The Principles of War and Campaign Planning: Is There a Connection?

Abstract

The principles of war have been a part of US Army doctrine since 1949. In 1989 with the publication of JCS Pub. 3-0, Doctrine for Joint Operations, the principles of war also became part of Joint doctrine. However, other than their reference in JCS Pub 3-0, the principles of war are not mentioned in any of the other current discussions of campaign planning. With this in mind, the author analyzes the principles of war, seeking to determine how and why they were adopted. One key point to surface in the analysis is the fact that the Army chose the principles of war rather arbitrarily in 1921. Unlike J.F.C. Fuller's Principles of war (upon which they are modeled), The American principles of war were not accompanied by a comprehensive theory of war.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 23, 1990
Accession Number
ADA234494

Entities

People

  • Paul E. Melody

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Defense
  • Air Force
  • Army
  • Doctrine
  • Field Army
  • Infantry
  • Instructors
  • Literature
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Art
  • Military Science
  • Schools
  • Security
  • Students
  • Training
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Systems Analysis and Design