Strategy and Tactics in Warfighting (WS 2017/18)

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Strategy and Tactics in Warfighting (WS 2017/18) Jörg Schimmelpfennig Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaft Ruhr-Universität Bochum Strategy and Tactics in Warfighting (WS 2017/18) Synopsis A Introduction 1. Strategy and tactics, or “stratagēma” and “tactica”: definitions and origins 2. The influence of technology on strategy and tactics 3. A navy’s purpose vs. an army’s purpose: “navies don’t purchase and possess real estate” 4. Strategic visions and tactical constraints 4.1. Littoral warfare: “A ship’s a fool that fights a fort.” (Nelson) 4.2. The “355-ship navy” and carrier strike force compositions 5. (Navy-oriented) foreword: “Tactics is the soul of our profession.” (Cebrowski) B (Mostly Naval) Tactics: “Fire Effectively First!” (Hughes) 6. Chase-Fiske-Lanchester Models: massing matters 6.1. Fighting sail tactics: ships-of-the-line, columns, shirkers, crossing the T, raking 6.2. Why (mathematical) models? Game theory and war games 6.3. (Pre 1775 infantry) Linear combat 6.4. The Fiske (1905) salvo model: tables, difference equations and tactical implications ... 6.4.1. ... concentrating fire? 6.4.2. ... massing? 6.4.3. ... surprise? 6.4.3. ... isolating enemy forces? 6.4.4. ... and a strategic implication: quantity or quality? 6.5. The Lanchester (1916) (originally aerial combat) square law for continuous fire 6.5.1. Solving the model 6.5.2. The Fiske tactical implications 6.5.3. Anecdotal evidence or empirical studies? Fighting sail; ground combat; COIN; aerial combat (“Flying Tigers”; Thach Weave; RAF doctrine) 6.6. Lanchester’s law, the prequel: The Chase (1902) square law 7. Tactical formations: column, line or echelon, “Turn” or “Corpen”? Lissa (1866); Parker; Fiske 8. A model of early WWII carrier warfare 8.1. Introduction to carrier warfare: welcome to the missile age 8.2. A linear (infantry-style) combat model 8.3. Screening and surprise: “Fire Effectively First!” yet again 8.4. Examples of early Pacific carrier battles 8.4.1. Coral Sea: American tactical defeat ... but strategic victory (May 7-8, 1942) 8.4.2. “AF” and Midway (June 4-5, 1942) 8.4.3. Eastern Solomons (August 24, 1942) 8.4.4. Santa Cruz Islands (October 26, 1942) 8.5. Early WWII carrier tactical problems: massing or dispersal? 9. WWII carrier warfare from 1943 onwards 9.1. Air support begins to matter: “Combat Air Patrol” and fighter escorts 9.2. The Battle of the Philippine Sea 9.3. Resolutions of tactical problems 10. WWII Destroyer tactics 10.1. U.S. cruiser and destroyer doctrines during the inter-war period 10.2. Guadalcanal: Cactus and the Tokyo Express 10.3. “The Battle of the Five Sitting Ducks”: Savo Island (November 8-9, 1942)) 10.4. Lessons learned I: “training, training and TRAINING” (Nimitz) 10.5. Lessons learned II: “Turn” instead of “corpen”; small TGs instead of large TF 10.6. New night fighting naval battle tactics: the Battle of Vella Gulf (November 6-7, 1943) 10.7. Battle of Okinawa: destroyer picket stations against kamikazes 11. Staying power and ship size since WWII 12. Naval warfare in the missile age 12.1. The Hughes (1995) salvo model 12.2. The Battle of the Philippine Sea revisited 12.3. Ship attributes: typical values 12.4. Planning with the salvo model: the importance of surprise and numbers 12.5. How to defend a Ticonderoga/Aegis cruiser 12.6. Mass for defense 12.7. Mass for scouting: Operation “Lion’s Den”, Haiphong Harbor (August 27, 1972) 12.8. Tactics subject to an A2/AD mission: disperse to survive C (Not Only Naval) Strategy 13. Strategy and tactics: telling the difference? 13.1. Some more definitions ... 13.2. “Forward – Engaged – Ready: A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower” 14. “Missions of the U.S. Navy” (and respective “tactics” and “tactical tools”) 14.1. Warfighting missions 14.1.1. Sea control 14.1.2: Power projection ashore 14.2. Deterrence 14.2.1. Presence 14.2.2. Strategic deterrence 15. Excursion: U.S. Navy presence during the Syrian invasion of Jordan (September 1970) 16. Deception 16.1. Operation BOLO, North Vietnam (January 2, 1967) 16.2. Deception in 2x2 sequential games 17. Naval strategy in the missile warfare age: risk levels and opportunity costs 18. Strategic blunders 18.1 Halsey at Leyte (1944): “Where Is Task Force 34, The World Wonders!” (Nimitz) 18.2. Deployment of Soviet Foxtrot, Zulu submarines during the Cuban missile crisis (1962) 18.3. The Vietnam War: “The way to end this war is to win the damned thing.” (Olds) 18.4. Carter administration naval policy (1976-1980) 18.5. Thatcher naval policy (1981): “The Royal Navy was to become a coast guard.” (Lehman) 18.6. The UK 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review ... 19. Is strategic planning obsolete? “Man plans, fate laughs ...” References Introductory Texts and Seminal Contributions Jehu V. Chase (1902), A Mathematical Investigation of the Effect and Superiority of Force in Combats Upon the Sea, unpublished paper, Naval War College Archives, RG 8, Box 109, XTAV (1902), DECLASSIFIED in 1972. Julian Corbett (1911), Some Principles of Maritime Strategy, London: Longmans, Green & Company. Thomas J. Cutler (2014), Lest we forget – Presence, Proceedings of the United States Institute, Vol. 140, November 2014, 93. Bradley A. Fiske (1905), American naval policy, Proceedings of the United States Institute, Vol. 31, January 1905, 1-80. Bradley A. Fiske (1916), The Navy as a Fighting Machine, New York NY, Charles Scriber’s Sons. Thomas J. Cutler (2015), The US Naval Institute on Naval Strategy, Annapolis MD; Naval Institute Press. Department of the Navy (2015), A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower, March 2015, Department of the Navy, Washington DC. Wayne P. Hughes (1992), The Value of Warship Attributes in Missile Combat, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey CA. Wayne P. Hughes (1995), A salvo model of warships in missile combat used to evaluate their staying power, Naval Research Logistics, Vol. 42, March 1995, 267-289. Wayne P. Hughes (2000), Fleet Tactics and Coastal Combat, 2nd edition, Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press. Wayne P. Hughes (2015), The US Naval Institute on Naval Tactics, Annapolis MD; Naval Institute Press. Frederick W. Lanchester (1916), Aircraft in Warfare: The Dawn of the Fourth Arm, London: Constable. John F. Lehman (2001), On Seas of Glory: Heroic Men, Great Ships, and Epic Battles of the American Navy, New York NY: The Free Press. Peter M. Swartz, Karin Duggan (2011), The U.S. Navy in the World (1970-1980): Context for U.S. Navy Capstone Strategies and Concepts, CNA Strategic Studies (CSS). Stansfield Turner (1974), Missions of the US Navy, Proceedings of the United States Institute, Vol. 100, December 1974, 19-25. Brian Whaley (2016), Practice to Deceive: Learning Curves of Military Planners, Annapolis MD; Naval Institute Press. Other Primary Sources David A. Adams (2000), Win without fighting, Proceedings of the United States Institute, Vol. 126, September 2000, 54-57. Rodric Braithwaite (2017), Armageddon and Paranoia – The Nuclear Confrontation, London: Profile Books. John E. Capper (1918), Memorandum on the Requirements for an Armoured Striking Force for an Offensive in 1919, 1 July 1918, in: Alaric Searle (1917), The Military Papers and Correspondence of Major-General J.F.C. Fuller, Stroud: The History Press, 129-138. Jeffery R. Cares (1990), The Fundamentals of Salvo Warfare, Naval Postgraduate School Master’s Thesis, Monterey CA. Commander Destroyers Pacific Fleet (1943), Destroyer Torpedo Attack Instructions (Tentative), Destroyer Tactical Bulletin No. 4-43, DECLASSIFIED. Kent S. Coleman (2006), Halsey at Leyte Gulf: Command Decision and Disunity of Effort, School of Advanced Military Studies; United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth KS. Hugh Elles (1917), Memorandum to General Staff, GHQ, 15 January 1918 – SECRET, in: Alaric Searle (1917), The Military Papers and Correspondence of Major-General J.F.C. Fuller, Stroud: The History Press, 63-65. John F.C. Fuller (1917), Memorandum on Anti-Tank Defence, 30 December 1917 – SECRET, in: Alaric Searle (1917), The Military Papers and Correspondence of Major-General J.F.C. Fuller, Stroud: The History Press, 54-62. John F.C. Fuller (1918), The Tactics of the Attack as Affected by the Speed and Circuit of the Medium D Tank, 24 May 1918 – SECRET, in: Alaric Searle (1917), The Military Papers and Correspondence of Major-General J.F.C. Fuller, Stroud: The History Press, 110-125. Ib Hansen, H.P. Gray (1990), Passive Protection and Ship Survivability in Years 2005-2020, David Taylor Research Center, SSPD 90-174-41, Bethesda MD, CONFIDENTIAL. Frank Hoffman (2012), Crafting a ‘good’ strategy, Proceedings of the United States Institute, Vol. 138, April 2012, 58-63. Thomas Hone, Trent Hone (2006), Battle Line: The United States Navy 1919-1939, Annapolis MD; Naval Institute Press. Trent Hone (2002), Building a doctrine: U.S. naval tactics and battle plans in the interwar period, International Journal of Naval History, Vol. 1, No. 2 (October 2002), 1-41. Trent Hone (2006), ‘Give them hell!’: The US Navy’s night combat doctrine and the campaign for Guadalcanal, War in History, Vol. 13, No. 2, 171-199. Trent Hone (2009), U.S. Navy surface battle doctrine and victory in the Pacific, Naval War College Review, Vol. 62, No. 1 (Winter 2009), 67-105. Samuel P. Huntington (1954), National policy and the transoceanic navy, Proceedings of the United States Institute, Vol. 80, May 1954, 483-493. Ian R. Johnson, Niall J. MacKay (2011), Lanchester models and the Battle of Britain, Naval Research Logistics, Vol. 58, 210-222. Ronald L. Johnson (1989/89), Lanchester’s Square Law in Theory and Practice, School of Advanced Military Studies; United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth KS. John T. Kuehn (2008), Agents of Innovation: The General Board and the Design of the Fleet That Defeated the Japanese Navy, Annapolis MD; Naval Institute Press.f James M.
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