Naval Operations: A Close Look at the Operational Level of War at Sea

Abstract

Todays American navy writes prolifically about maritime strategies but has not devoted equal attention to campaign plans or analysis that tests the strategies 'viability. We illustrate herein how the operationalor campaignlevel links policy and strategy to the tactical and technological elements of war at sea. First, we relate how the U.S. Navy reluctantly came to accept the existence of an operational level of warfare but having done so will find it useful. Second, we describe important properties of naval operations in terms of constants, trends, and variables in warfare at and from the sea. Third, we demonstrate how operational-level planning would help if the Navy and the nation were to adopt six clearly stated, twenty-first-century strategies that would serve present and future national policies better than do current strategy documents.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2012
Accession Number
AD1001892

Entities

People

  • Wayne Jr P. Hughes

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • C4I
  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Boats
  • Command And Control Systems
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Cyberspace Operations
  • Marine Transportation
  • Military Organizations
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Second World War
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Uss Cole
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Maritime and Naval Warfare Studies
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.