Order Out of Chaos: A Case Study of the Application of Auftragstaktik by the 11th Panzer Division during the Chir River Battles 7-19 December 1942

Abstract

The U.S. Army's current AirLand battle doctrine emphasizes maneuver warfare. Coupled to this revision in doctrine there has been no major update to U.S. command and control philosophy. The German Army of World War II also operated under a maneuver warfare doctrine. Its use of Auftragstaktik, a command and control philosophy, provides valuable lessons for our army from an historical perspective. This monograph presents an anatomy of the Chir River battles, from a command and control, as opposed to a tactical, perspective. The brilliant defense of the German weak positions against a numerically superior Soviet attacker provides an interesting parallel to the current situation faced by NATO units in Central Europe. Auftragstaktik should serve well as a foundation from which the U.S. Army can develop a coherent command and control philosophy that complements the AirLand battle doctrine. Keywords: Military doctrine history; World war -2; USSR. Theses.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA209474

Entities

People

  • Robert G. Walters

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combat Support
  • Command And Control
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Military Doctrine
  • Military History
  • Military Science
  • Operations Research
  • Schools
  • Second World War
  • Standards
  • Students
  • Training
  • United States
  • United States Military Academy
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control