Plans That Survive First Contact

This monograph explores the truism that No plan survives first contact with the enemy. Why do commanders and staff officers continue to plan in great detail when the results of the Combat Training Centers and other events continue to reinforce this message The answer lies in the examination of what experienced combat commanders did with plans in the heat of combat. What did these commanders come to expect from plans and what was in them The United States Army gained valuable experience in the development of combat planning during the Second World War. This monograph examines the type of plan that one such experienced division and its commander used. The 9th Infantry Division commander and staff had learned what they could reasonability expect from plans soon after Normandy and subsequently never deviated from that methodology. This monograph selected one operation, the crossing of the Meuse River in Belgium in 1944 to illustrate what this experienced combat commander had come to expect from plans in combat.