The German East Africa Campaign of World War I- A Lesson in Isolated Ground Force Operations for Future Great Power Conflicts

Abstract

A ground force that can operate in austere environments with limited technology and requirements for external support is an asymmetric advantage to U.S. national security. During the German East Africa Campaign of World War I, General Paulvan Lettow-Vorbeck was able to successfully wage conventional ground warfare isolated from external support. Lessons learned from how the Schutztruppe logistically and medically sustained their campaign provide advantages in the conduct of distributed operations against a peer adversary during a great power conflict. Technology is vital for the conduct of future war, but it is not itself an asymmetric advantage. Ground forces must be survivable, not dependent, to win.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 17, 2019
Accession Number
AD1177257

Entities

People

  • Anthony J. Devuono

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army
  • Autonomous Weapons
  • Department Of Defense
  • East Africa
  • First World War
  • Force Protection
  • Global Positioning Systems
  • Logistics
  • Marine Corps
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Research Facilities
  • Security
  • Training
  • United States
  • Veins
  • Warfare
  • Word Processors

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies