Full Spectrum Operations: Is This the Science of Victory?

The U. S. Army's current operating concept of Full Spectrum Operations is nothing more than a return to an earlier concept, Flexible Response. The Army adopted Flexible Response in the early 1960s to mitigate the threat posed by Soviet nuclear, conventional, and unconventional capabilities in Western Europe. The Army made a calculated decision to adopt that concept based upon its understanding of the nature of the threat posed to national strategic aims by the Soviet military in Western Europe, the likely geographic location conflict would occur. No such calculus exists today. Instead, the Army has adopted an operating concept in Full Spectrum Operations that is outdated and out of its original context. This is in error and poses a security risk to the United States. This error exists partly because of the method through which the Army develops operating concepts. Today, the U. S. Army conducts capabilities-based operating concept development, instead of the threat-based method it used in the past. The Army justified this change in method in the belief that the fluid nature of the post-Cold War world would preclude traditional, threat-based assessments. Change would be a constant, and any operating concept would have to keep pace with change. However, as demonstrated in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan, not even the capabilities-based concept of Full Spectrum Operations was up to the task. It failed to adapt quickly enough to mitigate threats in the security environment. History provides more than one example of successful operating concept developed using threat assessment. In particular, the Soviet concept of deep operations is one example that successfully survived the rigor of combat. Contrasting this example to Army operating concepts over time example will highlight the Army's inability to adapt its operating concept to changing conditions in the security environment. Contrasting this example to the current operating concept of Full Spectrum Operations wil

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