This slide deck was loaned from the pre-made Army powerpoint training site PPTClasses.com for use on the homepage of The NCO Historical Society.

1. THE ROLE AND USE OF
MILITARY HISTORY

2. Integrate Historical Awareness and
Critical Thinking Skills Derived from
Military History Methodologies into
the Training and Education of Self
And Subordinate Leaders

3. What is Military
History?
The record of all activities of all armed
forces (including armies, navies, and
air forces) in war and peace.

4. WHY DO YOU STUDY MILITARY
HISTORY?

5. HOW DO YOU STUDY
MILITARY HISTORY?
VERY CAREFULLY AND
METHODICALLY

6. Activities Included in the
Study of Military History
• Battles & Campaigns
• Logistics
• Strategy & Tactics
• Military & Society
• Doctrine & Training
• Weapons &
• Organizations
Technology
• Military Leaders

7. STUDY CAUSE AND
EFFECT
TO DIRECT AND CONTROL
FUTURE EVENTS

8. STUDY: IN WIDTH
OBSERVE EVENTS OVER A
LONG PERIOD OF TIME TO
OBSERVE CHANGE

9. STUDY: IN DEPTH
STUDY IN ENOUGH DETAIL TO
GET BEHIND ANY
GENERALIZATIONS

10. Using Military History
• Learn from past
experience
• Understand military
concepts
• Study lives of soldiers
in the past
• Understand doctrinal
evolution
• Broaden knowledge
of military subjects
• Understand
leadership issues
• Learn about strategy
& tactics

11. STUDY: IN CONTEXT
ARMIES REFLECT BOTH THEIR
ERA AND THEIR SOCIETY

12. “I am convinced that much
more emphasis should be
placed on history. The
purpose of history is to
learn how human beings
react when exposed to the
danger of wounds or
death...”
General George
S. Patton, Jr.

13. “Nothing is done in war,
except by calculation. Every
enterprise should be
conducted according to a
system. Chance alone can
never bring success.”
Napoleon

14. “A man’s greatest pleasure is to defeat
his enemies, to drive them before him,
to take from them that which they
possessed, to see those whom they
cherished in tears, to ride their horses,
to hold their wives. I forbid you to
show mercy to my enemies. Leave
nothing but uninhabited ruins, neither
a cat nor a dog.”
Genghis Khan

15. HISTORY SHARPENS
JUDGMENT
Critical Thinking SkillsBased on Study of
Operational Military History

16. HISTORY IMPROVES
PERCEPTION
Critical Thinking SkillsBased on Study of Institutional
Military History

17. HISTORY BROADENS
PERSPECTIVES
Critical Thinking SkillsBased on Study of
Biographical Military History

18. Misusing Military History
• History provides understanding, not proof.
• History provides insight, not analogy.

19. METHODOLOGIES
• The Ten Threads of Continuity.
• Battle Analysis.

20. TEN THREADS OF
CONTINUITY
19TH CENTURY

21. 1800----1850-----1899
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Military Theory & Doctrine -----+------------------------------------------>
Military Professionalism----------+------------------------------------------>
Generalship-------------------------+------------------------------------------>
Strategy------------------------------+------------------------------------------>
Tactics-------------------------------+------------------------------------------>
Logistics-----------------------------+------------------------------------------>
Technology--------------------------+----------------------------------------->
Political Factors---------------------+----------------------------------------->
Social Factors------------------------+----------------------------------------->
Economic Factors-------------------+----------------------------------------->

22. Military Theory & Doctrine
• Ideas about War.
• Doctrine = Generally accepted body of practices
that govern Organization, Training, and Fighting.
• Military Theorists: Those who THINK deeply
about war and INFLUENCE others. They SEEK
solutions, CREATE frameworks & ADVANCE
new concepts.

23. Military Doctrine
• PROVIDES THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE
CONCEPT OR IDEA AND THE ACTUAL
APPLICATION OF THE IDEA

24. Military Professionalism
• Attitude or state of mind.
• Military professional is an expert in the
management of violence.
• Functions of the professional army include
organizing, equipping, training, planning and
directing forces, in and out of combat.

25. Military Professionalism
–
–
–
Military Professionals share a body of specialized
knowledge.
The study of Military History is essential to Military
Professionalism.
Defined in Samuel Huntington’s The Soldier and the
State.
•
•
•
Expertise:
Responsibility:
Corporateness :

26. Generalship
• Art of command high levels.
• Functions include Forming, Organizing,
Equipping, and Training armies and/or major
portions of them.
• Involves the detailed Strategical, Tactical and
Logistical planning to insure success of the
mission. Entails Leadership and Management.

27. Strategy
• Preparation for and the waging of war.
• Dynamic in nature and has evolved with the
complexities of weapon technology.
• Grand Strategy: Coalition level
• National Strategy: Similar to Grand
• Military Strategy: Derived from National.

28. Tactics
• The Preparation and actual conduct of Combat
on the battlefield.
• The employment of units in combat , the ordered
arrangement and maneuver of units in relation to
each other to utilize their full potential.
• Close connection with Technology, Logistics and
Strategy.

29. Logistics & Administration
• Supply, Transportation, Evacuation and
Hospitalization, Service and Personnel
Management.
• Relationship between the state’s Economic
capacity and its capability for supporting military
forces.
• In the last century has developed into one of the
dominant factors of warfare.

30. Technology
• The Application of science to war.
• Accounts for new weapons and the entire range
of new equipment.
• The Industrial Revolution caused whole chains
of technological advances in the fields of
weapons, transportation, communication,
construction and medicine.

31. Political Factors
• Characteristic elements or actions of
governments that affect warfare.
• Provide the forces and trends that shape warfare
and the goals for which wars are fought.
• Difficult to distinguish the military objective from
the political goal. Often political goals drive
military goals.

32. Social Factors
• Human relationships that affect warfare are
social factors.
• Includes concepts, such as, popular attitudes,
revolution, militarism, psychological warfare,
amd combat psychology.
• Combatants have aimed at inflicting Total War
on a nation’s people.

33. Economic Factors
• Elements that affect warfare, such as,
Production, Distribution, and Consumption of the
resources of the state.
• Economic warfare possible through blockade.
• Different types of economies affect warfare.

34. Interrelationship of Factors
• Political, Social and Economic Factors are all
interrelated.
• They are so complex that studying each one
separately is impossible.
• These forces provide the foundation of national
power.

35. OUR ONLY VERIFIED DATA ON
COMBAT COMES FROM HISTORY.

36. TIDY SOLUTIONS TO
BATTLE ON COMPUTER
PRINTOUTS IS A
DELUSION- HISTORICALLY
ALL WARS WERE VERY
UNTIDY.

37. MILITARY HISTORY
PROVIDES THE ARMY’S
INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY.

38. MILITARY HISTORY
PROVIDES A GUIDE TO
HOW TROOPS BEHAVE IN
BATTLE.

39. THE PRINCIPLES OF WAR
PROVIDE A SENSE OF
DIRECTION.

40. MILITARY HISTORY
REVEALS THE PATTERNS,
TRENDS & RELATIONSHIPS
NECESSARY FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF
DOCTRINE.

41. DOCTRINE PROVIDES THE
BRIDGE BETWEEN THE
CONCEPT OR THEORY AND
THE APPLICATION OF
THAT THEORY.

42. THE ROLE OF MILITARY
HISTORY IS TO PROVIDE A
METHOD TO LOOK BACK
IN ORDER TO LOOK
AHEAD.

43. BATTLE
ANALYSIS

44. TASK
Integrate Historical Awareness and
Critical Thinking Skills Derived from
Military History Methodologies into
the Training and Education of Self and
Subordinate Leaders.
TERMINAL LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Apply knowledge of military history and battle
analysis to the professional development of
self and subordinate leaders.

45. BATTLE ANALYSIS

46. Role and Use of Military History
LTG George S. Patton, Jr.:
“To be a successful soldier,
you must know history.”

47. Role and Use
Using Military History
• Learn from past
experience
• Understand military
concepts
• Study lives of soldiers
in the past
• Understand doctrinal
evolution
• Broaden knowledge of
military subjects
• Understand leadership
issues
• Learn about strategy &
tactics

48. Basic Battle Analysis
Military History and the
Conduct of Battle

49. Basic Battle Analysis
What is Battle Analysis?
A method used by the U.S. Army to
provide a systematic approach to the
study of battles, campaigns, and
other operations.

50. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis Steps
• Define the subject.
• Set the stage.
• Describe the action.
• Draw lessons and insights.

51. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 1 -- Define the Subject

52. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 1--Define the Subject
(what, where, when, who)
• Pick a subject appropriate to the level of
operations of interest.
• Select a topic related to the types of lessons
desired.

53. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 1--Define the Subject
(determine sources)
• Quantity and type of sources (books, articles,
and other).
• Quality of sources (content, bias, and intent).

54. BATTLE ANALYSIS
METHODOLOGY
STEP I
EVALUATE THE HISTORICAL RESOURCES
• Determine the research sources
•
Evaluate the research sources

55. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 2 -- Set the Stage

56. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 2--Set the Stage-Strategic Factors
•
•
•
•
Type of conflict.
Objectives of the principal antagonists.
Military systems.
Previous experience of forces.

57. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 2--Set the Stage-Operational Setting
• Context
• Objectives
• Additional factors (alliances, tactics, doctrine,
and personalities)

58. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 2--Set the Stage-Tactical Situation
•
•
•
•
Alternatives
Area of Operations
Weather
Terrain

59. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 2--Set the Stage-Compare Forces
•Size & composition
•Intelligence
•Technology
•Doctrine & training
•Logistics
•Condition & morale
•C3
•Leadership

60. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 3--Describe the Action
•
•
•
•
•
State missions of opposing forces
Describe initial disposition of forces
Describe opening moves
Detail major phases
State outcome

61. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 4--Draw Lessons & Insights
• Why did events turn out the way they did?
• What is relevant about this study to current
operations?

62. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 4--Draw Lessons & Insights-Cause & Effect
• Who won? Who lost?
• What were the constants that affected the
outcome?

63. Basic Battle Analysis
Battle Analysis:
Step 4--Draw Lessons & Insights-Military Lessons
• Principles of War
• Tenets of Airland Operations
• Battlefield Operating Systems

64. Principles of War
•
•
•
•
•
Objective
Offensive
Mass
Economy of Force
Maneuver
•
•
•
•
Unity of Command
Surprise
Security
Simplicity

65. Dynamics of Combat Power
•
•
•
•
•
MANEUVER
FIREPOWER
PROTECTION
LEADERSHIP
INFORMATION