English September-October 2017-Cover

September-October 2017

Table of Contents

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Letter from the Editor

Themes for Future Editions

Preparing for the Fight Tonight: Multi-Domain Battle and Field Manual 3-0

Gen. David G. Perkins, U.S. Army

In the second of a series on multi-domain battle, the commander of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command describes how Field Manual 3-0, Army Operations, to be published October 2017, will incorporate doctrine to help Army forces prepare for the possibility of major armed conflict in the near future.

The Indo-Asia Pacific and the Multi-Domain Battle Concept

Gen. Robert B. Brown, U.S. Army

The commander of U.S. Army Pacific discusses the effects of the multi-domain battle concept on operational and resource decisions in the U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility.

Theater Land Operations: Relevant Observations and Lessons from the Combined Joint Land Force Experience in Iraq

Lt. Gen. Gary Volesky, U.S. Army; Maj. Gen. Roger Noble, Australian Army

The commander of I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord teams up with the deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific to provide observations on theater-level warfighting and future warfare, including some that may inform the multi-domain battle concept.

In Defense of the Theater Army

Lt. Col. Nicholas R. Simontis, U.S. Army

An Army strategist describes the important role of theater armies and argues for retaining them in today’s force.

Expanding Tolstoy and Shrinking Dostoyevsky: How Russian Actions in the Information Space are Inverting Doctrinal Paradigms of Warfare

Maj. Scott J. Harr, U.S. Army

Recent Russian information operations have inverted commonly held U.S. paradigms of warfare. The author relates some major implications of those operations for U.S. joint forces in terms of policy, doctrine, and capabilities. (First place, Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association (AFCEA) Excellence in Joint Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (JC4I)/Information Operations (IO) Writing Contest)

Weaponizing Ridicule

J. Michael Waller, PhD

The author provides numerous examples of how satire and ridicule are effective, inexpensive instruments of psychological warfare. He recommends that the U.S. government consider ridicule as a strategic weapon.

Fabian Strategy for a Twenty-First Century Hannibal: Reinvigorating U.S. Strategy in Iraq and Syria

Maj. Kyle D. Packard, U.S. Army

An Army strategist describes how using a Fabian strategy—a guerrilla-style war of attrition to isolate and starve an enemy force—could be effective against Islamic extremism in Iraq and Syria.

The Mission Command of Islamic State: Deconstructing the Myth of Lone Wolves in the Deep Fight

1st Lt. Michael P. Ferguson, U.S. Army

The author contends the Islamic State uses a mission command philosophy, and so-called lone wolf attacks in Western countries are in fact deep attacks with strategic implications.

III Corps during the Surge: A Study in Operational Art

Maj. Wilson C. Blythe Jr., U.S. Army

III Corps, led by then Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, U.S. Army, was successful during the 2007 surge in Iraq due to the effective application of well-established principles of operational art rather than the employment of counterinsurgency doctrine, according to this author.

Solving Deployment Challenges Using a Systems Approach to Understand the Defense Transportation System

Col. Dennis C. Major, U.S. Army; Maj. Calvin E. Townsend Jr., U.S. Army

Two Army logisticians discuss deployment readiness issues stemming from the Defense Transportation System. They offer five practical recommendations for improving its functioning and ensuring unit readiness.

Brazilian Organization for Combating Terrorism during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games

Col. Alessandro Visacro, Brazilian Army

The chief of staff of the Brazilian Army Special Operations Command describes how Brazil’s joint armed forces successfully collaborated with civil agencies, intelligence organizations, and law enforcement to combat terrorism and ensure the safety of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Praise the Host and Pass the Fish Sauce: Medical Advisers in the Vietnam War

Maj. Scott C. Woodard, U.S. Army, Retired

A historian from the U.S. Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage presents a short history of the medical advisory mission during the Vietnam War and recounts the efforts of medical advisors in that war.

The Ghost Warriors: Inside Israel’s Undercover War against Suicide Terrorism

Lt. Col. John H. Modinger, PhD, U.S. Air Force, Retired

The author critiques a book by Samuel M. Katz that delves into counterterrorism operations in Israel, specifically the activities of its premier counterterrorism unit, Ya’mas.

Letter to the Editor

Charles T. Stewart Jr.

One reader comments on the North Korean threat.

The Birth of the U.S. Army

Army University Press staff

In its first session in the summer of 1789, Congress faced numerous decisions regarding the administration of policies granted in the recently ratified U.S. Constitution. These included approving President George Washington’s cabinet appointees and federal judges, setting up the federal treasury, writing the Bill of Rights and further amending the Constitution, determining how to deal with Native American neighbors, preparing a plan to reduce the Revolutionary War debt, and deciding on a location for the U.S. capital. Lastly, it needed to come to terms on the creation of one national, professional U.S. military.