Building a Planning Transition Capability into the New American Way of War
Abstract
Fast-tempo decisive combat operations have been called the "New American Way of War." This is in contrast to the traditional "American Way of War," which emphasized using massive amounts of firepower in a "grinding strategy of attrition" like the United States did against Germany and Japan in World War II. A major problem for Joint Force commanders and their staffs is that the speed of the campaign in this "New American Way of War" challenges their ability to adequately plan for both the decisive war fight and the transition to post-conflict operations. To better facilitate the transition from the dominate phase to the stability phase will require separate operational-level headquarters, each with sufficient training and expertise, working under a geographic combatant commander's overall operational design. This monograph uses organizational theory concepts of differentiation and integration to analyze the command structures in each of three case studies. The first case study is General Eisenhower's Supreme Headquarters' Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during World War II, which is an example of the traditional "American Way of War." In the SHAEF command structure, the length of the dominate phase was long, which allowed adequate time to prepare for the stability phase. The other two case studies, U.S. joint operations in Panama and Operation Iraqi Freedom, are examples of the "New American Way of War." These operations had dominate phases that were very short, necessitating a quick transition to the stability phase. The SHAEF case study provides insights into the types of organizations, policies, procedures, and training that need to be integrated into the "New American Way of War" so that there is adequate time to plan for the transition between combat and post-conflict operations. The author recommends that this transition be trained for in exercises and taught in Army and Joint schools.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 14, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA471797
Entities
People
- Christopher M. Hickey
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College