Short Essay On Warfighting

The U.S. Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication titled Warfighting is one of the most important written documents the Corps has produced. It is the lifeblood to the organization’s overall bodily function of winning battles. The text is basic in methodology and sound in composition. It was not designed as a “warfighting for dummies” procedural approach to fighting in war, although the how part is broadly answered. It was, however, intended to answer the philosophical bigger question, why we fight (Warfighting, 1997). Sadly, I believe the enlisted corps throughout the ranks largely overlooks this publication or worse, ignores its lessons all together. If Marines take the time to understand the Corps’ tenets derived in the book’s chapters, such as

Key concepts like friction, uncertainty, the human dimension, violence and danger, and more are well summarized (Warfighting, 1997). Just by recognizing these characteristics of war by reading Warfighting makes Marines better prepared for the fight. One important concept is friction. Knowing the effects can prove invaluable to every day’s life challenges. Friction can be both obvious and volatile (Dougherty, 2012, 7). Friction thrives in wartime and can have a dramatic effect on the physical, mental, and moral decision making of anyone. Easy tasks can seem impossible when friction is prevalent (Warfighting, 1997, 5). Climate is a clear external factor of friction and it can wreak havoc on an army who forgets to account for it. Take the heavily armored Crusader army led by King Guy, who lost at the Battle of Hattain on July 4, 1187. The battle was not decided only by the hands of the lighter armored, swifter, Saracen Army of Saladin. King Guy underestimated the power of the blazing Arab sun in July (Dougherty, 2012, 51). His men were more worried about finding water, instead of clashing swords. The friction overwhelmed their capability to fight, and the overly dressed force was

A solid recipe for success is attending tough, physical training, and balancing with high degree of education (Warfighting, 1997, 64). Simply having the ability to quickly recognize the many factors can give us an edge. We cannot honestly expose every single Marine to the true realities of war itself, so it’s on the leadership and the individual Marine to hone those skills while we wait for orders. Marines need to make sure they are exposed to realistic combat scenarios and environments. Too often I have witnessed training evolutions that look more like playwrights and less like actual