Military tactics
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Military tactics (Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army) are the collective name for methods for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics.
Up until the nineteenth century, many military tactics were confined to battlefield concerns, such as how to best maneuver units during combat in open terrain. In current military thought, tactics comprise the operational use of forces in a particular combat situation. Tactics should be distinguished from military strategy, which is concerned with the overall means and plan for achieving a long-term outcome, and operational art, an intermediate level in which the aim is to convert the strategy into tactics.
Specialized tactics exist for many situations, ranging from securing a room or individual building, to large-scale operations such as establishing air superiority over a region. Today, military tactics are employed at all levels of command, from individual and group up to entire armed forces. Indeed, the units used in warfare have always been a reflection of current military tactics, and their size and composition have varied accordingly. In British terminology, military tactics involving naval forces are often called naval tactics (cf. usage of military).
The United States Army Field Manual 3-0 offers the following definition of "tactics:" "Tactics – (Department Of Defense) 1. The employment of units in combat. 2. The ordered arrangement and maneuver of units in relation to each other and/or to the enemy in order to use their full potentialities. (Army) The employment of units in combat. It includes the ordered arrangement and maneuver of units in relation to each other, the terrain, and the enemy in order to translate potential combat power into victorious battles and engagements. (FM 3-0)."
Within the scope of war, the US military generally defines three levels of war; 1. the strategic which includes both the National level and the Combatant Command (theater) level; 2. the operational level, which extends from the level of a joint task force including the combined forces of naval and air power with amphibious and ground operation to the maneuver brigade echelon; and 3. the tactical echelon that extends from the maneuver brigade to the lowest fighting elements including individual soldiers.
Common military tactics include frontal assaults, attempts to flank the enemy, keeping troops in reserve and the use of ambushes. Often deception in the form of military camouflage or misdirection using decoys, are used to confuse the enemy. Another major military tactic is trench warfare. This was mainly employed in World War I in the Battle of Gallipoli and the western front. Trench warfare often turned to a stalemate, because in order to attack an enemy entrenchment soldiers had to run through an exposed "no man's land" under heavy fire from an entrenched enemy.
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[edit] Universal Military Tactics
Military tactics are the tricks used on the battlefield, while conducting a war, to gain success. There are two main ways to defeat an army: by destroying it through fighting, and by cutting off its supplies so that it runs out of weapons, medication, food and drink, and thus 'starves' to death.
[edit] Encirclement
In both cases, encirclement is a good idea. When fighting, an encircled army is being hit from many angles at once, making it difficult to fight back effectively. Also, encirclement cuts off supplies. Therefore, encirclement is one of the most central tactics used in warfare. Please note: encirclement is conditional, ie: only a good idea if it is the most beneficial course of action.
[edit] Overwhelming Force
Second to encirclement comes the tactic of overwhelming force concentrated on a weaker part of the opponent's army, attacking by surprise so the enemy is not even ready for you. With this tactic, encirclement is not necessary, since you can destroy the opponent with one powerful blow, and then regroup and go on to overwhelm other parts of the enemy's army (also known as "defeat in detail"). Surprise and hiding your location, movements and intentions are critical for success with this kind of tactic, since it depends on your enemy spreading his or her army out thinly, not knowing where to expect your attack, while you concentrate yours massively in one location and destroy all in your way.
In order to make the opponent spread his or her forces out thinly, you need to make him or her ignorant of your exact whereabouts, intentions, and where you will attack next. This can be very difficult to do since the opponent will often be able to see where you are amassing your forces, and he or she will respond by amassing his or her forces opposite yours, to counter your build-up. Thus, this tactic is normally only employed when your army is much stronger than the enemy's, so even if he or she amasses his or her forces opposite yours, he or she still cannot face up to yours.
[edit] Hit and Run Tactics
If the opponent is much weaker and cannot stand up to an attack of overwhelming force, he or she will then break his or her army up into small groups, so that there is no way the army can be destroyed in one blow. He or she will now send the groups at you from different angles, when you do not expect them, to cause damage, and then run off again before you have a chance to respond effectively or catch them. These tactics are also called 'Guerrilla Tactics'.
To respond to these kinds of tactics, you have to send out parties of soldiers to find out where the enemy's groups are hiding, and then destroy them one by one. This can become almost impossible if they are hiding in jungles, forests, mountains and so on, and they have no permanent homes to defend. All through history, many large and powerful armies have been defeated by small, wandering, guerrilla armies.
While many people do not realize this, hit and run tactics are very useful for armies of large nature also. While the vast majority of the army is in a defensive position on the front lines, small groups of raiders with demolitions and other "exotic" weaponry can destroy well fortified positions that could have sucked many lives out of the main regiment.
[edit] Principles of Battle
[edit] Line Tactics
Typically, when armies face off, they draw their forces out in long lines facing each other. The reason for this is to prevent the other side from encircling them. You do not want to draw out your forces too thinly, or the enemy might be able to overpower you by using the Overwhelming Force tactic. However, you do not want to mass your forces too closely together, or you will be encircled, and will make your troops too easy of a target for the enemy, since they are all in more or less the same place. Many long books have been written about the exact spacing armies should employ.
[edit] Range
Armies, when they draw up their lines, draw them up slightly out of range of the enemy's weapons. This has always been the case throughout history. This is so that the soldiers remain safe. As soon as any group of soldiers advances closer to the enemy line, it is said to have come 'within range', and it can be destroyed by the enemy. However, if the enemy does not notice its advance, either because it remains hidden and advances secretly, or advances so quickly the enemy cannot react fast enough, this group of soldiers might be able to inflict significant damage on the enemy. If this group of attacking soldiers destroys the enemy soldiers opposite it, then other soldiers can follow behind the group and rush through the gap in the enemy's line, and then turn around to hit the enemy from the rear, creating an encirclement.
[edit] Mobility
One of the best ways to punch through an opponent's line, or circle around behind it or over it is through transportation devices. In the past, the most commonly used transportation 'device' was the horse. Now, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, helicopters, planes and paratroopers are used. These devices enable soldiers to circle around through or behind the enemy and catch the enemy forces from behind while the remainder of the army attacks them from the front. Transportation devices have always been expensive compared with the cost of raising footsoldiers, so typically, highly mobile forces have accounted for only a fraction of an army's total strength. Their usefulness comes both from their mobility and in the case of ground mobility, breaking through the enemies lines, overwhelming, separating and driving back the enemy. The modern tank is used much like the horse of ancient battlefields; a cavalry can give any army an advantage. It has been previously argued that mobility only serves for movement and scouting purposes. This is wrong, because the cavalry of any age is designed first and foremost to "run over" the enemy, and separate them, as to make them far more vulnerable to being overwhelmed and overrun. Air mobility is also useful, as a strike from 30,000 ft is very difficult to prevent.
[edit] Protection
On the battlefield, protection is very important, for obvious reasons. There are several methods of protection used by armies:
- Staying out of range of the enemy's weapons
- Hiding so you will not be seen and therefore not get hit
- Wearing armour which can resist enemy weapons to some degree. The tank is, for example, considered a form of armour.
- Building fortifications such as walls, trenches and minefields to stop enemy movement and provide defenses against enemy weapons.
[edit] Individual Fighting Skills
Fighting skills include all of the above, working as part of a team. On the individual level, speed and accuracy are the most important.
[edit] Accuracy
Being as accurate as possible so that you are able to hit the opponent when ideally the opponent is too far away to accurately hit you is a critical skill. Remember that armies tend to stay out of range, so if you can accurately hit your enemy at a long range, you will have a big advantage. This takes lots of practice, and the development of better weapons technology.
[edit] Speed
It is critical to hit the opponent before he or she hits you. This means you must act faster than your opponent. And, as mentioned above, you must be accurate even though working at such a high speed. Therefore, the development of speed and accuracy better than your opponents, takes endless practice. Your opponents may be practicing just as much as you, so you can never stop training and improving your skills.
[edit] Protection of Self
It should also be noted that all the 'protection' skills listed above apply as well to the individual soldier. So training in self-protection on the battlefield is critical, just as training to work as a unit and to be effective with weaponry are.
[edit] See also
- Infantry Minor Tactics
- List of military tactics
- Military doctrine
- Military History
- Modern naval tactics
- Operational warfare
- Warfare
- Cavalry tactics
- Roman Military Tactics
- Army Field Manual
[edit] Bibliography
- Muhm, Gerhard. German Tactics in the Italian Campaign. German Tactics in the Italian Campaign.
- Gerhard Muhm : La Tattica nella campagna d’Italia, in LINEA GOTICA AVAMPOSTO DEI BALCANI, (Hrsg.) Amedeo Montemaggi - Edizioni Civitas, Roma 1993
