Changing the Way the Marine Corps Teaches Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield

Abstract

German planners were more responsible for the death of the Wehrmacht than their Soviet enemy during Operation Barbarossa. Hundreds of thousands were killed by harsh winter conditions after the possibility of a longer than anticipated engagement was ignored. Marine Corps planners are not any more prepared to think critically during Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) than the Germans were in 1941. Critical thinking is a fundamental component of IPB. If IPB is flawed, then the decisions made during planning are similarly flawed; from faulty thinking, faulty plans emerge. The Marine Corps should change its approach to IPB instruction because current IPB curriculum does not encourage critical thinking, it emphasizes process over analysis, and is based on "flawed concepts of learning."

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 19, 2008
Accession Number
ADA500134

Entities

People

  • S. W. Theberge

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Battlefields
  • Curriculum
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Geographic Regions
  • Instructions
  • Instructors
  • Marine Corps
  • Marine Corps Operations
  • Military Education
  • Schools
  • Students
  • Systems Approach
  • Training
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Military Science
  • Systems Analysis and Design