Learning the Operational Art.

The Army has recently adopted a new warfighting doctrine--AirLand Battle. Fundamental to this new doctrine is the concept of operational art. Historically, operational art is not new, but it has not been taught in more than thirty years and is, therefore, new to the current generation of Army officers. The Army has institutionalized a system to produce excellence in tactical warfighting, but no such system exists to produce excellence in operational warfighting. There is more to learning the operational art than voluntary reading programs, doing short case studies, and attending lectures. Operational art, like tactics, is learned only through practice--through experience. Detailed, systematic study of military history can provide such experience. The institutionalized operational excellence of the German General Staff prior to and during World War II seems to prove the methodology is valid. The author's personal experience and historical research attempt to show that this methodology is the only way to learn operational art in peacetime. A number of suggestions on how the Army might proceed with institutionalizing excellence in operational art are provided. (Author)