Operational level of war

Between strategic and tactical warfare

"Operational art of war" redirects here. For the video game series, see The Operational Art of War.

This article focuses only on one specialised aspect of its subject. Please help improve it by adding more general information. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (August 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

World War II operational planning map in the 1st Air Division (part of Eighth Air Force) war room at Brampton Grange Part of a series on

War
(outline)

History

* Prehistoric
* Ancient
* Thermal
* Gunpowder
* Timeline
* Post-classical
* Castles
* Early modern
* Military revolution
* Pike and shot
* Napoleonic warfare
* Late modern
* Industrial warfare
* Fourth-gen warfare
* AI warfare

Military

* Organization
* Command and control
* Defense ministry
* Reserves
* Ranks

* * *

* Branches:
* Army
* Navy
* Air force
* Marines
* Coast guard
* Border guard
* Special forces
* Cyber force
* Space force

* * *

* Specialties:
* Staff
* Engineers
* Intel
* Recon
* Medical
* Police
* Diving
* Pilot

* * *

* Land units:
* Infantry
* Armor
* Cavalry
* Artillery
* Special forces
* Signal corps

* * *

* Naval units:
* Warships
* Submarines
* Aircraft carriers
* Landing craft
* Auxiliary ships

* * *

* Air units:
* Fighters
* Bombers
* Command
* Close air support
* Electronic-warfare
* Reconnaissance

* * *

* Combat systems:
* Fire-control system
* Fire-control radar
* Director (military)
* Combat information center
* Sonar
* Radar

* * *

* Historical:
* Ship gun fire-control
* Gun data computer
* Torpedo data computer

* * *

* Development:
* Basic training
* Military manoeuvrers
* Combat training

Battlespace

* Aerospace
* Aerial
* Airborne
* Space

* * *

* Land
* Cold-region
* Desert
* Fortification
* Jungle
* Mountain
* Urban
* Subterranean
* Tunnel

* * *

* Sea
* Amphibious
* Blue
* Brown
* Green
* Surface
* Underwater
* Seabed

* * *

* Cyber
* Information

Weapons

* Air defence
* Armor
* Artillery
* Barrage
* Biological
* Camouflage
* Cavalry
* Horses
* Air cavalry
* Chemical
* Combined arms
* Conventional
* Cyber
* Denial
* Disinformation
* Drone / Robot
* Electromagnetic
* Firearms
* Infantry
* Loitering
* Missile
* Music
* Nuclear
* Psychological
* Radiological
* Submarine
* Unconventional

Tactics

List of military tactics

* Aerial
* Airlift
* Air assault
* Airbridge
* Airdrop
* Anti-aircraft
* Anti-sub
* Anti-tank
* Battle
* Cavalry
* Charge
* CQC
* Counterattack
* Counterinsurgency
* Convoy
* Defeat in detail
* Foxhole
* Drone
* Envelopment
* Formation
* Guerrilla
* Naval
* Rapid dominance
* Encirclement
* Investment
* Siege
* Swarm
* Screen
* Tactical objective
* Target saturation
* Trench
* Withdrawal

Operational

* Military operation
* Special
* Operations research
* Blitzkrieg
* Expeditionary
* Deep operation
* Maneuver
* Operational manoeuvre group
* Raid
* Covert
* Stay-behind

Strategy

List of military strategies and concepts

* Military campaign
* Anti-access
* Attrition
* Commerce raiding
* Counter-offensive
* Culminating
* Defence in depth
* Fabian
* Empty fort
* Mosaic
* Deception
* Defensive
* Depth
* Goal
* Nuclear
* Naval
* Offensive
* Scorched earth

Grand strategy

* Asymmetric
* Blockade
* Broken-backed
* Class
* Cold war
* Colonial
* Conquest
* Containment
* Divide and conquer
* Economic
* Endemic
* Fleet in being
* Irregular
* Liberation
* Limited
* Network-centric
* New generation
* Perpetual
* Political
* Princely
* Proxy
* Religious
* Resource
* Strategic
* Succession
* Technology
* Theater
* Total war
* World war

Administrative

* Branch
* Policy
* Staff
* Training
* Service
* Sociology

Organization

* Area of responsibility
* Chain of command
* Command and control
* Doctrine
* Order of battle
* Principles of war
* Economy of force
* Medicine
* Engineers
* Intelligence
* Ranks
* Technology and equipment

Personnel

* Recruitment
* Conscription
* Draft evasion
* Mobilization
* Training
* Specialism
* Soldier
* Morale
* Volunteer
* Women
* Children
* Transgender
* Harassment
* Conscientious objector
* Conscription and sexism
* Counter-recruitment

Logistics

* History
* War economy
* Arms industry
* Materiel
* Supply-chain management
* Military–industrial complex
* Base
* MOB
* FOB
* Outpost

Science

* Power projection
* Loss-of-strength gradient
* Lanchester's laws
* Force multiplication
* Morale

Law

* Belligerent
* Occupation
* Armistice
* Ceasefire
* Court-martial
* Desertion
* Geneva Conventions
* Geneva Protocol
* Islamic rules
* Justice
* Lawful / Unlawful combatant
* Perfidy
* Regular / Irregular
* Jewish laws on war
* Right of conquest
* Right of self-defence
* Rules of engagement
* Self-determination
* Martial law
* War crime
* War and genocide
* War treason

Theory

* Air supremacy
* Appeasement
* Command of the sea
* Deterrence theory
* Full-spectrum dominance
* Overmatch
* Just war theory
* Principles of war
* Philosophy of war
* Security dilemma
* Tripwire force
* Wargaming
* Simulation
* Exercises
* Combat effectiveness
* Center of gravity

Non-warfare

* Arms control
* Counter-insurgency
* Deterrence
* Disaster response
* Grey-zone
* Gunboat diplomacy
* Humanitarian aid
* Law enforcement
* Low-intensity conflict
* Military engineering
* Peacekeeping
* Peacebuilding
* Peace through strength
* Show of force

Culture

* Awards and decorations
* Battle cry
* Warrior
* War film
* Military science fiction
* War novel
* Anti-war movement
* Foot drill
* War song
* Uniform
* Wargame
* Militarization / Militarism
* Antimilitarism
* Camp follower

Books

* Seven Military Classics
* The Art of War
* De re militari
* Strategemata

Related

* Women in war
* War resister
* War studies
* Horses in warfare
* Wartime sexual violence
* Fifth column
* Mercenary
* Pacifism
* Privateer
* Private military company
* Soldiers are murderers

Lists

* Battles
* Military occupations
* Military terms
* Operations
* Sieges
* War crimes
* Wars
* Weapons
* Writers

* v
* t
* e

In the field of military theory, the operational level of war (also called operational art, as derived from Russian: оперативное искусство, or operational warfare) represents the level of command that connects the details of tactics with the goals of strategy.[1] In other words, meaning creating the conditions needed for strategic success.

In U.S.  Joint military doctrine, operational art is "the cognitive approach by commanders and  staffs—supported by their skill, knowledge, experience, creativity, and judgment—to develop strategies, campaigns, and operations to organize and employ military forces by integrating ends, ways, and means".[2] It correlates political requirements with military power. Operational art is defined by its military-political scope, not by force size, scale of operations or degree of effort. Likewise, operational art provides theory and skills, and the operational level permits doctrinal structure and process.[3]

The operational level of war is concerned with four essential elements: time, space, means, and purpose. Through means such as directing troops and allocating (limited) resources (among others), operational art aims to achieve political goals by producing an optimal (or at least near-optimal) generation and application of military power. For example, proposals may be generated to identify where to build defensive structures, how many, what kind, and manned by how many troops; a proposal may be accepted, or reworked. During the 20th century, the nascent field of operations research flourished as a result of military efforts to improve  logistics and decision-making.

The operational level of war sits between tactics (which consists of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefield) and strategy (which involves aspects of long-term and high-level  theatre operations, and government leadership).

The Soviet Union was the first country to officially distinguish this third level of military thinking, which was introduced as part of the deep operation military theory that  Soviet armed forces developed during the 1920s and 1930s[4] and utilized during the Second World War.

## Background

[edit]

During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the synonymous terms grand tactics (or, less frequently, maneuver tactics[5]) was often used to describe the manoeuvres of troops not tactically engaged, while in the late 19th century to the First World War and throughout the Second World War, the term minor strategy was used by some military commentators.[6][7] Confusion over terminology was exposed in professional military publications, that sought to identify "...slightly different shades of meaning, such as tactics, major tactics, minor tactics, grand strategy, major strategy, and minor strategy".[8] The term operational art was not widely used in the United States or Britain before 1980–1981,[9][10][11] when it became much discussed and started to enter military doctrines and officer combat training courses.[12]

## Application

[edit]

This section is written like a research paper or a scientific journal. Please help rewrite it in a neutral, encyclopedic style and simplify overly technical phrases. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (March 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Operational art comprises four essential elements: time, space, means and purpose. Each element is found in greater complexity at the operational level than at the tactical or strategic level. This is true partly because operational art must consider and incorporate more of the strategic and tactical levels than those levels must absorb from the operational level. Although much can be gained by examining the four elements independently, it is only when they are viewed together that operational art reveals its intricate fabric.[3]

The challenge of operational art is to establish a four-element equilibrium that permits the optimal generation and application of military power in achieving the political goal. Viewing time, space, means and purpose as a whole requires great skill in organizing, weighing and envisioning masses of complex, often contradictory factors. These factors often exist for extended periods, over great distances and with shifting mixes of players, systems and beliefs, pursuing political goals which may or may not be clear, cogent or settled. Compounding factors, such as the opponent's actions, create further ambiguity.[3]

### Mission analysis

[edit]

The operational-level strategist possesses numerous tools to frame and guide their thinking, but chief among these are mission analysis and end state. Mission analysis answers the question "What is to be accomplished?" Through mission analysis, the operational-level planner fuses political aims with military objectives. In so doing, the planner determines what application of military force will create military power to achieve the political purpose. Subordinate processes here include defining objectives and centers of gravity, but excessive dependence on analytical mechanisms can create false security. The final test rewards success, not the quality of the argument. Conversely, the planner cannot hope to "feel" a way to victory—complexity demands an integration of thought and effort.[3]

### End state

[edit]

End state answers the question "What will constitute success?" The campaign end state is not merely a desired status quo of the military goal. It also establishes a touchstone for the tactical, operational and strategic levels. The end state manifests the intended results of military power and exposes any limitations. Indeed, an achievable end state may require the employment of nonmilitary elements of national power. As such, it recognizes that military power alone may not be capable of attaining political success.[3]

## Skills required

[edit]

An operational-level strategy must continually identify and weigh time, space, means and purpose, extrapolating from them outcomes and likelihood. To accomplish this, practitioners need both skill and theory, experience and knowledge. At the operational level, skills and experience must usually be developed indirectly, through formal training, military history and real-world practice.[3]

Success at the tactical level is no guarantee of success at the operational level since mastery of operational art demands strategic skills but not vice versa. Without a strong grounding in the theory and application of operational art, a successful tactician has little hope of making the demanding leap from tactics. The operational level strategist must see clearly and expansively from the foxhole into the corridors of national or coalition authority. They must be aware of the plausibility and coherence of strategic aims, national will and the players who decide them. Successful operational art charts a clear, unbroken path from the individual soldier's efforts to the state or coalition's goals.[3]

## Role in historiography

[edit]

While the emerging corpus of operational art and the establishment of a specifically operational level of war are relatively new, in practice operational art has existed throughout recorded history. Peoples and commanders have long pursued political goals through military actions, and one can examine campaigns of any period from the existential perspective of operational art. Current schools of thought on the operational art share the fundamental view that military success can be measured only in the attainment of political-strategic aims, and thus historians can analyze any war in terms of operational art.[3]

In the case of World War II analysis, the Wehrmacht did not use the operational level as a formal doctrinal concept during the campaigns of 1939–1945. While personnel within the German forces knew of operational art, awareness and practice was limited principally to general-staff trained officers. Nevertheless, the existential nature of operational art means that examining a campaign or an operation against political aims is valid irrespective of the doctrine or structures of the period. Thus the elements of operational art—time, space, means and purpose—can illuminate thoughts and actions of any era, regardless of the prevailing contemporary doctrine or structure.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* Grand strategy
* Maskirovka
* Military doctrine
* Military strategy
* Military tactics
* Naval strategy
* Principles of war
* Strategy

## References

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

1. ^ p.24, Simpkin
2. ^ Department of the Army (May 2012). Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 5-0, The Operations Process (PDF). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. pp. 2–4\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-04-30. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Robinson 1997.
4. ^ Simpkin, Richard E. (1987). Deep battle: The brainchild of Marshal Tuchachevskii. Brassey's Defence Publishers, London. p. 24\. ISBN 0-08-031193-8.
5. ^ Hess, Earl (2015). Civil War Infantry Tactics: Training, Combat, and Small-Unit Effectiveness (fourth ed.). Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. p. xxi. ISBN 978-0-8071-5937-8.
6. ^ p.218, Jablonsky
7. ^ p.28, Whitman
8. ^ p.3, Bundel
9. ^ Zabecki, David T (27 September 2006). The German 1918 Offensives: A Case Study in the Operational Level of War. Routledge. pp. 21–22\. ISBN 9781134252251.
10. ^ The Operational Level of War. DIANE Publishing. 1991. p. v. ISBN 9781428915749.
11. ^ Luttwak, Edward (1985). Strategy and History. Transaction Publishers. p. 175\. ISBN 9780887380655.
12. ^ p. 111, Stone

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Blythe, Wilson C. Jr. "A History of Operational Art", Military Review (November–December 2018): https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/November-December-2018/Blythe-Operational-Art/
* Blythe, Wilson C. Jr. "III Corps During the Surge: A Study in Operational Art", Military Review (September–October 2017): https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/September-October-2017/Blythe-III-Corps-during-the-Surge/
* Bundel, C. M., Col. FA, "What Is Strategy?", in Infantry Journal, v. 34, United States Infantry Association, 1929
* Glantz, D. M., Soviet Military Operational Art: In Pursuit of Deep Battle, Frank Cass, London, 1989
* Jablonsky, David, Roots of Strategy: 4 Military Classics, Stackpole Books, 1999
* National Research Council Staff, Reducing the Logistics Burden for the Army After Next: Doing More With Less, Committee to Perform a Technology Assessment Focused on Logistics Support Requirements for Future Army Combat Systems, National Research Council (U.S.), National Academies Press, 1999
* Robinson, James R. (1997). "The Rommel Myth". Military Review Journal. Retrieved 8 February 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
* Rogers, Clifford J. (2006). "Strategy, Operational Design, and Tactics". In Bradford, James C. (ed.). International Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: Routledge.
* Simpkin, Richard E., Deep Battle: The Brainchild of Marshal Tuchachevskii, Brassey's Defence Publishers, London, 1987
* Simpkin, Richard E., Race to the Swift: Thoughts on Twenty-First Century Warfare, Brassey's, 2000
* Stone, John, The Tank Debate: Armour and the Anglo-American Military Tradition, Routledge, 2000
* Whitman, J. E. A., How Wars Are Fought: The Principles of Strategy and Tactics, Oxford University Press, 1941

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template