Clarifying Relationships between Objectives, Effects and End States with Illustrations and Lessons from the Vietnam War

Abstract

This study examines the roles and relationships of objectives, effects, and end states across the strategic and operational levels of war to provide greater clarity for campaign planners. With its inclusion in the recently updated joint doctrine on planning, the effects-based approach to operations attempts to capture the latest insights on warfare. Unfortunately, the new joint doctrine fails to clearly articulate its advantages and scope of applicability, allows inconsistencies internal to itself and with previous doctrine to remain, and causes confusion in formerly well-understood concepts. With the goal of providing a more consistent framework than that offered by joint doctrine, this study, supported by lessons from the Vietnam War, examines why the nesting of objectives, effects, and end states must be understood to successfully design campaigns that will achieve strategic ends.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 05, 2007
Accession Number
ADA468782

Entities

People

  • David W. Gardner

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Doctrine
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Second World War
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Strategic Security Studies