The Last 100 Yards: The Crucible of Close Combat in Large-Scale Combat Operations presents thirteen historical case studies of close combat operations from World War I through Operation Iraqi Freedom. This volume is a collection from the unique and deliberate perspective of the last 100 yards of ground combat. In today’s Army, there are few leaders who have experienced multi-domain large-scale ground combat against a near-peer or peer enemy first hand. This volume serves to augment military professionals’ understanding of the realities of large-scale ground combat operations through the experiences of those who lived it.

The Last 100 Yards: The Crucible of Close Combat in Large-Scale Combat Operations

History

Army University Press

Berg, Paul.

Military

Independently published

Since the Soviet Union's fall in 1989, the specter of large-scale ground combat against a peer adversary was remote. During the years following, the US Army found itself increasingly called upon to lead multinational operations in the lower to middle tiers of the range of military operations and conflict continuum. The events of 11 September 2001 led to more than 15 years of intense focus on counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and stability operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. An entire generation of Army leaders and Soldiers were culturally imprinted by this experience. We emerged as an Army more capable in limited contingency operations than at any time in our nation's history, but the geopolitical landscape continues to shift and the risk of great power conflict is no longer a remote possibility.While our Army focused on limited contingency operations in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, other regional and peer adversaries scrutinized US military processes and methods and adapted their own accordingly. As technology has proliferated and become accessible in even the most remote corners of the world, the US military's competitive advantage is being challenged across all of the warfighting domains. In the last decade, we have witnessed an emergent China, a revanchist and aggressive Russia, a menacing North Korea, and a cavalier Iranian regime. Each of these adversaries seeks to change the world order in their favor and contest US strategic interests abroad. The chance for war against a peer or regional near-peer adversary has increased exponentially, and we must rapidly shift our focus to successfully compete in all domains and across the full range of military operations.Over the last two years, the US Army has rapidly shifted the focus of its doctrine, training, education, and leader development to increase readiness and capabilities to prevail in large-scale ground combat operations against peer and near-peer threats. Our new doctrine, Field Manual (FM) 3-0, Operations, dictates that the Army provide the joint force four unique strategic roles: shaping the security environment, preventing conflict, prevailing in large-scale combat operations, and consolidating gains to make temporary success permanent.To enable this shift of focus, the Army is now attempting to change its culture shaped by over 15 years of persistent limited-contingency operations. Leaders must recognize that the hard-won wisdom of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is important to retain but does not fully square with vi the exponential lethality, hyperactive chaos, and accelerated tempo of the multi-domain battlefield when facing a peer or near-peer adversaryTo emphasize the importance of the Army's continued preparation for large-scale combat operations, the US Army Combined Arms Center has published these volumes of The US Army Large-Scale Combat Operations Series book set. The intent is to expand the knowledge and understanding of the contemporary issues the US Army faces by tapping our organizational memory to illuminate the future. The reader should reflect on these case studies to analyze each situation, identify the doctrines at play, evaluate leaders' actions, and determine what differentiated success from failure. Use them as a mechanism for discussion, debate, and intellectual examination of lessons of the past and their application to today's doctrine, organization, and training to best prepare the Army for large-scale combat. Relevant answers and tangible reminders of what makes us the world's greatest land power await in the stories of these volumes.

The Competitive Advantage Special Operations Forces in Large-Scale Combat Operations

Toguchi, Robert

Krivdo, Michael

Volume 1, Weaving the Tangled Web: Military Deception in Large-Scale Combat Operations surveys twelve cases of MILDEC from World War I through Desert Storm focusing on how armies have successfully used preconceptions to either immobilize an opponent or force the expenditure of energy in unproductive directions. The case studies span the major wars of the twentieth-century from the perspectives of several great powers and offer both a primer for planners of military deception and a caution for all military personnel to remain constantly on guard for practitioners of this ancient art.

Weaving the Tangled Web: Military Deception in Large-Scale Combat Operations

Rein, Christopher M.

Lethal and Non-Lethal Fires: Historical Case Studies of Converging Cross-Domain Fires in Large Scale Combat Operations, provides a collection of ten historical case studies from World War I through Desert Storm. The case studies detail the use of lethal and non-lethal fires conducted by US, British, Canadian, and Israeli forces against peer or near-peer threats. The case studies span the major wars of the twentieth-century and present the doctrine the various organizations used, together with the challenges the leaders encountered with the doctrine and the operational environment, as well as the leaders' actions and decisions during the conduct of operations. Most importantly, each chapter highlights the lessons learned from those large scale combat operations, how they were applied or ignored and how they remain relevant today and in the future.

Lethal and Non-Lethal Fires: Historical Case Studies of Converging Cross-Domain Fires in Large-Scale Combat Operations

Bradbeer, Thomas G.

This book is an extensive collection of essays by military history academics regarding the subject of retreat. Illustrated with maps and photographs throughout the text. An important study for any serious scholar of military history and strategy.

Armies in Retreat: Chaos, Cohesion, and Consequences

Military Bookshop

Armies In Retreat

Heck, Timothy

Mills, Walker D.

Army University Press (u.s.)

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas : Army University Press, 2023

On Strategy: A Primer: The Strategic Ethical Impact of World War I on the Global Profession of Arms

Deep Operations: Theoretical Approaches to Fighting Deep

Reference

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