Course Knowledge Centers

For centuries, the world has witnessed the development and use of increasingly complex and powerful military systems and technologies. In the process, the "art of war" has truly become the art of combined arms warfare, in which infantry, artillery, air support, intelligence, and other key elements are all coordinated for maximum effect. Includes maps of: Battle of Cambrai, 20-30 November 1917; Second Battle of Armageddon, 19-24 September 1918; Maginot Line and the 1940 Campaign; Khalkin-Gol, 20-31 August 1939; Sidi Barrani, December 1940; Prokhorovka Action, Battle of Kursk, July 1943; Sidi Bou Zid-Kasserine Pass, February 1943; Battle of Ormoc Valley, November-December 1944; Imphal-Kohima, March-April 1944; Operation Lam Son 719, February-March 1971; 7th Israeli Armored Brigade at Abu Agheila, 1956; 1973 War - Sinai; 1973 War - Golan Heights; Soviet Search and Destroy Operation, Xadighar Canyon, 1986; Battle of Goose Green, 1982; Battle of 73 Easting, 1991.

This Guide to the Study and Use of Military History is designed to foster an appreciation of the value of military history and explain its uses and the resources available for its study. It is not a work to be read and lightly tossed aside, but one the career soldier should read again or use as a reference at those times during his career when necessity or leisure turns him to the contemplation of the military past.

The history of ground combat in the twentieth century is to a large extent the history of the evolution of combined arms warfare. The impact of technology, the expansion of armed forces, the advent of complex controlling, planning, and organizational structures, and the attendant growth of functional specialization, are all developments which have rendered the conduct of modern war a complex and multifaceted undertaking. Nowhere has change been more evident than on the battlefield itself, where the challenges of combat have simultaneously (and almost paradoxically) mandated greater differentiation and increased integration among the various arms and services.

Authoritative and concise, Warfare in the Western World concentrates on selected campaigns and battles, showing how political and military leaders in the West have used armies to wage war effectively over the last four centuries. The text moves through the centuries, discussing how operational developments and technological improvements eventually led to the concept of total war, first approached in the American Civil War and culminating in the twentieth century's two world wars.

This is a wide-ranging historical overview of that most difficult aspect of military leadership, the art of battle command. McGrath leads the reader through case studies beginning with Alexander the Great leading up to the recent war in Iraq. Among others, he analyzes Napoleon’s technique, French and British practices in World War I, the German experience with “Blitzkreig” in World War II, and the Soviet approach to battle command. McGrath also extends his historical analysis to the present day by presenting a description of battle command theory in the “Modular Army” and the Information Age.

This work studies the evolution, organizational structure, and employment of the maneuver brigade. In passing, it discusses other army brigades, such as those consisting of field artillery, aviation, and engineer units. This special study illuminates the history and evolution of the brigade as an organization in the US Army, from the earliest days to the current era. It follows both organizational structure and how it was actually employed on the battlefield. It provides an organizational history of the maneuver brigade and case studies of its employment throughout the various wars. Apart from the text, the appendices at the end of the work provide a ready reference to all brigade organizations used in the Army since 1917 and the history of the brigade colors.

Documents that analyses the major military operations from WWII to Desert Storm. Includes essays on operations of foreign military's as well. Includes maps of areas under discussion.