Military

The Principles Of War - A Look Back To The Future

 

AUTHOR Major J. P. Niblett, Royal Marines

 

CSC 1989

 

SUBJECT AREA - History

 

 

 

 

                              EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

 

 

           TITLE: THE PRINCIPLES OF WAR - A LOOK BACK TO THE FUTURE

 

 

I. Purpose: To illustrate the value of the study of the Principles of War in

an historical context and to describe their relevance and application for

commanders in future conflicts.

 

II. Problem: During the current year at the USMC Command and Staff College (CSC),

students have been exposed to a wealth of professional military education.

Although war-fighting has been well-illustrated by campaign analyses and strategy

seminars, there has been no attempt to illustrate military history by applying

the established and accepted Principles of War. More importantly, however, their

application to likely future conflicts has been neglected.

 

III. Data: The recent passage of the 'Goldwater - Nicholls' Bill has confirmed

the importance of operations in a joint arena by all Services of the US Armed

Forces. It also highlighted the implications these operations will have for

officer career patterns and assignments, and significantly the Bill has

re-emphasised the value of Professional Military Education. By re-introducing

the study of military history to the core curriculum at CSC this year, students

have been given valuable lessons on the value of the study of military history.

The study has been presented through a series of seminars, a History of the

Armed Forces symposium, and a number of campaign analyses. Students are strongly

encouraged to supplement the formal teachings by additional private study and

research. In parallel with this syllabus, the College has defined the Principles

of War in a separate lecture and also discussed at length the new MAGTF Master

Plan and it's implications for the Corps.

 

IV. Conclusions: The syllabus and instruction have emphasised the importance

of the study of military history but there has been no attempt to apply the

well-proven Principles of War to past events nor to project them to likely

future conflicts for the USMC.

 

V. Recommendations: Rather than study past military events in a purely

historical sense, efforts should be made to identify lessons and to apply

them to the study of the future. The MAGTF Master Plan is a comprehensive

guide for the future of the USMC. A greater understanding of the relevance

of the Principles of War and their application can only serve future commanders

well in their understanding of war-fighting.

 

            THE PRINCIPLES OF WAR - A LOOK BACK TO THE FUTURE

 

 

 

Thesis: The study of military history is an important method of understanding

        the relevance of lessons learnt through the actions of past military

        commanders on the battlefield. The application of these lessons

        which reinforce the fundamental Principles of War, is a valuable tool

        in the study of likely future conflicts.

 

 

 

I.  Current Teaching

 

    A. Importance of Professional Military Education

 

    B. Study of military history at the Command and Staff College

 

 

II. The Principles of War

 

    A. Framework for the conduct of War

 

    B. Their significance

 

    C. Current accepted Principles of War

 

 

III. The Nature and Spectrum of Conflict

 

    A. Definition

 

    B. Low Intensity Conflict Operations

 

    C. Mid-Intensity Conflict

 

    D. High Intensity Conflict

 

 

IV. The Principles of War

 

    A. Definitions of the `MOUSE MOSS' Principles

 

    B. Historical examples of successful application

 

 

V.  Summary

 

    A. Relevance to Manoeuvre Warfare

 

    B. Importance of continued study

 

THE PRINCIPLES OF WAR - A LOOK BACK TO THE FUTURE

 

 

    Examples from history make everything clear, and in addition they

    afford the most convincing kind of proof in the empirical fields

    of knowledge. This applies more to the art of war than to anything

    else.1

 

    Since World War Two, US military forces have increasingly operated

 

in a joint warfare environment. Following the recent passage of the

 

`Goldwater-Nicholls' Bill there were implications not only for officer

 

career patterns and assignments, but perhaps more importantly for

 

professional military education (PME). During this current year at the

 

USMC Command and Staff College (CSC), students have been exposed to a

 

wide variety of professional reading and seminars designed to create a

 

greater awareness of the importance of PME. Just one aspect of this

 

has been the return of the study of military history to the core

 

curriculum which has sought to give the students an understanding of

 

the value of study of military history and to gain an appreciation for

 

the fact that contemporary events have a valid history; it is

 

important as military scholars to know our history and to have a

 

proper perspective of where and what we are today.

 

    It is also important early on to understand how the study of

 

military history should be undertaken. It is easy to approach history

 

in the wrong manner and to draw lessons which are then used to prove a

 

point or theory. Superficial study can furnish arguments in support of

 

any theory or opinion. Similarly, attempts to study history to

 

determine principles can be equally misleading. Too much focus or

 

adherance to the `Principles of War' can lead to formula warfare as it

 

has been described, or conflict by the rules which can lead to

 

disaster. Finally, it is important to remember that any study of the

 

past with contemporary values, opinions and knowledge leads to

 

distortion, false analysis and mis-interpretation.

 

    During this year at CSC, students have been privileged to hear

 

many talented military historians. Without exception, however, no-one

 

has attempted to illustrate military history by applying the

 

established and accepted Principles of War. Apart from a separate

 

lecture early on in the course there has been no link made between the

 

understanding of the Principles of War and lessons learned from

 

campaign analyses. A study of the history of war reveals that its

 

conduct is influenced by certain broad precepts which have come to be

 

recognised as Principles of War. OH 6-1 2 emphasises the doctrinal

 

Principles as follows:

 

            Mass                                        Manoeuvre

 

            Offensive                                 Objective

            Unity of Command                    Security                      = `Mouse Moss`

            Surprise                                  Simplicity

Economy of Force

 

    The conduct of war is an art, a skill requiring a combination of

 

judgement to weigh up the factors which can seldom be quantified

 

precisely. The principles influencing the conduct of war are

 

especially relevant at the strategic level where they predicate a

 

number of criteria against which courses of action affecting the

 

national interest or the planning of a campaign may be tested. Most of

 

them have a direct application at lower levels where they provide a

 

guide for the planning and conduct of operations on the battlefield.

 

However, they are not like the laws of natural science, where the

 

observance of specific conditions produces a predictable result; nor

 

are they like the rules of a game, a break of which entails a

 

prescribed penalty. Rather they are guides to action or fundamental

 

tenets forming a basis for appreciating a situation and planning; but

 

their relevance, applicability and relative importance change with the

 

circumstances. In the past their application with judgement and

 

commonsense has led to victory. Blatant disregard for them involves

 

risk and could lead to failure. With a perceptive eye for the impact

 

of technology on the modern battlefield, Sir Basil Liddell Hart in

 

1944 expressed it this way:

 

 

    The aim of military study should be to maintain a close watch upon the

    latest technical, scientific, and political developments, fortified by

    a sure grasp of the eternal principles upon which the great captains

    have based their contemporary methods, and inspired by a desire to be

    ahead of any rival army in securing options for the future.3

 

 

    The purpose of this paper is to encourage the reader to look a

 

little way beyond the `MOUSE MOSS' acronym and to develop an awareness

 

of the value of study of the Principles of War and their relevance and

 

application for commanders in future conflicts. Firstly though, it is

 

important to remind ourselves of the established Principles. The

 

present variations in the number and name of the Principles of War

 

leads to doubt in their credibility, and a study of military history

 

in this frame of mind is dangerous. With a knowledge of the

 

fundamental Principles, the reasons for failures or successes in

 

military history and the relationship of the circumstances to these

 

Principles will provide confidence in their validity and help any

 

student gain an informed opinion of their application.

 

In the words of General Macarthur:

 

    In no other profession are the penalties for employing untrained

    personnel so appalling or so irrevocable as in the military.4

 

 

    OH 6-1  lists the following table showing the comparison of

 

Principles of War used by various nations. All the Principles,

 

however, are interrelated and can, depending on the circumstances,

 

reinforce one another or be in conflict. As a result, the degree of

 

application of any specific Principle will vary with the situation.

 

 

            United States               Great Britain                          France

            Objective                     Selection and maintenance            -

                                                of the aim                               -

            Offensive                     Offensive action                       -

            Mass                            Concentration of force            Concentration of effort

            Economy of force            Economy of effort                   -

            Manoeuvre                  Flexibility                                 -

            Unity of command            Co-operation                                  -

            Security                      Security                                  -

            Surprise                      Surprise                                  Surprise

            Simplicity                     -                                               -

            -                                   Maintenance of morale            -

            -                                   Administration             -

 

 

    Against this introduction and background, this paper will study

 

the Nature and Spectrum of Conflict in likely future operations for

 

the USMC and then to illustrate the accepted Principles with

 

historical examples in order to better understand their application

 

and relevance.

 

    Recent history has shown that there are certain types of

 

operations where military forces may be employed across the whole

 

Spectrum of Conflict. The Nature of Conflict, however, within the same

 

Spectrum is really the definition of those operations. Distinctions

 

between the levels of conflict and the different types of operations

 

in each level are not easy to define, particularly when some

 

operations can easily fall within other parts of the Spectrum.

 

    In the MAGTF Master Plan,5 illustrations show that since World War

 

Two the trend has been for conflicts to appear in the lower end of the

 

Spectrum, called Low Intensity Conflict(LIC). The following section

 

briefly describes the most likely types of operation for the USMC

 

MAGTF through the year 2000.

 

                     LOW INTENSITY CONFLICT

 

STABILITY OPERATIONS/MILITARY OPERATIONS SHORT OF WAR

 

    It is planned that MAGTFs will conduct a wide variety of

 

operations in LIC but centered mainly around either limited objective

 

operations or stability operations. The former usually involves the

 

employment of military forces to achieve specific military or

 

political goals while stability operations assist friendly or allied

 

governments to maintain internal stability and public welfare. Two

 

major differences set these two types of operations apart. Limited

 

objective operations normally employ force from the outset whereas in

 

stability operations offensive action is less likely.

 

STABILITY OPERATIONS. These comprise seven types of operations.

 

    1. Show of Presence. Normally a presence is achieved by way of a

 

    joint exercise or bilateral deployment designed to simulate

 

    wartime operations and improve levels of training.

 

    2  Humanitarian Assistance. This can be provided in response to

 

    natural disasters, through bilateral agreements and as civic

 

    action projects within exercises. CSS support is particularly

 

    important in these missions.

 

    3. Mobile Training Teams(MTT). MTTs perform a useful role through

 

    the use of military personnel in a benign environment. They are

 

    co-ordinated through and approved by the Department of State who

 

    control their deployment and employment.

 

    4. Peacekeeping Operations. US forces conduct peacekeeping

 

    operations as pact of a combined or international force and would

 

    normally aim to employ the minimum of force to achieve their aims.

 

    5. Security Operations. These normally involve the protection of

 

    US lives and property as well as offering protection to a friendly

 

    government.

 

    6. Counter-Insurgency. Counter-Insurgency operations are most

 

    likely to occur in the higher end of the Spectrum of Conflict for

 

    LIC involving direct action with insurgent forces.

 

    7. Counter-Narcotic Operations. This remains a sensitive area and

 

    any MAGTF support is likely to be restricted to providing

 

    individual military skills and operational planning assistance to

 

    interagency task forces.

 

 

 

LIMITED OBJECTIVE OPERATIONS

 

    These operations will cover Peacetime Contingency Operations and

 

Counter-Terrorism. In the former, MAGTFs can be employed to seize

 

airfields or ports through amphibious raids and to provide protection

 

or evacuation of non-combatants(NEO). Additional missions include

 

reinforcement of committed national or international forces and

 

clandestine operations to recover aircraft, equipment and personnel.

 

    Counter-Terrorism operations are designed to prevent, deter and

 

respond to terrorism in whatever form it takes. MAGTFs could support

 

these operations with amphibious raids to hit known terrorist targets,

 

recovery raids to recover hostages or sensitive material, or

 

diversionary raids to support national counter-terrorist operations.

 

    In both stability and limited objective operations the MAGTF

 

flexibility to task-organize and respond as the situation and

 

circumstances demand is a unique capability which makes the MAGTF

 

well-suited for employment in low-intensity conflict.

 

 

 

                     MID-INTENSITY CONFLICT

 

    These conflicts encompass anything from short but intense regional

 

conflicts to protracted counter-revolutionary operations. In these

 

situations a MAGTF is most likely to be deployed as part of a larger

 

naval, joint or combined force. The MAGTF organic support will be

 

considerably enhanced by other Services to provide a viable operating

 

force for both land and sea campaigns. Since mid-intensity conflict is

 

more often regional than global, some of the most likely missions may

 

be amphibious landings, raids, extractions or protracted land

 

operations.

 

              HIGH INTENSITY CONFLICT - THE MAGTF IN GENERAL WAR

 

    General War is large-scale all-out conflict between major powers

 

on an international scale. As the nation's most ready force, the USMC

 

will play a key role in the early stages of a general war before

 

nuclear operations commence. As in mid-intensity operations, MAGTFs

 

can be employed as amphibious forces or in land campaigns. In either

 

case, the MAGTF current capabilities and forthcoming over-the-horizon

 

deployment potential further reinforce the large number of likely

 

operations in which they can be employed.

 

    Finally, in addition to all the operations previously mentioned,

 

MAGTFs may also be employed in a number of other operations across the

 

Spectrum of Conflict. These include tactical military deception,

 

psychological operations and civil affairs, as well as unconventional

 

warfare. It is clear therefore that the USMC has to be prepared to

 

conduct a very wide variety of operations across the whole Spectrum

 

but with priority on LIC.

 

    Having now reviewed the Nature and Spectrum of Conflict and how the

 

USMC is most likely to be employed, it is easier to give a perspective

 

to the application of the Principles of War by citing historical

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