Urban Battle Command In The 21st Century

In every operation, the functions of command, control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and communications are all fundamental to success. But in cities, the dense population, many manmade structures, and other challenges act to severely impede these functions in several ways. This monograph contemplates the nature of those challenges and proposes several recommendations to surmount them in both the short and longer terms.

Leaders of America's ground forces recognize the importance of put- ting themselves at the most critical point on a battlefield, for it is there that their experience, judgment, and demonstration of physical courage can best influence the outcome of deadly combat. Yet being forward has its costs. The tactical command posts (TOCs) that a commander establishes are hubs of information, intelligence, specialized insight, and communications. Leaving a TOC involves a level of trust: trust that subordinates and staff will inform the commander of important events by exception, that is, the commander is not informed of all events, but will be informed when something of sufficient importance takes place to warrant doing so. If the commander has left the TOC, it means that his ability to receive those messages is less consistent. A leader on the road or in the air has fewer means to send or receive information, and those messages have more chances to fall prey to the vagaries of geography or the myriad other demons that plague military communications. Even reaching the forward position does not resolve the dilemma. The commander is in one sense as well informed as is possible. The situation at his location is described by those most familiar with it. He sees the faces and senses the attitudes of his soldiers or marines. He surveys the ground with his own practiced eye. But the leader knows that he sees and understands but one part of his command. The cost of intimacy at one point is lesser understanding of all others.

Warfare has migrated into cities. From Mosul to Mumbai, Aleppo to Marawi, the major military battles of the twenty-first century have taken place in densely populated urban areas. Why has this happened? What are the defining characteristics of urban warfare today? What are its military and political implications? Leading sociologist Anthony King answers these critical questions through close analysis of recent urban battles and their historical antecedents. Exploring the changing typography and evolving tactics of the urban battlescape, he shows that although not all methods used in urban warfare are new, operations in cities today have become highly distinctive. Urban warfare has coalesced into gruelling micro-sieges, which extend from street level – and below – to the airspace high above the city, as combatants fight for individual buildings, streets and districts. At the same time, digitalized social media and information networks communicate these battles to global audiences across an urban archipelago, with these spectators often becoming active participants in the fight. A timely reminder of the costs and the horror of war and violence in cities, this book offers an invaluable interdisciplinary introduction to urban warfare in the new millennium for students of international security, urban studies and military science, as well as military professionals.

This book investigates the complexities of modern urban operations—a particularly difficult and costly method of fighting, and one that is on the rise. Contributors examine the lessons that emerge from a range of historical case studies, from nineteenth-century precedents to the Battle of Shanghai; Stalingrad, German town clearance, Mandalay, and Berlin during World War II; and from the Battle of Algiers to the Battle for Fallujah in 2004. Each case study illuminates the features that differentiate urban operations from fighting in open areas, and the factors that contribute to success and failure. The volume concludes with reflections on the key challenges of urban warfare in the twenty-first century and beyond.

"Understanding and leveraging the news media has become critical for operational-level commanders conducting urban combat operations. The insatiable public appetite for information has created conditions in which tactical actions can have severe strategic repercussions because of media reporting. In the 21st century, the operational-level commander conducting urban combat operations must clearly understand the influence that the news media has on operational success. Media influences on world public opinion can now change the traditional model of warfare described by Clausewitz's trinity. World public opinion, influenced by the media, is now a fourth factor in influencing war, modifying the trinity into a diamond. Therefore, operational-level commanders must address the media in their planning and operations. Adding the media as a line of operation for planning and establishing media crisis teams will allow the commander to consider media coverage, or the media battle space, throughout an operation. This ensures that planners will develop the media battle space as an integral part of the urban kinetic fight. The author examines the battles of Hue during the Vietnam War and Fallujah during the Iraqi insurgency through the lenses of the reporting cycle, public perception, and military doctrine to demonstrate the new significance of the media in 21st century urban combat."--Abstract.

Experienced commanders discuss anecdotes and case studies from their past operations.

First published by the Combat Studies Institute Press. The resulting anthology begins with a general overview of urban operations from ancient times to the midpoint of the twentieth century. It then details ten specific case studies of U.S., German, and Japanese operations in cities during World War II and ends with more recent Russian attempts to subdue Chechen fighters in Grozny and the Serbian siege of Sarajevo. Operations range across the spectrum from combat to humanitarian and disaster relief. Each chapter contains a narrative account of a designated operation, identifying and analyzing the lessons that remain relevant today.

Drawing from hands-on experience, the authors suggest the ways and means necessary to secure India from emerging security challenges on land, air, sea, space, cyber domain and even cognitive domain. The notion of victory in the 21st century has undergone a profound change as highlighted in recent conflicts across the globe. These essays imaginatively examine grey zone conflict, urban warfare and mountain warfare, along with dynamic military strategies to secure India.

The volume examines the experiences of professional Western combat soldiers' training and operations in Iraq, and seeks to explain the culture, motivations, and capabilities of the professional soldier in the twenty-first century.