Effects-based Operations: More Important Than Ever

Abstract

Whether effects-based operations (EBO) and the effects-based approach to planning have led to negative warfighting results is a topic well worth our collective time and study. In fact, it is a healthy activity of any defense institution to question and evaluate its doctrine, policy, and procedures. The current debate on EBO brought about by General James N. Mattis's memorandum to US Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) directing the elimination of the term from the command's vocabulary has not put the issue to rest.1 Quite to the contrary, the Mattis memo reinvigorated the debate, and this article aims at being part of that debate. Effects-based operations are not dead. No one individual can kill a concept, and this concept has staying power. When the underlying rationale for General Mattis's decision is analyzed, one can see that EBO as a concept for planning will be around for some time.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA490632

Entities

People

  • Tomislav Z. Ruby

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Adaptive Systems
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Doctrine
  • Guidance
  • Information Operations
  • Information Warfare
  • Joint Military Activities
  • Military History
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • Security
  • Students
  • Terrorists
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Systems Analysis and Design