Morale: The Missing Principle of War
Abstract
As the future unfolds and technology expands, maintaining troop morale will be vital to military performance and an important key to success in a digitized warfare - environment. To meet this challenge head-on "morale" should be included as a Principle of War in our Joint Doctrine. There are two basic axioms regarding warfare that are relevant for this discussion of morale and the principles. First, warfare has been a means to settle disputes for as long as societies have been organized. Second, war has always and will always involve human endeavor. Several nations include "morale" as a principle of war while U.S. doctrine does not. This paper will look at the human elements of morale and their potential to impact warfare at the operational level. After a brief discussion on how morale might influence combat power, four principles of war that are most dependent on leadership and the rank and file members, objective, unity of command, mass, and offense, and their relation to morale will be reviewed. As it is vital to look forward, digital warfare and the prospects for digital leadership will be examined to determine how success in operations may depend on incorporating a principle of morale into our doctrine.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 16, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA382117
Entities
People
- Maureen M. Cahill
Organizations
- Naval War College