operational design

War on the Rocks: An Irregular Upgrade to Operational Design

Riley.C.Murray — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 17:38:44 +0000

War on the Rocks: An Irregular Upgrade to Operational Design

The authors argue that there is an intellectual gap in modern U.S. operational design, which focuses too heavily on a conventional mindset and methodology to problem solving, leaving a gap in strategic competition.

Link to Article: https://warontherocks.com/2021/03/an-irregular-upgrade-to-operational-design/

"Discussions about “Framing the SOF Environment” are based on a fallacy; an environment isn’t special or conventional, it’s just an environment, and it affects more than the military element of national power. Making “SOF” an adjective everywhere parochializes problems and implies that special operations forces are the preordained solution."

"Irregular warfare is not a “special operations thing” — it’s a joint responsibility. Just as some of us in the policy world have made the case for rethinking how we describe irregular warfare activities, the military should reconsider how to plan for them."

"Now these new ideas should be codified into doctrine. Doctrine isn’t sexy — no argument there. But almost everyone in uniform can agree that unless codified, ideas will rarely translate into professional military education and joint planning efforts. This is what “institutionalizing irregular warfare” means in practice. An irregular upgrade for operational design will aid the United States in competing indirectly and asymmetrically to advance its interests without a catastrophic military confrontation."

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Saving Blood & Treasure: The Evolving Art of War and the Application of Design Methodology to Complex Problems of 21st Century Small Wars

SWJED — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 04:25:46 +0000

Saving Blood & Treasure: The Evolving Art of War and the Application of Design Methodology to Complex Problems of 21st Century Small Wars SWJED Fri, 08/09/2019 - 12:25am

The United States and its Allies have historically been successful at fighting conventional wars. America must both build on its understanding of past state-on-state conflicts and learn from the small wars of this young century to be able to fight and win future wars.

The Multidisciplinary Design Movement: A Frame for Realizing Industry, Security, and Academia Interplay

SWJED — Thu, 10 Jan 2019 15:09:20 +0000

The Multidisciplinary Design Movement: A Frame for Realizing Industry, Security, and Academia Interplay SWJED Thu, 01/10/2019 - 10:09am

Today, there might be few words as overused and fraught with multiple disciplines claiming ownership as the term ‘design’ and associated ‘design thinking’, ‘design practice’ and other variations. ‘Design’ has become one of the buzzwords along with ‘synergy’, ‘innovation’, ‘machine learning’ and ‘augmented intelligence’ within defense circles, but of all of these terms it seems that ‘design’ is the most debated and convoluted.

To Conquer a Peace: Operational Design in the Mexico City Campaign, 1847-1848

SWJED — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 05:24:17 +0000

To Conquer a Peace: Operational Design in the Mexico City Campaign, 1847-1848 SWJED Sun, 07/02/2017 - 1:24am

Though newly arrived in Army doctrine, the concept of operational design finds precedent in American military history.

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SOF Operational Design and Strategic Education for the 21st Century Warrior-Scholar

SWJED — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 05:25:22 +0000

SOF Operational Design and Strategic Education for the 21st Century Warrior-Scholar SWJED Mon, 06/12/2017 - 1:25am

It is necessary to develop and deliver strategic design education, in order to bridge the gap between operational and strategic design and between SOF and civilian partners.

Lessons from the Battle of Chancellorsville

Peter J. Munson — Wed, 08 May 2013 07:30:00 +0000

Lessons from the Battle of Chancellorsville Peter J. Munson Wed, 05/08/2013 - 3:30am

The Battle of Chancellorsville ended 150 years ago this week. It still holds lessons for us.