The American Way of War

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The American Way of War Essay
Introduction
Military historians and strategists have researched widely on the subject of the American way of war. With the United States (U.S.) withdrawing from Iraq and, more recently, from Afghanistan, it is perhaps critical to evaluate the guiding principles of the American Way of War and establish how enemy military or political leaders can negate or leverage its pitfalls. In his analysis of the evolution of operational art, Brigade Commander Isserson noted that any warfare needs to be treated concerning its feasible character as well as its general characteristics centered on political hegemony, categories, and relations (Isserson 39). Politics constitutes the only construct entitled to a superior stand in regard to guiding the general war direction. In this paper, it is argued that the most critical concepts that Russian military and senior political leaders need to know concerning the American Way of War include the 1986 FM 100-5 doctrine and the joint operation principles of objective, unity of command, and legitimacy. This paper also argues that the Russian military can use the concepts above to design novel military strategies that leverage the weaknesses of the U.S. military doctrines.
Most Important Concepts in the American Way of War
The concept of operational art is an important concept related to the American Way of War. The U.S. Army integrated the operational level of war into its Army doctrine as part of the initial steps toward formally accepting the operating art concept. This decision positively impacted the Army doctrine by ensuring that the new concept was not centered on narrowed tactical emphasis, characterizing Active Defense. At the heart of the operational art in the U.S. military is the 1986 FM 100-5 doctrine, which ensured that military commanders could understand that major priorities significantly influence the appropriation of limited aerial resources. This implies that the U.S. Army doctrine recognizes three war levels: operational, tactical, and operational (Blythe 45). The official recognition of the operational threshold of war metamorphosized into subsequent acceptance by the military leaders. Operational art improved the preceding guide by recognizing that war actions at the operational threshold require significant creativity from commanders at the given level. Such an innovative action is necessary in campaign planning endeavors, where military leaders translate strategic objectives into specific tactical ones (Blythe 46).
The principles of joint operations, including objective, legitimacy, and unity of command, are among the important concepts of the American Way of War, mainly because they apply in all military operations. The American military specified the objective to direct the military operation towards an explicitly defined, achievable, and decisive goal. The primary purpose of the U.S. military operations is to realize given objectives to ensure the achievement of the strategic objectives established to resolve the existing conflict (Scott A-1). By applying this principle, the Americ...