Warfighting Flashcards
What is the definition of war?
The violent clash of interests between or among organized groups characterized by the use of military.
What are the 3 levels of war?
Stategic, Operational, & Tactical
What links tactical level to the strategic level?
Operational Level
What is the lowest level of war?
Tactical level
What is the highest level of war?
Strategic level
What must war serve?
Policy
What is maneuver warfare?
Attempts to attack the problem from a position of advantage by circumventing the mass of force & attacking the system.
What is Attrition warfare?
The basic essence of pitting strength against strength, attacking the problem head on.
What is combat power?
Total destructive force of our will we can bring to bear on our enemy.
Define surface
Hard part of an enemy (i.e., Mass troops)
Define gap
Enemies weakness (i.e. lack of training)
Define Center of Gravity
One strength that provides power to the enemy allowing them to impose their will (i.e. armored vecs).
Define critical vulnerability
one weakness that allows us to defeat the enemy system by circumventing the center of gravity.
Define combined arms
The full interaction of arms in such a way that to counteract one, the enemy must become more vulnerable to another.
What is Commanders intent?
Centralized vision or “long term contract” that allows subordinates to understand the reason, or the larger context of the operation harmonizing their actions to the overall effort.
Define “Essence of war”
Violent struggle between 2 hostile indepentdent & irreconcilable wills, each trying to impose itself on the other.
What does maneuver warfare seek to do?
Seeks to shatter the enemy’s cohesion through rapid, focused and unexpected actions which create a chaotic situation with which the enemy cannot cope.
What is central to maneuver warfare?
Firepower
What is necessary to keep the enemy off balance?
Speed
What is essential element to maneuver warfare?
Surprise
Describe Spectrum of Conflict
The method in which the Marine Corps prepares to any level of war and how to respond to any situation (i.e., MOOTW to all out war)
What is the goal of the defense?
To maintain the status quo of the current situation
What is the goal of the offense?
To advance change from the current situation
What is the most important task for a military to conduct in preparing for war?
Training
What is the basis for training?
Doctrine which outlines the fundamental concepts & principles for the conduct of war.
What is important to remember about doctrine
It is principle based, not prescriptive, and requires critical thought by our leaders.
What are some of the intangible training factors that units tend to ignore?
planning, human factors, emotional, psychological, and concept training
Training must duplicate what?
Realistic battle situations as much as possible allowing for training in the intangibles as well as the tangibles i.e., tactics, equipment, PT).
Desribe Orienting on the ememy?
studying, analyzing, and forming reasonable predictions about the enemy.
What is the purpose of Orienting on the ememy?
familiarize ourselves on how the enemy’s system operates in preparation and
execution, identifying the unique characteristics that make the enemy’s
“system” function.
What does it allow us to do as warfighters?
allows us to identify ways to penetrate, control, or destroy the key components by identifying the critical vulnerability that will render the center of gravity ineffective.
Describe Philosophy of Command during the exploitation phase of the enemy
Empowers subordinates to act on
their own initiative.
How does the comanders accomplish this?
Accomplishes by communicating a clear centralized vision to subordinates after the exploitation of the enemy is envisioned.
What is Mission Tactics?
Assigning a mission to a subordinate without telling them how to accomplish it.
What is Main Effort?
Commander’s “bid for success” and therefore is focused on striking the
enemy’s critical vulnerability.
What does the main effort describe?
Describes both an element and
an action, recognized as the most critical action to be taken to defeat the
enemy.
What are the 8 dynamics of the battlefield?
Friction, Uncertainty, Fluidity (everchanging), Disorder, Complexity, Human Dimension, Violence & Danger, Physical, Moral & Mental Forces
What are the 4 types of friction?
Mental (indecision), Physical enemy obstacles), External (weather), and Internal (self induced)
Describe Uncertainty
Fog of War
Describe Fluidity
constantly changing situations.
Describe Disorder
an environment of friction, uncertainty, and fluidity. Plans that will go awry
What is Complexity?
War is not a conflict between two individuals, but between forces consisting of many individuals. War emerges from the collective behavior of the individual parts and players responding to local conditions. No one commander can control every aspect of war.
What is the Human Dimension?
The human emotional & physical capacity that we will be expected to operate in the face of fear of our own mortality, sorrow of losing a peer, collective friction, exhaustion, lack of sleep, etc.
What are Physical, Moral, and Mental factors?
Physical (men & material), Moral (nations resolve), Mental (intangible factors which hinders our will to fight the enemy)
