Today we’ll delve into the namesake of the podcast and a ubiquitous topic at the School of Advanced Military Studies: operational art.
Associated with the operational level of war—a topic for future discussion—operational art has many definitions; upwards of 10 depending on how many military theorists and thinkers one includes. The starting point of operational art is as varied as the theorists’ definitions.
Regardless of where in history operational art begins, the elements of operational art and its functions are useful tools for campaign analyses and battlefield staff rides. Being mindful not to impose a modern lens onto past events, we can use history to see where and how a military campaign met with success or ultimate failure.
The Elements of Operational Art, ADP 3-0, Operations 1
Two Functions of Operational Art
Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 3-0 Operations states operational art serves two main functions. The first function is to ensure military actions are aligned with strategy. This is often the definition with which most military planners are familiar. Even leaders at the tactical echelon be they are platoons or brigade understand how their actions must support higher headquarters efforts. However, there is a second function that operational art serves, and that is to “ensure that tactical actions occur under the most advantageous conditions possible.”2
This lesser known function provides opportunities for creative and critical thinking. Leverage and creating advantageous conditions leads discussions on shaping efforts, supporting efforts, and enabling operations. There are more options for deception, feints, or demonstrations. Logistics, sustainment, and protection war-fighting functions gain renewed importance in an operational planners mind for creating advantageous conditions. Russia’s inability to create advantageous conditions for its tactical actions during its initial invasion of Ukraine is one example of this second function’s importance. Azerbaijan’s use of drones against Armenia during the Nagorno-Karabakh war is another; Azerbaijan created an advantageous position by striking against not just physical targets but against the mental and moral dimensions as well. Our options for success grow as we read and synthesize our doctrine.
What’s in a Name: The Operational Arch
Metaphors are powerful; an arch aligns with the image of a bridge; a bridge between strategy and tactics.
Names and branding provide focus. The School of Advanced Military Studies creates military planners for army divisions, corps, and army service components commands.
As military planners, we are not only expected to lead planning teams or communicate with senior leaders, but also are expected to build cohesive teams from disparate organizations within the joint force and other agencies within the Department of Defense or US Government. We can create advantageous conditions for the operational planning team, just as we are expected to do for tactical units.
The Operational Artist Toolkit
Review the elements of operational art in the context of a series of campaigns, and then discuss what elements might be removed, changed, or added for 21st century warfare.
Use a campaign or engagement to identify and debate tensions between the elements and functions of operational art.
An excellent Congressional Research Service Defense Primer on Army Multidomain Operations.
Listen to the first episode of the Operational Arch podcast, published on December 15, 2022, for more insights into the genesis of the project.
US Department of the Army, Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 3-0, Operations (Washington, DC: Government Publishing Office, 2019), 2-6
Ibid., 2-1.