Accession Number:

AD1160006

Title:

U.S. Joint War Planning for Twentieth Century Large Scale Combat Operations: Case Studies and Implications for Current Joint Planners

Descriptive Note:

[Technical Report, Master's Thesis]

Corporate Author:

U.S. Army School for Advanced Military Studies

Personal Author(s):

• Erslev, Brit K.

Report Date:

2020-05-21

Pagination or Media Count:

78

Abstract:

The mid twentieth-century US military did not think in terms of campaigns to shape and deter war in the same way as todays Joint Force, but its planners navigated similar bureaucratic and civil-military obstacles. Historical planners worked within complex environments and operated under shifting, vague, or conflicting thoughts on national policy and strategy, causing them to make assumptions to adjust to actual or projected reality. They probed the boundaries of their roles as military advisors, embarking on intellectual journeys that elevated the role of the US military in shaping national security policy and strategy. The monograph will explore how past planners proposed courses of action to address great power competition and conflict. How, and how well, mid-century joint planners worked within constraints to craft realistic war plans for threats potentially leading to large-scale combat operations provides insight into how current planners can mitigate the bureaucratic and civil-military tensions of the Department of Defense and Executive Branch to provide contingency and campaign plans supporting the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs statutory responsibilities.

Descriptors:

Subject Categories:

• Military Operations, Strategy and Tactics
• Humanities and History
• Government and Political Science

Distribution Statement:

[A, Approved For Public Release]