Past Publications

Implications of Service Cyberspace Component Commands for Army Cyberspace Operations Mr Jeffrey L Caton Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The 2018 National Defense Strategy admonishes the Department of Defense (DoD) to invest in the continued development and integration of cyber capabilities into joint military operations. In this monograph, Mr. Jeffrey Caton examines the current paradigm of how the service cyberspace component commands operate as a mixture of common joint practices and service-unique means and methods. His research was completed in September 2017; thus, it does not address the May 2018 elevation of U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) to a unified command, or that all Air Force Cyber Command’s (AFCYBER’s) Cyber Mission Force (CMF) teams achieved full operational capability in 2018."

Contemporary Chemical Weapons Use in Syria and Iraq by the Assad Regime and the Islamic State Dr Robert J Bunker Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Chemical weapons remain a component of the 21st-century battlefield even though the international community has attempted to ban them from the arsenals of both state and nonstate actors. They have been referred to as the poor man’s atomic bomb, as have biological weapons, another form of nonnuclear weapons of mass destruction. While chemical weapons do not have the destructive power of strategic—or even tactical—nuclear warheads, they are far easier to acquire or produce and are able to generate a terror factor even when their use is merely threatened."

Examining the Roles of Army Reserve Component Forces in Military Cyberspace Operations Mr Jeffrey L Caton Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The legacy of the Citizen Soldier concept in the United States predates the U.S. Constitution. Today, those serving in the oldest form of service to our Nation are called upon to address one of the newest manifestations of warfare in the realm of military cyberspace operations. What capabilities can Reserve component forces bring to Department of Defense (DoD) cyberspace forces? What opportunities and challenges surround the integration of these forces into a still-evolving joint cyberspace force? What are the expectations for cyber forces that serve in a militia capacity?"

Scenario Planning and Strategy in the Pentagon Dr Michael Fitzsimmons Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Students and practitioners of national security policy have long understood that uncertainty about the future is a central challenge of strategy. Scenario planning should be one of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) most important tools for developing strategy under uncertainty. Since 2002, the DoD has employed a formalized, joint scenario planning process to support strategy and force development, but that process has proven less influential than intended for strategic decision-making."

The U.S. Army in the Iraq War — Volume 2: Surge and Withdrawal, 2007-2011 COL Joel D. Rayburn, COL Frank K. Sobchak Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In September 2013, then Army Chief of Staff General Raymond T. Odierno directed the Operation IRAQI FREEDOM Study Group to research and write an operational history of the U.S. Army’s experience in the Iraq War from 2003 to 2011. This volume of The U.S. Army in the Iraq War is the second of two fulfilling that task. It tells how the surge counteroffensive in 2007-2008 neutralized both the Sunni insurgency and Shi’a militias, bringing Iraq to its most peaceful and stable state since the invasion. It then describes how, with political support for the war waning, consecutive Presidential administrations began to reduce the number of troops in Iraq while Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) and later United States Forces-Iraq (USF-I) worked hurriedly to prepare the Iraqi military to take responsibility for their nation’s security. The speed of the drawdown accelerated significantly after the election of President Barack Obama, culminating in an unexpected complete withdrawal in 2011..."

The U.S. Army in the Iraq War – Volume 1: Invasion – Insurgency – Civil War, 2003-2006 COL Joel D. Rayburn, COL Frank K. Sobchak Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In September 2013, Chief of Staff of the Army General Raymond T. Odierno directed the Operation IRAQI FREEDOM Study Group to research and write an operational history of the U.S. Army’s experience in the Iraq War from 2003 to 2011. This volume, The United States Army in the Iraq War, 2003-2006, is the first of two fulfilling that task. It tells the story of the U.S.-led campaigns to remove Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi Ba’athist regime from power in 2003 and to stabilize the country following those operations. It details the course of the campaigns up to a point in late 2006 when President George W. Bush and other U.S. leaders changed the strategy in Iraq to one that resulted in the “surge” counteroffensive by American troops in 2007–2008. That counteroffensive and the subsequent withdrawal of the coalition forces from Iraq are the subjects of the second volume of this series."

Maneuvering the Saudi-Iranian Rivalry in the Middle East: How the United States Can Preserve and Protect Its Long-Term Interests in the Region Mr Gregory Aftandilian Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "This monograph examines how the United States should preserve and protect its long-term interests in the Middle East region by maneuvering carefully and strategically in the Saudi-Iranian conflict. The monograph first analyzes the history of the conflict between these two countries and shows that, while these two regional powers were rivals, they were not necessarily enemies and cooperated at times. It then traces their recent conflict back to the Iranian revolution and brings it up-to-date with their support for opposing sides in proxy wars in the region, taking part in sectarian diatribes, and the breaking of diplomatic relations."

Creating Great Expectations: Strategic Communications and American Airpower Dr Conrad C Crane Letort Paper by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Of all the American military services, the two most active and adept in strategic communications in the last century have been the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force (USAF). As the smallest service, the Marines have pursued a very successful public relations campaign to trumpet their accomplishments and ensure their survival. It is a standing joke that a Marine rifle squad consists of eight riflemen and two cameramen.,,"

Silent Partners: Organized Crime, Irregular Groups, and Nation-States Dr Shima D Keene Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The U.S. Army increasingly faces adversaries that are difficult to define. The threat landscape is further blurred by cooperation between transnational organized crime groups and irregular armed formations, linked directly or indirectly to governments or individual authority figures in nation-states. At a fundamental level, the motivations and aspirations of transnational organized crime groups differ from those held by irregular groups. However, in practice, there are many similarities in terms of their modus operandi and the harm they cause, often making it difficult to distinguish one from the other. This collaboration, whatever its exact nature, is problematic, because it confounds understanding of the adversary, making existing countermeasures less effective and thus directly challenging U.S. national security interests."