"Not War but like War": The American Intervention in Lebanon (Leavenworth Papers, Number 3)
Abstract
This study began in August 1979 as a series of notes for a lecture on the employment of contingency forces at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. The lecture was intended to serve as a historical introduction to the subject, using the 1958 American intervention in Lebanon as a case in point. It was thought that by analyzing the Lebanon intervention one could demonstrate several important lessons: how political and diplomatic objectives directly affect the character of modern military operations; how an operational military plan is conceived and what evolutions it endures before it is executed; how such plans, though they appear to anticipate every operational problem, are usually unequal to the realities of operational practice; and, finally, how valuable a quality mental agility can be when put to use by a military commander and his subordinates. Interestingly, most of the literature dealt with the Marines if of it took notice of military operations at all.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA211714
Entities
People
- Roger J. Spiller
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College