Responsive Approaches in Small Wars: The Army and Marine Corps in the Philippines, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic
Abstract
Whether dealing with post-war instability, revolutions, insurgencies, or development missions, the United States military has a long history of confronting hostile forces hidden among civilian populations. This monograph seeks to answer the question "What characteristics do successful military approaches share in stability operations?" This monograph shows that military leaders that addressed the sources of instability or set the conditions for another agent to address the sources of instability in a changing environment while maintaining focus on the mission objective were ultimately successful. The monograph uses case studies from the US Army's occupation of the Philippines (1902-1913), and the Marine Corps' occupation of Haiti (1915-1934) and the Dominican Republic (1916-1924) to explore the various approaches used and identify characteristics that differentiated successful from unsuccessful approaches. During the Army's occupation of the Philippines, Leonard Wood, Tasker Bliss, and John Pershing modified their strategies to defeat an insurgency and bring Moroland under the control of the Philippine government. The Marine Corps' modified their approach numerous times during the occupation of Haiti, and eliminated a robust Caco rebellion. During the occupation of the Dominican Republic, the Marine Corps used several different approaches to enable a political settlement with the Caudillo leaders.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 25, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1038940
Entities
People
- Timothy J. Downing
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College