Japanese Operational Plans in World War 2: Shortfalls in Critical Elements

Abstract

Nearly fifty years have passed since the end of World War Two in the Pacific theater of operations. Since then, the reasons and elements that contributed to America's victory and Japan's defeat have been exhaustingly analyzed by scholars and historians. This essay will examine just one element of that war -- Japanese operational plans. The thesis of this paper is that key and recurring components in Japanese war plans did not support attainment of their operational objectives. The essay will identify central elements in Japanese doctrine, operational level tactics, training, and leadership. These elements will be explored against the historical backdrop of three Japanese operations: the plan to invade New Guinea; the attack on Midway; and the plan to repel the U.S. landing on the Philippines. From this, several key and recurring shortfalls in the Japanese operational plans will emerge. Japanese, World War II, Operational planning

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 08, 1994
Accession Number
ADA279663

Entities

People

  • Thomas J. Culora

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Power
  • Aircraft Carriers
  • Aircrafts
  • Birds
  • Boats
  • Case Studies
  • Doctrine
  • Military History
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • New Guinea
  • New York
  • Second World War
  • Security
  • Undersea Warfare
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies