Operational Art's Historical Origins - The Sicilian Campaign of 415-413 B.C

摘要

Instructional material used in the Naval War College leads students to the conclusion that operational art and the operational level of war is a relatively recent development. Writers point to the development of progressively larger and more complex battlefields. They argue that general officers operated beyond the visual range of national leaders to achieve an integrated pursuit of national objectives. This 'new' level of war began to emerge only in the pre- industrial age of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. One could instead argue that the operational level of war is not a recent development in warfare, but one that has existed even in ancient times. The Athenian campaign during the Peloponnesian War to conquer Sicily meets all the criteria used to describe the relationship between levels of war. It linked Athenian national strategy with tactical operations on the sea and ground. The size of the forces, the complex command and control structure, long lines of communication, and the fact that the force operated in a joint environment far from their national leadership all lead one to believe it was indeed an early example of the operational level of war and operational art.