The Essence of Warfare at the Strategic Level
Abstract
The Army War College was chartered to provide education for the future strategic leaders of the United States Army. The premise being that warfare at the strategic level is somehow different than warfare at the tactical and operational level. While the scale and scope of activities can vary immensely from the tactical to the strategic level, warfare at its essence is the same. Carl Von Clausewitz would agree. When Clausewitz attempted to define warfare, his definition looked at the essence of war. This essence is the same at the squad, platoon, corps and strategic level. The school house at Ft. Leavenworth and at Carlisle Barracks still does not understand Clausewitz's use of the trinity concept in his definition of warfare which, by inference, the Army still struggles with training its leaders, at all levels, what war really is. This paper will examine how the Army as an institution has failed to grasp the essence of war. In addition the paper will introduce the concept of the 'identity', the force that forms the cohesive whole of an enemy, to further explain how the Clausewitzian trinity can be an aid in planning and executing warfare, at all levels, against our Nation's enemies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA404442
Entities
Organizations
- United States Army War College