The Operational Commander's Role in Planning and Executing a Successful Campaign

The rise of industrialization coupled with the growth of technology have contributed to creating a complexity to modern warfare that far exceeds the primitive conditions of earlier periods. Defined as the creative use of distributed operations for the purposes of strategy, success at the operational level requires that commanders practice operational art. Although current doctrine recognizes that the operational commander must link theater strategy to tactical operations through operational art, it fails to provide an adequate description of the commander role in campaign planning. Thus, this monograph examines the operational commander's role in planning and executing a successful campaign. The monograph begins by describing how industrialized societies and technology affected the evolution of warfare thus creating a new medium known as operational art. Next it discusses suitable criteria for determining the commander's role in operational campaigns followed by an explanation of the campaign analysis model consisting of the operational operating systems described in TRADOC Pam 11-9. The monograph then analyzes three successful campaigns: Field-Marshal Slim as the 14th Army commander in Burma; General MacArthur in the World War II Cartwheel Operation and General Ridgway as the 8th Army commander in Korea. The monograph concludes that the operational commander's role in campaign planning is decisive in several ways. He must ensure that the strategic end state is clearly defined and attainable with the means at his disposal. His plans must not exceed the capabilities of his force and any imbalance between his operating systems and the enemy's must be corrected. As a minimum, he must articulate his intent and identify the pre-conditions to achieve success at the tactical level. Moreover, his vision must encompass distributed and sequential operations focused at the enemy center(s) of gravity and integrated throughout his operating systems within the dimensions of space, air, land, sea, and subsurface. In execution, the operational commander's ability to learn, anticipate and adapt has a decisive impact on the outcome of the campaign. Furthermore, modern technology has not reduced the requirement for him to command from forward locations. Ultimately, his personal influence, willpower and moral effect significantly outweighs tactical command influence and may well spell the difference between victory and defeat.