U S Command and General Staff College

General Matthew B. Ridgeway: a Commander's Maturation of Operational Art U S Command and General Staff College

Publisher Marketing: General Ridgway's astonishing ability to visualize military campaigns matured based on his leader development, the lessons that he learned from failure and from personally mastering operational art. During WWII, Ridgway commanded the 82nd Airborne Division in Operations HUSKY and NEPTUNE, and then the XVIII Airborne Corps in Operation MARKET, the "Battle of the Bulge" and Operation VARSITY. This monograph, through an investigation into primary sources: field orders, after action reports, and personal accounts reinforced with secondary source analysis, demonstrates that Ridgway overcame inadequacy. Although he completed all the military education available, it was only after the intense crucible of three combat operations that he eventually applied operational art successfully. Ridgway achieved tactical success but did not adequately apply operational art for HUSKY, NEPTUNE and MARKET. Ridgway learned from his failures and progressively improved his application of operational art during the Bulge and VARSITY. Not until his fifth experience, did he master operational art. Within U. S. Army Mission Command, the most important subcomponent of visualization depends on eleven elements of operational art. These elements are the template this monograph uses in considering the factors of Ridgway's maturation of operational art.