Naval Operations: A Close Look at the Operational Level of War at Sea

Today's American navy writes prolifically about maritime strategies but has not devoted equal attention to campaign plans or analysis that tests the strategies' viability. We illustrate herein how the operational--or campaign--level links policy and strategy to the tactical and technological elements of war at sea. First, we relate how the U.S. Navy reluctantly came to accept the existence of an operational level of warfare but having done so will find it useful. Second, we describe important properties of naval operations in terms of constants, trends and variables in warfare at and from the sea. Third, we demonstrate how operational level planning would help if the Navy and the nation were to adopt six clearly stated, twenty-first century strategies that would serve present and future national policies better than do current strategy documents.