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Maneuver warfare, also spelled manoeuvre warfare, is the term used by military theorists for a concept of warfare that advocates attempting to defeat an adversary by incapacitating their decision-making through shock and disruption brought about by movement. War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units Military history is a Humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity Prehistoric warfare is War conducted in the era before Writing, and before the establishments of large social entities like States Historical warfare sets Ancient warfare is War as conducted from the beginnings of recorded History to the end of the ancient period Medieval Warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. In Europe technological cultural and social developments had forced a dramatic transformation in the character Early Modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of Gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive Industrial warfare is a period in the History of warfare ranging roughly from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the beginning of the Information Age Modern warfare, although present in every Historical period of Military history, is generally used to refer to the concepts, methods and Battlespace is a unified strategy to integrate and combine Armed forces for the Military theatre of operations, including air, information Air power redirects here for electrical and mechanical energy supplied by air movement see Wind power Information warfare is the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent Land warfare, sometimes also called ground combat is the term used to describe military operations eventuating in Combat that take place predominantly on the land surface of Naval warfare is Combat in and on Seas Oceans or any other major bodies of water such as large Lakes and wide Rivers History Space warfare is combat that takes place in Outer space, ie outside the Atmosphere. A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons Armoured warfare or tank warfare is the use of Armoured fighting vehicles in Modern warfare. Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine Biological warfare (BW — known as a germ warfare, biological weapons and bioweaponry — is the use of any Pathogen ( Bacterium The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of Chemical substances to kill injure or incapacitate an enemy. Electronic warfare ( EW) is the use of the Electromagnetic spectrum to effectively deny the use of this medium by an adversary while optimizing its use by friendly The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the Armed forces, and consists A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. The US Department of Defense defines psychological warfare ( PSYWAR) as" The planned use of Propaganda and other Psychological actions Military tactics ( Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating This article is about the military strategy For the Israeli-Egyptian conflict see War of Attrition, for the game theoretical model see War of attrition (game Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc Total war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a Belligerent engages in a total mobilization of all available resources at his disposal Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static Military strategy is a National defence policy implemented by Military organisations to pursue desired strategic goals Derived from the Greek Economic warfare is the term for economic policies followed as a part of Military operations during Wartime The purpose of economic warfare is to capture Grand strategy is military Strategy at the level of movement and use of an entire Nation state or Empire 's resources A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in Armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy Military Logistics is the art and science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces This article lists military technology items devices and methods Materiel (from the French "matériel" for equipment or hardware related to the word Material) is a term used in English to refer to the Military supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring, producing and delivering products and services The broad This is an index to articles listing Battles. List of battles (alphabetical gives a global list See also Military History Antiquity Albania Agron ( 250 BC - 230 BC) The first king to unite the Illyrian This is a list of missions operations and projects Missions in support of other missions are not listed independently A Siege is a prolonged Military Assault and Blockade on a City or Fortress with the intent of conquering by force or Attrition See also List of military writers. Friedrich von Bernhardi Ivan Bloch John Boyd, inventor of the OODA Loop This is a listing of lists of Wars, sorted by country date region and type of conflict This article lists and summarizes War crimes committed since the Hague Convention of 1907. There is a bewildering array of Weapons far more than would be useful in list form This is a list of military writers, alphabetical by last name American and British English spelling differences are one aspect of American and British English differences. Military strategy is a National defence policy implemented by Military organisations to pursue desired strategic goals Derived from the Greek War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units Decision making can be regarded as an outcome of mental processes ( cognitive process) leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives Its concepts are reflected by a number of strategies seen throughout military history. Military history is a Humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity

Contents 1 Background 2 Concepts 3 Early Examples 4 Mechanisation 5 Maneuver Warfare Doctrine 5.1 Development of Maneuver Warfare theories 5.2 Limitations in a modern context 6 See also 7 References 8 Sources 9 External links

Background

Methods of war stand on a continuum between maneuver warfare and attrition warfare, the focus on achieving victory through killing or capturing an adversary. War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units This article is about the military strategy For the Israeli-Egyptian conflict see War of Attrition, for the game theoretical model see War of attrition (game Maneuver warfare advocates recognize that all warfare involves both maneuver and attrition. Maneuver warfare concepts have historically been stressed by militaries which are smaller, more cohesive, better trained, or more technically able than attrition warfare counterparts. The term "Tactical Maneuver" is used by Maneuver Warfare theorists to refer to movement by forces to gain "advantageous position relative to the enemy" ^[1] as opposed to its use in the phrase "maneuver warfare"

The idea of using rapid movement to keep an enemy off-balance is as old as war itself^[2]. The term enemy combatant has historically referred to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war However changing technology such as the development of cavalry and mechanized vehicles, has led to increased interest in the concepts of maneuver warfare and its role on modern battlefields.

Concepts

Western [US] military orthodoxy believes that with some exceptions, most battles between established armies have historically been fought based on an attrition warfare strategy. Closer examination however reveals this view is not universally held, and many military doctrines and cultures are based on replete historical examples of maneuver warfare.

The attritionalists view of warfare involves moving masses of men and material against enemy strongpoints, with the emphasis on the destruction of the enemy's physical assets--success as measured by enemy troops killed, equipment and infrastructure destroyed, and territory taken and/or occupied. Attrition warfare tends to utilize rigidly centralised command structures that require little or no creativity or initiative from lower-level leadership (also called top-down or 'command push' tactics). In a Military context the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed within a Military unit and between different This has been called 'Industrial war' by some since it relies on mass. The semi-static, large scale battles of the American Civil War, Crimean war and World War I are classic examples of attrition warfare. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

Maneuver warfare doctrine sees styles of warfare as a spectrum with attrition warfare and maneuver warfare on opposite ends. In attrition warfare the enemy is seen as a collection of targets to be found and destroyed. Attrition warfare exploits maneuver to bring to bear firepower to destroy enemy forces, maneuver warfare on the other hand, exploits firepower and attrition on key elements of opposing forces. Maneuver warfare advocates that strategic movement can bring about the defeat of an opposing force more efficiently than by simply contacting and destroying enemy forces until they can no longer fight. Instead, in maneuver warfare, the destruction of certain enemy targets (command and control centers, logistical bases, fire support assets, etc. ) is combined with isolation of enemy forces and the exploitation by movement of enemy weaknesses. Bypassing and cutting off enemy strongpoints often results in the collapse of that strongpoint even where the physical damage is minimal (e. g. Maginot Line). The Maginot Line (IPA, Ligne Maginot named after French Minister of Defense André Maginot, was a line of concrete Fortifications tank obstacles artillery Firepower, which is used primarily to destroy as many enemy forces as possible in attrition warfare, is used to suppress or destroy enemy positions at breakthrough points during maneuver warfare. Infiltration tactics by conventional or special operation forces may be used extensively to cause chaos and confusion behind enemy lines.

Leonhard summarizes maneuver warfare theory as: preempt, dislocate, and disrupt the enemy as alternatives to destruction of enemy mass through attrition warfare. Clarification of the Clausewitzian Center of Gravity (COG) concept in maneuver warfare terms suggests the question: is a COG the source of strength or the critical vulnerability? This issue can be resolved using the game of chess as a model: is the Queen (most powerful piece) or the King (whose loss ends the game) the opposing player's COG? Once you knock off the opposing player's King, it doesn't matter how many other chess pieces you take.

Since tempo and initiative are so critical to the success of maneuver warfare, command structures tend to be more decentralised, with more tactical freedom given to lower-level unit leaders. This decentralised command structure allows 'on the ground' unit leaders, while still working within the guidelines of commander's overall vision, to exploit enemy weaknesses as they become evident (also called 'recon-pull' tactics or directive control). Mission-type tactics ( German: Auftragstaktik, from Auftrag and Taktik" also known as Mission Command in the US have (arguably been a central

War theorist Martin VanCreveld identifies six main elements of maneuver warfare:

• Tempo - Tempo as illustrated by Boyd's OODA loop
• Schwerpunkt - The center of effort, or striking the enemy at the right place at the right time. The OODA Loop (for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act) is a concept applied to the Combat operations process, often at Strategic According to vanCreveld ideally, a spot that is both vital and weakly defended.
• Surprise - based on deception
• Combined arms
• Flexibility - According to VanCreveld flexibility means a military must be well rounded, self contained and redundant
• Decentralized command - Rapid changing situations may out pace communications. Combined arms is an approach to Warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a Military to achieve mutually complementary effects Lower levels must understand overall intent.

Early Examples

For the majority of history armies were limited in their speed to that of the marching soldier, about equal for everyone involved. This meant that it was possible for opposing armies to simply march around each other as long as they wished, with supply conditions often deciding where and when the battle would finally be fought. Perhaps the last and most famous example of this ended with the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, prior to which Henry V of England avoided combat while marching to Calais to resupply, allowing him to pick the battlefield. The Battle of Agincourt was an English victory against a larger French army in the Hundred Years' War. Henry V (16 September 1386 &ndash 31 August 1422 was one of the most significant English warrior kings of the 15th century Calais (kaˈlɛ in English often kæˈleɪ traditional English pronunciation /ˈkælɨs/ Kales is a town in northern France.

One of most famous early maneuver tactics was the double envelopment, used by Hannibal against the Romans at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, and by Khalid ibn al-Walid against the Persian Empire at the Battle of Walaja in 633 AD. The pincer movement or double envelopment is a basic element of Military strategy which has been used to some extent in many Wars and is considered Hannibal (Pronounced in Phoenician: Hanniba'al means " Ba'al is my grace " or " Ba'al has given me grace " 247 BC &ndash The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the For the 11th century battle in the Byzantine conquest of the Mezzogiorno, see Battle of Cannae (1018. Khālid ibn al-Walīd (592-642 ( خالد بن الوليد) also known by Sunnis as Sayf-'ullah al-Maslul (the Drawn Sword of God, God's Withdrawn The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire The Battle of Walaja was a battle fought in Mesopotamia ( Iraq) in May 633 between the Rashidun Caliphate army under Khalid ibn al-Walid and the

In prehistoric times this began to change with the domestication of the horse, the invention of chariots and the increasing military use of the cavalry. There are a number of hypotheses on many of the key issues regarding the domestication of the horse. The chariot is the earliest and simplest type of Carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on The cavalry had two major uses: one, to attack and use its momentum to break infantry formations; and two, using the advantage of speed to cut communications and isolate formations for later defeat in detail. Defeat in detail is a military phrase referring to the tactic of bringing a large portion of one's own force to bear on small enemy units in sequence rather than engaging the bulk of the Similar strategies are also possible using infantry suitably trained and in recent times it was Napoleon who showed this to great effect. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. He used the combination of cavalry movement and fast infantry movement to bring about the defeat of superior forces whilst they were still moving to their intended place of battle. This allowed his forces to attack where and when he wanted, often giving him the advantage of terrain to disable effective movement by his enemy. Thus he used maneuver both strategically (when and where to fight) and tactically (how to fight the battle he chose).

Napoleon's fame as a general, and indeed his powerbase to become head of the French state, was based on a powerful and fluent campaign in Northern Italy principally against the numerically superior Austrians. He cited Frederick the Great as one of his major sources of his strategy. Frederick II (Friedrich II January 24 1712 August 17 1786) was a King of Prussia (1740&ndash1786 from the He trained a normal, if rather undisciplined, French Army of Italy to be able to move faster than most thought possible, certainly likely. In part this was because his Army lived off the land and had no big logistical 'tail'. His ability to move huge armies to give battle where he wanted and in the style of his choosing became legendary and he seemed undefeatable even against larger and superior forces. It was these and later defeats that caused the major doctrinal re-evaluation by the Prussians under Carl von Clausewitz on the revealed power of maneuver warfare. Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz (ˈklaʊzəvɪts ( July 1, 1780 – November 16, 1831) was a Prussian soldier military historian The results of this review were seen in the Franco-Prussian War. The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 Napoleon also arranged his forces into what we today would call 'Battle Groups' of combined arms formations to allow faster reaction time to enemy action. Combined arms is an approach to Warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a Military to achieve mutually complementary effects This is an important support measure for maneuver warfare to be most effective and was copied by von Clausewitz.

Napoleon's principal strategy was to move fast so as to engage before the enemy had time to organize, to lightly engage whilst moving to turn the flank that defended the main resupply route, to envelop and deploy blocking forces to prevent reinforcement, and to defeat in detail those contained in the envelopment. All of these activities imply faster movement than the enemy as well as faster reaction times to enemy activities. His use of fast mass marches to gain strategic advantage, cavalry probes and screens to hide his movements, and deliberate movement to gain psychological advantage by isolating forces from each other and HQ are all hallmarks of maneuver warfare. One of his major issues was the relatively slow speed of infantry movement relative to the cavalry.

Mechanisation

As a result of the introduction of various forms of mechanized transport, starting with the steam powered trains in mid-19th century, logistics have been vastly improved and the opposing armies were no longer limited in speed by the pace of march. A steam engine is a Heat engine that performs Mechanical work using Steam as its Working fluid. A train is a connected series of vehicles that move along a track ( Permanent way) to transport freight or passengers from one place to another The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Some train-borne maneuvering took place during the American Civil War in the 1860s, but the sizes of the armies involved meant the system could provide only limited support. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South Events and trends Technology The First Transcontinental Railroad in the USA was completed in 1869 Armored trains were among the first armored fighting vehicles employed by mankind. An armoured train is a Train protected with armour. Usually they are equipped with Railroad cars armed with Artillery and Machine guns An armoured fighting vehicle ( AFV) is a military Vehicle, protected by armour and armed with Weapons Most AFVs are equipped for driving in rugged

In the Franco-Prussian War the Prussian Army, knowing that they could field substantially larger forces than the French, devised a war plan that relied on speed by encircling and destroying/bypassing French strongpoints - the Kesselschlacht or "cauldron battle" - while the remainder of the Prussian army advanced unopposed to seize important objectives such as Paris. The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city If, on declaration of war, they could mobilize quickly, invade and destroy French field forces fast enough, then they would be victorious before the French army could react. A declaration of war is a formal performative Speech act or signing of a document by an authorised party of a government in order to initate a state of War This article describes military mobilization For other meanings see Mobilization (disambiguation. This tactic was used to devastating effect in 1870, when the Prussian forces were able to rapidly encircle and defeat two large French forces before they were able to retreat. Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

Given the success they had in 1870s, it is not surprising that the German battle plan for the First World War would be similar. Events and Trends Technology The invention of the prototype telephone by Alexander G World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Germans attempted to repeat the "knock-out blow" against the French armies in the Schlieffen Plan. For the French counter-plan see Plan XVII The Schlieffen Plan was the German General Staff 's early 20th century overall strategic However technology had changed considerably in the four decades, with the machine gun and considerably more powerful artillery swinging the balance of power decisively to the defense. For other uses of the phrase see Machine Gun (disambiguation. Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine While all combatants were desperate to get the front moving again, this proved difficult. The introduction of the tank in a series of increasingly successful operations pointed the way out of trench warfare, but the war ended before the British plans to field thousands of them could be put into place. A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static Germany also introduced new tactics against static warfare with infiltration and stormtrooper tactics toward the end of World War I, which bypassed resistance leaving its reduction to other means. In Warfare infiltration tactics involve small lightly-equipped Infantry forces attacking enemy rear areas while bypassing enemy front-line strongpoints and isolating The Stormtroopers (in German Stoßtruppen, shock troops) were specialist military troops which were formed in the last years of World War I as the German World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

Between the World Wars the Germans again reviewed their doctrine and completely revised their approach again, perhaps getting back to some of the von Clausewitz ideas which were now enabled by motor transport. Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz (ˈklaʊzəvɪts ( July 1, 1780 – November 16, 1831) was a Prussian soldier military historian During the Second World War, Germany pursued its new strategy known to many as blitzkrieg, or "lightning war", perhaps the most famous example of maneuver warfare and derived in part from the theories of many perhaps including British officer J.F.C. Fuller, of which the British army had failed to take advantage. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war" is a popular name for an Offensive operational-level Military doctrine which involves an initial Major-General John Frederick Charles Fuller, CB, CBE, DSO, commonly J The Soviets used the concept of "Deep Battle" (which they continued through the Cold War). Deep operations was a military doctrine developed by the Soviet Union for its armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the The Western Allies were strategically attrition-oriented, though maneuver-minded commanders included O'Connor, Montgomery and Patton. General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor KT, GCB, DSO & Bar, MC, ADC ( 21 August 1889 &ndash Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC, (məntˈgʌmərɪ əv ˈæləmeɪn For the 19th century Scottish jurist/politician see George Patton Lord Glenalmond.

Maneuver Warfare Doctrine

According to the United States Marine Corps, one key concept of maneuver warfare is that maneuver is traditionally thought of as a spatial concept, that is the use of maneuver so as to gain positional advantage. The US Marine concept of maneuver however is a "warfighting philosophy that seeks to shatter the enemy’s cohesion through a variety of rapid, focused, and unexpected actions which create a turbulent and rapidly deteriorating situation with which the enemy cannot cope. "^[3] The US Marine manual goes on to say: "This is not to imply that firepower is unimportant. On the contrary, firepower is central to maneuver warfare. Nor do we mean to imply that we will pass up the opportunity to physically destroy the enemy. We will concentrate fires and forces at decisive points to destroy enemy elements when the opportunity presents itself and when it fits our larger purposes. "

The possibility of a massive Soviet offensive in Western Europe led to the creation of the United States Army's AirLand battle doctrine. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 AirLand Battle was first adopted by the US Army in 1982 as Field Manual 100-5 and drove Military doctrine until the late 1990s Though far from focusing on maneuver, it emphasized using combined arms to disrupt an adversary's plans by striking through their depth and was seen as moving towards maneuver warfare in comparison to the earlier Active Defense concept. Combined arms is an approach to Warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a Military to achieve mutually complementary effects The AirLand doctrine was seen by Martin van Creveld as "arguably a half way house between maneuver and attrition. "

The military concept of Rapid Dominance or Shock and awe was put forward by airpower theorists as a form of maneuver warfare. Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power dominant battlefield awareness dominant maneuvers and spectacular Shock and awe emphasized high amounts of communication and rapid strikes using airpower and missiles to create confusion in the enemy. It relied heavily on air power, large amounts of central coordination, and focuses on destroying the enemy's command and control structures rather than its supply lines. Implementing this doctrine in the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, overwhelming US mobility and firepower allowed a (relatively) small number of US forces to categorically defeat what had originally been presented as a much larger opposing force which would be fighting from fixed strongpoints. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1 2003 was spearheaded by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia The drive to Baghdad was characterized not so much by the destruction of Iraqi forces as by US forces swarming around and past known enemy strongpoints and capturing key cities, transportation assets, and other centers of tactical importance. Post-battle analysis, however, demonstrated that much of the hype behind the airpower theories of Shock and Awe were exaggerated. Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power dominant battlefield awareness dominant maneuvers and spectacular The enemy was already so self-delusional and therefore de facto decentralized that airpower delivered firepower deep behind the lines was redundant. Indeed, had communications from the top been permitted to continue the confusion endemic to the Hussein regime would likely have made the defenses even worse than they were when American ground units destroyed them.

Development of Maneuver Warfare theories

By far the most important development of manoeuvre theories took place in Germany and the USSR during the 1920s and 1930s, notably with the development of the "Deep Battle" concept that was integrated into he Red Army field regulations doctrine by by Marshal Tukhachevsky. Deep operations was a military doctrine developed by the Soviet Union for its armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky (Михаи́л Никола́евич Тухаче́вский Michał Tuchaczewski ( &ndash June 12, 1937) was a ^[4] While the Wehrmacht developed from this the operations named Blitzkrieg, in the USSR this led to the creation of the Cavalry Mechanised Groups during the Second World War, and the Operational manoeuvre groups during the Cold War. Wehrmacht (literally "defense force" was the name of the unified Armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945 Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war" is a popular name for an Offensive operational-level Military doctrine which involves an initial World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Operational manoeuvre group (OMG was a Soviet Army organisational Maneuver warfare concept created during the early 1950s to replace the Cavalry mechanized Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the ^[5] Much of the credit for acceptance of maneuver warfare in the United States military is given to fighter pilot John Boyd. Colonel John (Richard Boyd ( January 23, 1927 &ndash March 9, 1997) was a United States Air Force fighter None of Boyd's main ideas of maneuver warfare theory were his ideas alone or original to Boyd but were based on his research of military history. Boyd's research began during development of the close air support aircraft, the A-10. Boyd and designer Pierre Sprey interviewed Stuka pilots and armor commanders for data regarding tactical information such as the time required to find and target a tank from the air. The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Stu rz' ka' mpfflugzeug, " Dive bomber " was a two-seat (pilot and rear gunner Boyd then broadened his research in an attempt to understand the German army's rapid successes against France in 1940. To further understand concepts used by the German military in World War II, upon which maneuver warfare is largely based, Boyd studied Clausewitz, Jomini and the Napoleonic era. Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz (ˈklaʊzəvɪts ( July 1, 1780 – November 16, 1831) was a Prussian soldier military historian Antoine-Henri baron Jomini ( March 6, 1779 &ndash March 24, 1869) General in the French and afterwards in the Russian Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Boyd also studied tactics used by the Mongols, Byzantines and Ottomans. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Boyd traced military thought back to Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu ( ("Master Sun" also called Sun Wu ( is traditionally considered to be the author of The Art of War (also simply called the The basic idea derived was that a combination of light troops and heavy troops seeking the enemy weak point for a decisive blow. Boyd believed that many Western commanders focused on winning the battle while Eastern commanders fought against the enemy's mind. Boyd's critique of Clausewitz was that while Clausewitz saw the "fog of war" as producing difficulties and sought to reduce friction to as to more effectively fight the enemy, Sun Tzu actively sought to increase friction and confusion amongst opposing forces.

According to writer Grant Hammond, Boyd believed that the Battle of Marathon, Battle of Leuctra, Battle of Arbela and the Battle of Cannae were battles of maneuver warfare with "unequal distribution of forces to gain a local advantage and decisive leverage to collapse adversary resistance". The Battle of Marathon ( Greek: Μάχη τοῡ Μαραθῶνος Machē tou Marathōnos) during the Greco-Persian Wars took place in 490 The Battle of Leuctra (or Leuktra was a battle fought between the Thebans and the Spartans and their respective allies amidst the post- Corinthian War conflict The Battle of Gaugamela (ˌgɔːgəˈmiːlə (Γαυγάμηλα took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great of Macedonia and Darius III For the 11th century battle in the Byzantine conquest of the Mezzogiorno, see Battle of Cannae (1018. ^[6]

Recent military theorists of a non-firepower focus include Robert Leonhard, Robert Bateman, John Boyd, Michael Wyly, and Donald Vandergriff. Robert Lake Bateman (born 1967 is an American military officer historian author and web and newspaper columnist Colonel John (Richard Boyd ( January 23, 1927 &ndash March 9, 1997) was a United States Air Force fighter Michael Duncan Wyly is a retired US Marine Colonel. In 1979 Colonel Wyly was head of tactics at the Amphibious Warfare School (AWS where he with Major Donald E Vandergriff, is a teacher writer and lecturer who specializes in leadership education and training

Limitations in a modern context

A key requirement for success in maneuver warfare is accurate, up-to-date intelligence on the disposition of key enemy command, support and combat units. While such intelligence has been available for many of the higher profile conflicts characterising the last two decades, in operations where intelligence is either inaccurate, unavailable or unreliable, the successful implementation of strategies based on maneuver warfare can become problematic. Furthermore, when faced with a maneuverable opponent capable of redeploying forces quickly and discretely, or where political considerations are integral to a belligerent's definition of success, such as in asymmetrical warfare, the capacity of maneuver warfare strategies to deliver victory becomes more challenging. Asymmetry is the absence of or a violation of a Symmetry. In organisms Due to how cells divide in Organisms asymmetry in organisms is

An example where such shortcomings have been exposed is during the 2006 Lebanon War where, despite overwhelming firepower and complete air superiority, Israeli forces were unable to deliver a decisive blow to Hezbollah nor effectively degrade its capacity to operate effectively. Background See also Israel-Lebanon conflict The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO had engaged in cross-border attacks from Southern Lebanon Hezbollah (حزب الله, literally " party of God " is a Shi'a Islamic political and Paramilitary organisation Although inflicting heavy damage, Israel's inability to locate and destroy Hezbollah's diluted force structure ultimately meant that it did not meet its war aims. Additionally, the insurgency in Iraq also demonstrates that a military victory over an opponent's conventional forces does not automatically translate into a political one. The Iraqi insurgency is composed of diverse mix of militias foreign fighters all Iraqi units or mixtures using violent measures against the US-led Coalition in Iraq

Some military theorists such as William Lind and Colonel Thomas X. Hammes propose to overcome shortcomings of maneuver warfare with the concept of what they call fourth generation warfare. William S Lind (b July 9 1947) is an American expert on military affairs and a pundit on Cultural conservatism. Colonel Thomas X Hammes is a retired US Marine officer who is considered a specialist in counter-insurgency warfare Fourth generation warfare (4GW is combat characterized by a blurring of the lines between War and Politics, soldier and civilian peace and conflict battlefield Others, for example Lieutenant-Colonel S. P. Myers writes that: "manoeuvre is more a philosophical approach to campaign design and execution than an arrangement of tactical engagements". Myers writes that maneuver warfare can evolve and that: "manoeuvrist approach in campaign design and execution remains relevant and effective as a counter-insurgency strategy at the operational level in contemporary operations". ^[7]

See also

• Flanking maneuver
• Pincer movement
• Combined arms
• Decision cycle
• OODA Loop
• Defeat in detail
• Operational tempo
• The Seven Classical and One Modern Maneuvers of War

References

Sources

• Boyd, John. Colonel John (Richard Boyd ( January 23, 1927 &ndash March 9, 1997) was a United States Air Force fighter Patterns of Conflict. 1986. Available online, accessed 5 February 2005.
• Simpkin, Richard E. Brigadier Richard Evelyn Simpkin MC (1921–1986 was a British Army officer Race to the Swift: Thoughts on Twenty-First Century Warfare. Brassey's, 2000.
• Richard Simpkin in association with John Erickson Deep battle : the brainchild of Marshal Tukhachevskii, London, Brassey's Defence, 1987. Brigadier Richard Evelyn Simpkin MC (1921–1986 was a British Army officer John R Erickson (b April 171929 South Shields, Eng &ndash d Feb ISBN 0-08-031193-8
• Lind, William S.. William S Lind (b July 9 1947) is an American expert on military affairs and a pundit on Cultural conservatism. Maneuver Warfare Handbook. 1985. Westview Special Studies in Military Affairs. Westview Press Inc. Boulder, CO.
• Leonhard, Robert. The Art of Maneuver: Maneuver-Warfare Theory and Air-Land Battle. 1991. Presidio Press. Novato, CA.

External links

• MajGen Ray Smith, USMC (ret. ) and Bing West (August 1, 2003). Francis J ‘Bing’ West, originally from the Dorchester section of Boston, served as an Infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Implications from Iraqi Freedom for the Marine Corps. Westwrite. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and  “The first war fought under the new doctrine of Maneuver Warfare, with several observations and suggestions for future change. ”

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