School of Strategic Landpower

John A. Nagl, Project Director, and Michael T. Hackett, Chief of Staff; Integrated Research Project from the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, School of Strategic Landpower, US Army War College Press; Following the 2024 A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force, which explored military lessons learned from the first year of the Russia-Ukraine War, this book examines the changing character of war as the second year of the war unfolded. This year’s authors explore the conflict from four different angles: information advantage (intelligence, information operations, and cyber); landpower operations (fires, maneuver, force protection, mission command, and mercenaries); multi-domain operations (air and maritime); and crosscutting themes (diplomacy, sustainment, and innovation and adaptation). The second year witnessed the innovative approaches to combat of the first year—drones, unmanned aerial systems, and electronic-warfare offensive and defensive capabilities—combined with entrenched warfare not seen at the current scale in Europe since World War I. The use of mercenary private military companies like the Wagner Group generated moments of high suspense (with a failed mutiny in July 2023) and led to changes in Russian force structure and tactics. Delays in continued allied support tested the resolve and operational capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which nevertheless kept up the fight and held Russia back. Through it all, the conflict offers a compelling picture of the war of the future, along with lessons for the US Army Training and Doctrine Command to prepare the Joint Force to meet the challenges of the large-scale combat operations of tomorrow. ©2026 John A. Nagl. All rights reserved.

Handbook by the School of Strategic Learning, US Army War College The purpose of this document is to assist United States Army War College students during the Military Strategy and Campaigning (MSC) course. It also serves to assist commanders, planners, and other staff officers in combatant commands (CCMD), joint task forces (JTF), and Service component commands. It supplements joint doctrine and contains elements of emerging doctrine as practiced globally by joint force commanders (JFCs). It portrays a way to apply draft doctrine awaiting signature, published doctrine, and emerging concepts, all at the higher levels of joint command, with a primary emphasis at the combatant command level.

AY25 Campaign Planning Handbook Handbook by the School of Strategic Learning, US Army War College The purpose of this document is to assist United States Army War College students during the Military Strategy and Campaigning (MSC) course. It also serves to assist commanders, planners, and other staff officers in combatant commands (CCMD), joint task forces (JTF), and Service component commands. It supplements joint doctrine and contains elements of emerging doctrine as practiced globally by joint force commanders (JFCs). It portrays a way to apply draft doctrine awaiting signature, published doctrine, and emerging concepts, all at the higher levels of joint command, with a primary emphasis at the combatant command level.

Communication Campaigning: Experiential Activity Book Dr Thomas P. Galvin Activity book from the US Army War College, Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, School of Strategic Landpower, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute "The purpose of this Activity Book is to provide a series of experiential exercises that allow readers to construct communication campaigns as described in the monograph Communication Campaigning: Primer for Senior Leaders. This workbook is to be considered a living document that will be continuously updated, and therefore there may be differences between the activities herein and their presentation in the companion monograph..."

Responsible Command: Primer for Senior Leaders Dr Conrad C Crane, Dr Thomas P. Galvin, Paul Mikolashek Publication from the US Army War College, Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, School of Strategic Landpower, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute "When I was a Captain, I was called into the Brigade Commander’s office to talk about taking over a company. I remember a few things about that meeting, but one thing he said has stuck with me ever since. As he was talking, he paused a bit and said, “this command business…it’s a tough thing.” He did not have to elaborate further. With the assumption of command comes with it a daunting responsibility. This is true today as it was then and holds true at every level and only increases the higher up you go. It is exactly the notion of responsibility vested in the commander, that at least from his perspective, makes it a 'tough thing.' "

Strategic Leader Meta-Competencies Stephen Banks, David Eckley, Colonel Silas G. Martinez, Mark Stackle, Prof Louis G Yuengert Publication from the US Army War College, Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, School of Strategic Landpower, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute "As the capability gap between the United States military and its global competitors continues to shrink, the Army has countered with the launch of a transformative talent management effort to maintain its competitive edge over its rivals. Officer assessments comprise a critical component of the Army’s effort. While doctrinal requirements and existing measurement tools facilitate implementation of assessments for junior and mid-grade officers, assessment strategies for senior leaders are underdeveloped. This report informs talent management at the strategic level."

Campaign Planning Handbook AY21 Col. Keith Burkepile, COL Matthew D. Morton, COL Veronica Oswald-Hrutkay Publication from the US Army War College, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, School of Strategic Landpower "The purpose of this document is to assist United States Army War College students during the Military Strategy and Campaigning (MSC) course. It also serves to assist commanders, planners, and other staff officers in combatant commands (CCMD), joint task forces (JTF), and service component commands. It supplements joint doctrine and contains elements of emerging doctrine as practiced globally by joint force commanders (JFCs). It portrays a way to apply draft doctrine awaiting signature, published doctrine, and emerging concepts, all at the higher levels of joint command, with a primary emphasis at the combatant command level."

How the Army Runs 2019-2020: A Senior Leader Reference Handbook Prof Louis G Yuenger Reference Handbook from the US Army War College, School of Strategic Landpower "Since the publication of the 2017-2018 How the Army Runs Reference Handbook, the U.S. Army is transitioning its concepts, doctrine, and capabilities to a new strategy. This new strategy switches the focus of Army forces from counterinsurgency to large scale combat operations (LSCO) against a peer, or near-peer competitor. The Army responds to this fundamental change in strategy by establishing two very clear objectives in achieving the new strategy. The intermediate objective is to establish a multi-domain operations capable force (at least selected formations) by 2028 and an ultimate objective to grow that force into a multi-domain operations ready Army by 2035..."

Campaign Planning Handbook AY20 COL Mark Haseman Publication from the US Army War College, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, School of Strategic Landpower "The purpose of this document is to assist United States Army War College students during the Military Strategy and Campaigning (MSC) course. It also serves to assist commanders, planners, and other staff officers in combatant commands (CCMD), joint task forces (JTF), and service component commands. It supplements joint doctrine and contains elements of emerging doctrine as practiced globally by joint force commanders (JFCs). It portrays a way to apply published doctrine and emerging doctrine at the higher levels of joint command, with a primary emphasis at the combatant command level."