Advances in technology and evolution of doctrine provide grounds to review commonly-held assumptions about the level at which combined arms warfare begins. This book examines the platoon equipped with the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle to determine if combined arms warfare has devolved to find its current roots at platoon level. This book accomplishes three objectives. First, for background it provides a brief history of the evolution of combined arms. Second, it focuses on aspects of maneuver theory, organization, combat experience, doctrine, and weapons technology to support the...

Robert E. Lee, in his first campaign as the new commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, stopped the Union offensive against Richmond in a series of engagements known as the Seven Days. Although eventually successful, Confederate operations were clumsy and erratic and often missed opportunities to secure greater success. At the end of the Seven Days, Lee reorganized his forces and began preparations for his next campaign. This new campaign, which resulted in the Battle of Second Manassas just two months later, is widely considered to be one of Lee's most brilliant operations. The purpose...

This book uses the development of steam propulsion in the United States Navy as a case study for how new technology affects the strategy of the United States at the operational and strategic levels. Using the modern paradigms of operational and strategic levels of war as delineated in current joint publications, this study shows that the link between technology and strategic and operations design is critical to the application of new technology. Though the period of the study is before the Civil War, significant use of steam propulsion in the United States allows detailed analysis of the...

Safety, efficacy, and legal concerns surrounded the Department of Defense (DoD) Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program (AVIP) in the early and mid-2000s. Production capacity, patient refusals, and legal injunctions limited vaccine delivery during this time period. Since 2007, the Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (AVA) has been administered to all service members deploying to high-risk areas except those medically or administratively exempt. This book evaluates the current AVIP in terms of associated risks and benefits. Aggregate data from long-term studies and review by multiple scientific...

The renowned Field Marshal Count Helmuth von Moltke, chief of the great German General Staff and architect of the three campaigns that permitted the unification of Germany in 1871, believed fervently that war, to be understood, must be dissected and the parts examined. To that end, he directed not only that a section of the General Staff devote its energies exclusively to the study of military history but that all General Staff officers, drawn from the cream of the Prussian officer corps, travel to battlefields, study the plans made by the commanders, and relive the battles on the actual...

The author's personal experience during one Military Operation Other Than War (MOOTW) will be examined, in this book. One unit's pre deployment planning and training will be examined then compared to the actual operations conducted. Incumbent on the conclusions drawn from the results of the comparisons, recommendations will be made in the thesis on how to improve the training and preparations of one unit. Doctrine is examined to establish a base of understanding in the fundamental approach to conducting MOOTW. Current studies relating to MOOTW will be reviewed to determine trends in opinions...

The future of the M1 Abrams tank is uncertain. With current fiscal constraints and the requirement for expeditionary maneuver, the U.S. Army is under pressure to demonstrate the need for its Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCT), and specifically for its main battle tank, the M1 Abrams. The questioning of the tank's role in the U.S. Army of 2015-2025 stems from an underlying uncertainty regarding the future character of warfare. An extrapolation from the past thirteen years of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could lead to the conclusion that future conflicts are likely to be unconventional...

From 1925 to 1991, the Soviet Red Army attempted to epitomize the union of military and political thought. One may wonder just how the Red Army came to be formed in this manner. This Book attempts to answer that question by addressing the debate over a Unified Military Doctrine beginning in 1921, through the lens of providing a critical analysis of the military and political experiences of its staunchest supporter: Mikhail Frunze. In this work, it will be argued that, despite the vast military experiences of Mikhail Frunze, his political experiences were more influential in creating the...

The American Revolution, and subsequent War for Independence came about through the confluence of several converging ideological strains. One of the chief ideological drivers of the American Revolution was Whig Ideology, which drew heavily on John Locke's understanding of natural law, synthesized with romantic historic notions of free Anglo-Saxons. This mental framework in which much of the revolutionary generation considered their liberties was evident also in the colonial backcountry. The colonial backcountry was populated by diverse ethnic groups, but was dominated by the recently arrived...

For over four years during World War I, Lieutenant Colonel (Later Major General) Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, commander of the German Schutztruppe led the men of the British East African Expeditionary Force on a chase over some of the most inhospitable terrain imaginable. As the commander of German forces in East Africa, he was the author of one of the most successful guerrilla fights in history. His innovative and creative solutions to daily problems proved to be the undoing of a succession of British commanders, allowing him to bleed Allied forces from European fronts. Although he never...