Wesley R Odum

Conceptual Transformation for the Contemporary Operational Environment Wesley R Odum

The purpose of this monograph is to recommend the retention, modification, or abandonment of certain concepts of the current elements of operational design based on their continued validity within the contemporary operational environment. Military theorists and doctrine writers have struggled over the last two decades with the concept of a revolution in military affairs and its impact on current and future operational concepts. This monograph seeks to answer the question of whether the elements of operational design currently used in the campaign planning methodology remain valid in the contemporary operational environment. This paper's method examines the assertion that theoretical elements that are valid in one operational environment remain valid in another operational environment. Transfer validity holds as long as the environments are sufficiently similar. If the environment has changed, or the original theory did not account for all aspects of the environment, then the new or expanded operational environment might require modification of the theoretical construct. The current elements of campaign design originated with the theoretical writings of Carl von Clausewitz and Baron Antoine Henri de Jomini. These theorists based their works on the operational environment extant in the Napoleonic era. Contemporary doctrine adapted their concepts for use in campaign planning methodology as the elements of operational design in the new contemporary operational environment.