...