Coalition Operational Command and Control -- Lessons Learned from the Relief of Peking during the Boxer Rebellion
Abstract
In 1900, the eight most powerful nations in the world formed an international coalition during the Boxer Rebellion to rescue their besieged citizens in Peking. The coalition included troops from Great Britain, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States. This coalition is a historical precursor to recent ad hoc coalitions and provides lessons learned on coalition command and control that are still applicable today. The coalition formed for the Relief of Peking used a parallel command structure where each nation retained operational command of its own forces. With no unity of command, unity of effort was achieved throughout most of the operation due to the common objectives of all member nations. The Relief of Peking coalition is similar in numerous ways to the recent ad hoc coalitions formed during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Desert Storm. Command and control comparisons can be used to derive lessons learned pertaining to command structure, unity of command/effort, and cooperation of coalition members. A broad international coalition was vital during the Relief of Peking because of the requirement to rapidly mass sufficient forces to achieve success. Today, coalitions are no less vital for success; however, the key contribution that coalition members provide to U.S.-led operations is not direct involvement in the major combat phase of the conflicts. Instead, coalitions provide basing and overflight rights and other logistics support as well as establishing international legitimacy for the operations. The paper includes charts depicting six different command structures: Coalition Parallel Command Structure, Lead Nation Command Structure, Coalition Command Relationships for Operation Desert Storm, Coalition Command Relationships for the Relief of Peking, Coalition Command Relationships for Operation Enduring Freedom, and Jump Off Locations on 26 Feb 1991 for Operation Desert Storm.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 17, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA463337
Entities
People
- David R. Bustamante
Organizations
- Naval War College