Linkage of the strategic and operational levels of war.

Innovations in military technology and organization have change strategic and tactical methods of fighting wars. The U.S. Army AirLand Battle doctrine has revived the operational level to link strategic and tactical levels of war. The concept of operational level is not yet understood completely by other branches of the military or statesmen. A lack of common understanding about doctrine has caused conflicts about the preparation and conduct of war. The likely result of a misunderstood doctrine is the poor development of military strategy and poor execution at tactical levels. This paper examines linkages between strategic and operational levels of war using principles of war as guides for analysis. To that end, this paper examines the effects of changes in methods used to conduct war. The Korean War is analyzed to determine the linkage of the strategic level to the operational level of war. This paper concludes that the linkage of the strategic and operational levels is possible only through the development of the general's art. The general's art, the operational art, is the knowledgeable application of resources to accomplish goals that contribute to the political end. (Author)