Coalition and Operation Dragoon: An Unwieldy but Effective Weapon
Abstract
Coalition warfare will continue as a critical element of US military interactions, emphasized in both the 2017 National Security Strategy and the US Army's future operational concept, multi-domain battle. Operation Dragoon provides a valuable case study for how Seventh Army rapidly integrated a disparate Franco-American coalition despite strategic disagreements. Clearing southern France while collapsing German resistance, Dragoons main objectives, the ports of Toulon and Marseille, doubled the Allied supply chain in France and provided critical throughput for US divisions. Seventh Army achieved this through effective negotiations bridging operational and strategic considerations, personal relationships and structural agreements, balancing national capabilities with constraints, multi-echelon organizational design, and centralized supply arrangements. Dragoon suggests methods for increasing pre-conflict habitualization, enabling future hasty coalition integration absent a period of forming and normalization provided by traditional alliance structures.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 24, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1071491
Entities
People
- Christopher J. Shepherd
Organizations
- School of Advanced Military Studies