Historical examples are an expedient way to develop an understanding of operational art theory and concepts. A historical illustration of both operational success and failure is the Korean War. Several aspects of the Korean War remain relevant to operational art in contemporary conflicts. It had a complex and evolving strategy, a dramatic interplay of tactical success and failures, uncertainty and miscalculation, shortages of means to accomplish ends, and the difficult challenge to set the conditions for a satisfactory conclusion to the conflict. An examination of three distinct operational...