Maritime Warfare Ch2 - Strategy and Levels of Operation

Attrition Warfare

Application of a strength against an enemy’s strength

Maneuver Warfare

Power is focused on key enemy weaknesses and vulnerabilities that allow us to strike the source of their power

Center of gravity

Source of strength! ex. supply lines, critical resources, repair facilities, CVN in a CSG.

Critical Vulnerability

Depends on situation and specific objective, can be transitory or time sensitive, defined by the central role they play in maintaining or supporting the enemy’s center of gravity and, ultimately, their ability to resist

Focus of Effort

paramount objective to be accomplished by the force and is therefore always on the critical vulnerability that will expose the enemy’s center of gravity (prioritizing our objectives)

Main Effort

• supported directly and indirectly by all parts of the force

• only one main effort at a time and is directed against the focus of effort

Commander’s Intent

Conveys an “end state” of desired result of an action

Low-Intensity Conflict

• Political-military confrontation between contending states or groups below conventional war and above the routine, peaceful competition among states

• involves competing ideologies

• often localized

Limited War

• armed conflict between two or more nations, at levels below that of general war

• characterized by a conscious restraint on the part of the belligerent and does not involve the unrestricted employment of all available resources

• also known as aggressions, conventional war, or limited nuclear war

General War

• no other option offers a chance of achieving goals

• in response to a direct and immediate threat to national survival when no other course offers a chance of attaining national objectives

• the threat of nuclear weapons will always be a distinct possibility

Top Level Defense Priorities

Deterrence

• defend the homeland

• deter strategic attacks against the US and allies

• deter aggression and be prepared to prevail in conflict when necessary

• ensure future military advantage

Nuclear triad - Strategic Bombers (Air)

the most flexible leg of the triad, can provide massive firepower in a short time anywhere around the globe

Nuclear triad - SSBN’s (Sea)

• the most survivable leg of the nuclear triad

• undetectable platforms for submarine-launched ballistic missiles

Nuclear triad - ground based ICBM’s (Land)

Up to 400 Minuteman III missiles make up the most responsive leg of the triad

Deterrence by Denial

Threat of force intended to convince a potential aggressor not to undertake a particular action because the costs will be unacceptable or the probability of success extremely low

Deterrence by Resilience

denying the benefits of aggression through the ability to withstand, fight through, and recover quickly from disruption

Deterrence by Cost Imposition

Essentially, “you’re going to wish you never did that - we’re going to get you back 10x harder/worse”

Extended deterrence

commitment to deter and respond to nuclear or non-nuclear scenarios in defense of allies and partners

• ex. nuclear umbrella

• NATO

• Operation Desert storm (UN came together to bomb Iraq and used ground forces to liberate Kuwait)

Levels of Warfare

Operational, Strategic, Tactical

Strategic Level of War

Level of war where a nation determines national or multinational strategic objectives and guidance and develops and uses national instruments of power to achieve those objectives.

• the president establishes policy, which SECSTATE and SecDef translate into national strategic objectives that facilitate theater-strategic planning

• combatant commanders discuss with Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff

Operational Level of War

level of war where commanders build campaign/major OPLANs to achieve the military strategic/operational objectives

• ensure military actions are synchronized with those of other government and nongovernmental agencies and organizations in order to achieve national strategic objectives

Tactical Level of War

level of war that focuses on planning and executing battles, engagements, and activities to achieve military objectives assigned to tactical units