Army University Press Large-Scale Combat Operations Series (Used Paperback Full Set) - Christopher M. Rein

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
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the exponential lethality, hyperactive chaos, and accelerated tempo of the
multi-domain battlefield when facing a peer or near-peer adversary.
To 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.

Still in original packaging, never opened.