Author : U. S. Marine U.S. Marine Corps
Release : 2021-08-23
Genre :
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)
Book Synopsis Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication (MCDP) 1-2, Campaigning 4 April 2018 by : U. S. Marine U.S. Marine Corps
Download or read book Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication (MCDP) 1-2, Campaigning 4 April 2018 written by U. S. Marine U.S. Marine Corps. This book was released on 2021-08-23. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tactical success in combat does not of itself guarantee victory in war. What matters ultimately in war is strategic success: attainment of our political aims and the protection of our national interests. The operational level of war provides the linkage between tactics and strategy. It is the discipline of conceiving, focusing, and exploiting a variety of tactical actions to realize a strategic aim. With that thought as our point of departure, this publication discusses the intermediate, operational level of war and the military campaign which is the vehicle for organizing tactical actions to achieve strategic objectives. The Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF) clearly has operational as well as tactical capabilities. Thus it is essential that Marine leaders learn to think operationally. Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication (MCDP) 1-2, Campaigning, provides the doctrinal basis for military campaigning in the Marine Corps, particularly as it pertains to a Marine commander or a MAGTF participating in the campaign. Campaigning applies the warfighting philosophies in MCDP 1, Warfighting, specifically to the operational level of war. It is linked to the other publications of the MCDP series and is fully compatible with joint doctrine. MCDP 1-2 supersedes Fleet Marine Force Manual (FMFM) 1-1, Campaigning, of 1990. MCDP 1-2 retains the spirit, scope, and basic concepts of its predecessor. MCDP 1-2 further develops and refines some of those concepts based on recent experiences, continued thinking about war, and the evolving nature of campaigning in the post-Cold War world. The new version of Campaigning has three significant additions: an expanded discussion of the linkage between strategic objectives and the campaign, a section on conflict termination, and a section titled "Synergy" that describes how key capabilities are harmonized in the conduct of a campaign to achieve the strategic objective. These additions have been derived from the development of the other doctrinal publications in the MCDP series and joint doctrine. Chapter 1 discusses the campaign and the operational level of war, their relationship to strategy and tactics, and their relevance to the Marine Corps. Chapter 2 describes the process of campaign design: deriving a military strategic aim from political objectives and constraints, developing a campaign concept that supports our strategic objectives, and making a campaign plan that translates the concept into a structured configuration of actions required to carry out that concept. Chapter 3 discusses the actual conduct of a campaign and the problem of adapting our plans to events as they unfold. Central to this publication is the idea that military action at any level must ultimately serve the demands of policy. Marine leaders at all levels must understand this point and must recognize that we pursue tactical success not for its own sake, but for the sake of larger political goals. Military strength is only one of several instruments of national power, all of which must be fully coordinated with one another in order to achieve our strategic and operational objectives. Marine leaders must be able to integrate military operations with the other instruments of national power. This publication makes frequent use of historical examples. These examples are intended to illustrate teachings that have universal relevance and enduring applicability. No matter what the scope and nature of the next mission--general war or military operations other than war--the concepts and the thought processes described in this publication will apply. As with Warfighting, this publication is descriptive rather than prescriptive. Its concepts require judgment in application.
