The Evolution of Operational Art: A Neverending Story

The operational level of war lies at the heart of the United States Army's warfighting doctrine and the focus of this level of war is the operational art. In order to successfully prosecute war at the operational level, American military commanders must understand how and why operational art developed. For as long as mankind has organized to make war it has operated at the strategic and tactical levels of war. At the strategic level of war, nations and states practice the art and science of employing armed forces and other elements of national power to attain their objectives. At the tactical level of war military commanders practice the art and science of employing military forces and supporting means to win battles and engagements. At some point in time a linking level of war evolved in response to the increasing complexity of society and the corresponding difficulty of prosecuting wars. This level of war is the operational level of war and is nearly as old as recorded history. The operational level of war has always been the "vital link between strategic aims and the employment of forces on the battlefield." This monograph examines the evolution of operational art by defining the major contributions offered by Alexander the Great, Napoleon, U.S. Grant and the Russians/Soviets of the early twentieth century to demonstrate how each of these contributions was linked to some fundamental change in the nature of their societies. This monograph concludes that it was not the lightning advance of technology nor the advent of mass armies within the last two hundred years that defined operational art. These phenomena were the result of societal evolutions that allowed men of great genius to advance the practice of war to its fullest potential within their times. While these astounding technological and organizational changes have repeatedly expanded the scope and compressed the time within which we must practice operational art, they have not changed its nature. Operational art is still the process by which strategic aims are translated into tactical missions. Further it concludes that operational art is a product of the evolution of war and the societies that wage it. From Alexander until the present day, operational art has been evolving to meet the needs of the warrior and the dictates of the societies it serves. The genesis of operational art is not linked to any single facet of society, be it technology, politics or ideology. Operational art is a logical evolution of the practice of war. Its evolution proceeds from the fact that as society evolves so will the practice of war.