Landpower & Sustainment

The Future Role of Strategic Landpower Dr. Gregory L. Cantwell, Major Justin M. Magula Integrated Research Project by the US Army War College, US Army War College Press, Center for Strategic Leadership "Recent Russian aggression in Ukraine has reenergized military strategists and senior leaders to evaluate the role of strategic Landpower. American leadership in the European theater has mobilized allies and partners to reconsider force postures for responding to possible aggression against NATO members. Although Russian revisionist activity remains a threat in Europe, the challenges in the Pacific for strategic Landpower must also be considered. At the same time, the homeland, the Arctic, climate change, and the results of new and emerging technology also challenge the application of strategic Landpower..."

Conventional Deterrence and Landpower in Northeastern Europe Michael A. Hunzeker, Alexander Lanoszka Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The 2018 National Defense Strategy directs the Department of Defense (DoD) to prepare for a long-term strategic competition with other great powers. It minces no words in pointing to Russia’s repeated attempts at economically, diplomatically, and militarily coercing its neighbors. Toward this end, the DoD emphasizes the need to strengthen the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by getting partners to increase their share of the defense burden and modernize their forces, making them more capable and responsive if and when crises occur."

U.S. Landpower in the South China Sea LTC Clarence J Bouchat (USAF, Ret) Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "U.S. landpower in the South China Sea is an essential component to stabilizing this contested region. Together, the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Forces (SOF) offer distinctive capabilities whose defensive nature in this semi-enclosed maritime environment tend to be less prone to escalation while still sending an unequivocal message of committed support and steady resolve to partners and competitors alike. To establish U.S. landpower as a critical part of security and stability in the region, this monograph presents how its wide-ranging capabilities are important in directly supporting U.S. interests. "

A Russian View on Landpower Mr Keir Giles, Maj Gen Aleksandr V Rogovoy Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In a time of rapid change for the U.S. Army, it is essential to retain awareness of how potential adversaries are also developing their concepts of Landpower. This Letort Paper, written by an influential Russian general, lays out an authoritative view on the importance of substantial conventional land forces, as seen from Moscow."

Project 1704: A U.S. Army War College Analysis of Russian Strategy in Eastern Europe, an Appropriate U.S. Response, and the Implications for U.S. Landpower COL Douglas Mastriano, LTC Derek O'Malley Document by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In the summer of 2014, Russia forcibly annexed Crimea from Ukraine and then actively supported ethnic Russian separatists in an on-going irredentist bid in Eastern Ukraine. This aggressive policy threatens to challenge NATO and the United States in its support of Ukraine and other nations of Eastern Europe. From this changing strategic environment, three central questions emerge: (1) What is the Russian strategy in their periphery? (2) What is the appropriate U.S. response? (3) What are the implications for U.S. landpower?"

Assessing Egyptian Public Support for Security Crackdowns in the Sinai Mr Gregory Aftandilian Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Mr. Gregory Aftandilian examines Egypt’s public support for the Egyptian government’s security crackdowns in the Sinai where terrorist groups have undertaken violent attacks against security forces and foreign tourists and have even taken their fight to the Egyptian mainland. Although the leadership of these terrorist groups appear to be from mainland Egypt (those living along the Nile River and in the Nile Delta region), much of the rank and file appear to be disaffected Bedouin youth in the Sinai who have become susceptible to the entreaties of the terrorists..."

Always Strategic: Jointly Essential Landpower Dr Colin S Gray Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "American Landpower is a strategic instrument of state policy and needs to be considered as such. The purpose of this monograph is to explore and explain the nature of Landpower, both in general terms and also with particular regard to the American case. Five themes drive through this work. Specifically, it is argued that: (1) Landpower is unique in the character of the quality it brings to the American joint team for national security; (2) the United States has a permanent need for the human quality in Landpower that this element provides inherently; (3) Landpower is always and indeed necessarily strategic in its meaning and implications—it is a quintessentially strategic instrument of state policy and politics; (4) strategic Landpower is unavoidably and beneficially joint in its functioning, and this simply is so much the contemporary character of American strategic Landpower that we should consider jointness integral to its permanent nature; and, (5) notwithstanding the nuclear context since 1945, Landpower retained, indeed retains, most of the strategic utility it has possessed through all of history: this is a prudent judgment resting empirically on the evidence of 70 years’ experience. "

Strategic Insights: The Landpower Robot Revolution Is Coming Steven Metz Article by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Military technical revolutions have a distinct pattern. When new technology becomes available, it initially is used to augment existing operational methods and tactics. In Europe, for instance, the first firearms were used to give formations of pikemen more punch. On the battlefields of World War I, tanks were moveable pill boxes supporting slogging infantry attacks. Airplanes were used like old-fashioned cavalry, scouting for the infantry and artillery. Later, they supplemented infantry and artillery by strafing and bombing. Even the first atomic weapons were simply a very effective way to do the work of traditional 500 pound bombs and incendiaries..."

American Grand Strategy and the Future of U.S. Landpower Major Joseph V Da Silva, Dr Hugh P Liebert, Prof Isaiah Wilson III Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The current international security environment is characterized by unprecedented uncertainty. In the Asia-Pacific, our allies adjust to China’s rise and hedge against instability coming from North Korea. In the greater Middle East, the Syrian civil war draws in powerful state and nonstate actors, Iran’s weapons program worries its neighbors, the Arab Spring continues its uncertain course, and we see a growing Sunni-Shia split throughout the region. In Europe, the need for a strong North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance has become clear as nations along Russia’s periphery reevaluate their strategic alignments in the wake of the situation in Crimea. In Africa, weak states with ethnic and religious tensions set conditions for terrorist groups to operate with near impunity. It is in this uncertain and unstable world that U.S. military forces will operate for the foreseeable future."