The Gulf War: Operational Leadership and the Failure to Destroy the Republican Guard
Abstract
This paper will focus on the Operational Commander, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command, and the relationship between operational leadership and some of the critical operational decisions he made during the Gulf War. An operational analysis of the Gulf War reveals that it is an example of several poor decisions made at the operational level that resulted in lost opportunities. Specifically, the Operational Commander made two decisions that resulted in the failure of the U.S. led coalition to achieve its key operational objective. The decision not to appoint a Joint Force Land Component Commander (JFLCC) and the decision to halt the ground war at 100 hours were critical mistakes. This paper will show that the decision to cease the ground war at 100 hours was made as a result of not having a JFLCC, and that both decisions were heavily influenced by General Schwarzkopf's style of leadership and its application in the Operational Art of war. General Schwarzkopf's decision not to appoint a JFLCC, but to retain that authority, overburdened him and caused him to spread his focus too thin, thus making him less effective at both the tactical and operational levels. This, coupled with General Schwarzkopf's fiery temper, tantrums, and continual berating of subordinates, prevented him from getting timely information from his tactical commanders. In the end, General Schwarzkopf did not have a complete picture of the battlefield when the President needed input for the purpose of a cease-fire. Consequently, General Schwarzkopf was not able to make a case for extending the ground war, and concurred with the decision to end the ground war at 100 hours.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 17, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA395087
Entities
People
- Mark H. Stroman
Organizations
- Naval War College