"Thar Be Dragons!" Plotting a Course From War Termination to Conflict Resolution
Abstract
Following the implosion of the Soviet Union, the U.S. has found itself in unexplored territory similar to the days of early sailing ships crossing uncharted oceans. The captains of those ships of yore typically only plotted courses through waters familiar to them. Similarly, commanders today plan for conflict in terms familiar to them: combat of arms with a clearly defined enemy. With the recognition that we frequently deal in operations other than war, a paradigm shift is required to ensure planning the transition between war termination and conflict resolution. This is new and unexplored territory containing many lessons from operations conducted in the last decade. After achieving the military objective, what should be the CINC's responsibilities for deliberate and crisis planning for the transition to the strategic desired end-state? This paper proposes fundamental tenets, extrapolated from case studies of Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia, for the consideration of the operational commander during initial war/other than war planning to achieve enduring results. These include determination of a desired end state, training, centralized command and control, and synchronization of forces, in order results to achieve enduring.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 04, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA400916
Entities
People
- Martin A. Beck
Organizations
- Naval War College