Warfighting Notes

Subjects:
Land Navigation
 How to plot a point
 How to read contour lines
 How to identify a map (numbers and designations)
 Plot points along a patrol route
 Convert azimuths between magnetic and grid
 Measure distances between points
 How to shoot a back azimuth
Combat Lifesaving
 Treating heat casualties
 Treating cold injuries
 Routine/Priority/Urgent casualty triage and classification
Communications
 CCI definition and regulations
 Communication and the MAGTF
Standards of Conduct
 Sexual harassment
 USMC hazing policy
 Leave and Earnings statement
 Marine Corps’ Alcohol Abuse Program
 Marine Corps’ illegal substance policy
 Red Cross notifications
 Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society
 Uniform regulations
Warfighting
 Levels of War
 Mission Tactics
 The nature of War from MCDP-1
 Commander’s Intent
 Main Effort
 Operational terms and graphics
 Leave and Earnings statement
 Marine Corps’ Alcohol Abuse Program
 Marine Corps’ illegal substance policy
Misc.
 Organization of the Marine Corps
 Horizontal Themes
 MAGTF composition
Warfighting Functions
Maneuver
Fires
Intelligence
Logistics
Force Protection
Information
Command and Control
Purpose of the Warfighting Functions- Conceptual planning and execution tools used by planners
and subject matter experts to produce comprehensive plans
Maneuver- gaining a position of advantage over the enemy. (spatial, psychological,
technological, or temporal)
Fires- Use of weapon systems to create a specific lethal or non-lethal effect on targets
Intelligence- Provides an understanding of the enemy and the battlespaces and identifies the
enemy’s centers of gravity and critical vulnerabilities.
Logistics- 6 functions: supply, maintenance, transportation, general engineering, health services,
services.
Force Protection- Safeguard our own sources of strength and protects, conceals, reduces, or
eliminates our vulnerability that if exploited will do the most damage.
Command and Control- The exercise of authority and direction by a designated Commander to
accomplish a mission.
C2 Feeback Loop- Continuous, Cyclic, Dynamic, and interactive process of cooperation.

Warfighting pt 1
“In war the chief incalculable is the human will.” – B.H. Liddell Hard, Pg. 2
“There’s only one principle of war and that’s this. Hit the other fellow as quick as you can, and
as hard you can, where it hurts him most, when he ain’t lookin.” – Sir William Slim, Pg. 69
Two Critical Elements - Will & Advantage
Chapter 1
The Nature: War Defined
War- “A violent clash of interests between or among organized groups characterized by the use
of military force.”
&
“A violent struggle between two hostile, independent, and irreconcilable wills, each trying to
impose itself on the other.” Pg. 3
The Nature: Battlefield Dynamics

Friction- “The force that resists action and saps energy” Pg. 5
Types: Mental, Physical, External, Self-Induced
Uncertainty- “In war, actions take place in an atmosphere of uncertainty…“the fog of war.” Pg. 7
Fluidity- “Each episode in war is the temporary result of a unique combination of circumstances,
presenting a unique set of problems and requiring an original solution.” Pg.9
“No episode can be viewed in isolation… each episode merges with those that precede
and follow it – shaped by the former and shaping the conditions of the latter.” Pg. 9
Disorder- “In an environment of friction, uncertainty, and fluidity, war gravitates toward
disorder.” Pg. 10
“Exploit the fleeting opportunities that disorder typically creates.” Pg. 11
Human Dimension- creating order out of disorder
Violence and Danger- Naturally induces fear in humans. Must overcome this fear.
Complexity- “War is not governed by the actions or decisions of a single individual or action.
The Nature: Characteristics of War
Moral, Mental and Physical. Proportions of Moral (3), Mental (2), Physical (1)
The Nature: Evolution of War

“War is both timeless and ever changing”
Timeless- 7 characteristics
Ever Changing- Tech, Place, strategy
The Nature: Art, Science, and Will
Ch. 2 Theory of War

The Theory of War: Policy and Means
Politics- The distribution of power through dynamic interaction
Policy- The conscious objectives established within the political process.
War must serve policy
The Theory: Spectrum of Conflict

On the Left: Military Operation other than conflict; On the right: General War
All conflicts and instances of violence are on a spectrum so that each individual event
must be observed.
The Theory: Levels of War

Strategic -> Operational -> Tactical
The Theory: Initiative and Response

Initiative: Dictate terms of conflict.
Response: Counter to initiative, generally viewed as negative
“The defense is not a simple shield, but a shield made up of well directed blows.” –
Clausewitz
The Theory: Culminating Point
The Theory: Styles of Warfare
Attrition Warfare- Direct, mainly force ratios
Maneuver Warfare- more like chess, attacking specific strategic points.
The Theory: Combat Power

“Total Destructive force we can bring to bear on an enemy at any given time”
Speed
Focus
Surprise
Boldness
The Theory: Centers of Gravity and Critical Vulnerabilities

Center of Gravity: Critical to the enemy, they must have, if eliminated will break the enemy
Critical Vulnerability- where will concentrate our strength against a relative enemy weaknes
Ch. 3 Preparing for War

Preparing for War: Doctrine
“All peacetime activities should focus on achieving combat readiness. This implies a high level
of training, flexibility in organization and equipment, professional leadership, and cohesive
doctrine.” Pg. 53
Preparing: Organization
Characteristics of Marine Corps Forces - Forward or rapidly deployable; Expeditionary; Reserve
augmentation.
Marine Air Ground Task Force- Scalable/ Tailorable; Task organized
Preparing: Training and Education
Training- Techniques and Procedures; Science
Education- Tactics; Art
Preparing: Force Planning

“Force planning is planning that is associated with the creation and maintenance of military
capabilities.” Pg. 53
Pete Ellis- War Plan Orange, Island Hopping Campaign
Preparing for War: Professionalism

“Like lawyers and doctors, military practitioners solve problems replete with risk, and their
collective status as professionals depends on the public’s trust in their ability to solve those
problems. It is a status artists do not enjoy. Nor do artists have a corpus of professional
knowledge, or doctrine, to guide their practice.”
Ch. 4 The Conduct of War

The conduct of war: The Challenge
“Especially in expeditionary situations in which public support for military operations may be
tepid and short-lived, it requires a concept with which we can win quickly against a larger foe on
his home soil with minimal casualties and limited external support.” Pg. 72
The Conduct: Maneuver Warfare

“The essence of maneuver is taking action to generate and exploit some kind of advantage over
the enemy as a means of accomplishing our objectives as effectively as possible.” Pg. 72
The Conduct: Decisionmaking

Making a decision is inherent to tempo and initiative.
Decisionmaking in a military must always consider time.
“Decisionmaking may be an intuitive process based on experience. This will likely be the case at
lower levels and in fluid, uncertain situations.” Pg. 86
“Alternatively, decisionmaking may be a more analytical process based on comparing several
options. This will more likely be the case at higher levels or in deliberate planning situations.”
Pg. 89
The Conduct: Philosophy of Command

“In order to generate the tempo of operations we desire and to best cope with the uncertainty,
discorder, and fluidity of combat, C2 must be Decentralized.” Pg. 77-78
Maneuver Warfare Concepts

Oriented on the Enemy: System
Shape the Action: Set Conditions- Anticipate
Mission Tactics: “The contract”- What I owe you and what you owe me.
Commander’s Intent: Context
Main Effort: Focus and Risk- Focusing your effort will inherently assume risk elsewhere.
Combined Arms: Dilemma – give your enemy an unsolvable problem.
Surfaces and Gaps:
Surfaces- Enemy Strengths
Gaps- Enemy Weaknesses
Exploit gaps first, if none are available, then we make one.

Warfighting Notes

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Warfighting Notes

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Warfighting Notes

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Subjects:

C2 Feeback Loop- Continuous, Cyclic, Dynamic, and interactive process of cooperation.

The Nature: Battlefield Dynamics

The Nature: Evolution of War

The Nature: Art, Science, and Will

Ch. 2 Theory of War

The Theory: Spectrum of Conflict

The Theory: Levels of War

The Theory: Initiative and Response

The Theory: Combat Power

The Theory: Centers of Gravity and Critical Vulnerabilities

Ch. 3 Preparing for War

Preparing: Force Planning

Preparing for War: Professionalism

Ch. 4 The Conduct of War

The Conduct: Maneuver Warfare

The Conduct: Decisionmaking

The Conduct: Philosophy of Command

Maneuver Warfare Concepts

You might also like