Book Description

"In 1991, General Norman Schwarzkopf drove Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait using several specific strategies. Schwarzkopf established a temporary supply base in the Saudi Arabian desert to form a base of operations for the U.S. Seventh Corps and then used Marine and Arab coalition allies in a pinning operation against Iraqi troops in Kuwait while the Seventh Corps made a turning movement into the Iraqi rear. Having captured its limited, geographic objective, the coalition called a halt to the war. Schwarzkopf's strategies came straight from Antoine-Henri Jomini's The Art of War, which is the foundation of professional military education in the Western world." - from the new introduction....Antoine Henri de Jomini's The Art of War is considered by many to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics. His impact on professional military thinking, doctrine and vocabulary is unparalleled by any other military theoretician. Though authors like Clausewitz may be better known to some, few can match the breadth of practical advice offered by the man who served both Napoleon and the Russian Tsar....This edition faithfully reproduces Jomini's seminal work, beautifully reformatted and typeset and includes a new introduction and brief chapter by chapter commentary.

Download link at the end of this editorial review...

From the Publisher

Excerpt from Chapter III of the The Art of War

STRATEGY

DEFINITION OF STRATEGY AND THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF WAR

The art of war, independently of its political and moral relations, consists of five principal parts, viz.: Strategy, Grand Tactics, Logistics, Tactics of the different arms, and the Art of the Engineer. We will treat of the first three branches, and begin by defining them. In order to do this, we will follow the order of procedure of a general when war is first declared, who commences with the points of the highest importance, as a plan of campaign, and afterward descends to the necessary details. Tactics, on the contrary, begins with details, and ascends to combinations and generalization necessary for the formation and handling of a great army.

We will suppose an army taking the field: the first care of its commander should be to agree with the head of the state upon the character of the war: then he must carefully study the theater of war, and select the most suitable base of operations, taking into consideration the frontiers of the state and those of its allies.

The selection of this base and the proposed aim will determine the zone of operations. The general will take a first objective point: he will select the line of operations leading to this point, either as a temporary or permanent line, giving it the most advantageous direction; namely, that which promises the greatest number of favorable opportunities with the least danger. An army marching on this line of operations will have a front of operations and a strategic front. The temporary positions which the corps d'armee will occupy upon this front of operations, or upon the line of defense, will be strategic positions.

When near its first objective point, and when it begins to meet resistance, the army will either attack the enemy or maneuver to compel him to retreat; and for this end it will adopt one or two strategic lines of maneuvers, which, being temporary, may deviate to a certain degree from the general line of operations, with which they must not be confounded.

To connect the strategic front with the base as the advance is made, lines of supply, depots, &c. will be established.

If the line of operations be long, and there be hostile troops in annoying proximity to it, these bodies may either be attacked and dispersed or be merely observed, or the operations against the enemy may be carried on without reference to them. If the second of these courses be pursued, a double strategic front and large detachments will be the result.

The army being almost within reach of the first objective point, if the enemy oppose him there will be a battle; if indecisive, the fight will be resumed; if the army gains the victory, it will secure its objective point or will advance to attain a second. Should the first objective point be the possession of an important fort, the siege will be commenced. If the army be not strong enough to continue its march, after detaching a sufficient force to maintain the siege, it will take a strategic position to cover it, as did the army of Italy in 1796, which, less than fifty thousand strong, could not pass Mantua to enter Austria, leaving twenty-five thousand enemies within its walls, and having forty thousand more in front on the double line of the Tyrol and Frioul.

If the army be strong enough to make the best use of its victory, or if it have no siege to make, it will operate toward a second and more important objective point.

If this point be distant, it will be necessary to establish an intermediate point of support. One or more secure cities already occupied will form an eventual base: when this cannot be done, a small strategic reserve may be established, which will protect the rear and also the depots by temporary fortifications. When the army crosses large streams, it will construct tetes de pont; and, if the bridges are within walled cities, earth-works will be thrown up to increase the means of defense and to secure the safety of the eventual base or the strategic reserve which may occupy these posts.

Should the battle be lost, the army will retreat toward its base, in order to be reinforced therefrom by detachments of troops, or, what is equivalent, to strengthen itself by the occupation of fortified posts and camps, thus compelling the enemy to halt or to divide his forces.

When winter approaches, the armies will either go into quarters, or the field will be kept by the army which has obtained decisive success and is desirous of profiting to the utmost by its superiority. These winter campaigns are very trying to both armies, but in other respects do not differ from ordinary campaigns, unless it be in demanding increased activity and energy to attain prompt success.

Such is the ordinary course of a war, and as such we will consider it, while discussing combinations which result from these operations.

Download The Art of War e-Book

Format: Adobe PDF, Size: 2,596KB Pages: 297

About the Author

Antoine-Henri, baron Jomini (March 6, 1779-March 24, 1869), general in the French and afterwards in the Russian service, and one of the most celebrated writers on the Napoleonic art of war, was born at Payerne in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, where his father was syndic.

Early life and career
Jomini's youthful preference for a military life was disappointed by the dissolution of the Swiss regiments of France at the start of the Revolution. For some time he was a clerk in a Paris banking-house, until the outbreak of the Swiss Revolution. At the age of nineteen he was appointed to a post on the Swiss headquarters staff, and when scarcely twenty-one to the command of a battalion. At the peace of Lunéville 1801 he returned to business life in Paris, but devoted himself chiefly to preparing the celebrated Traité des grandes operations militaires, which was published in 1804-1805.

Service in the French Army
Introduced to Marshal Michel Ney, Jomini served in the campaign of Austerlitz as a volunteer aide-de-camp on Ney's personal staff. In December 1805 Napoleon, being much impressed by a chapter in Jomini's treatise, made him a colonel in the French service. Ney thereupon made Jomini his principal aide-de-camp.

In 1806 Jomini published his views as to the conduct of the impending war with Prussia. This, along with his knowledge of Frederick the Great's campaigns, which Jomini had described in the Traité, led Napoleon to attach him to his own headquarters. Jomini was present with Napoleon at the Jena, and at Eylau won the cross of the Legion of Honour.

After the peace of Tilsit Jomini was made chief of the staff to Ney, and created a baron. In the Spanish campaign of 1808 his advice was often of the highest value to the marshal, but Jomini quarrelled with his chief, and was left almost at the mercy of his numerous enemies, especially Louis Alexandre Berthier, the emperor's chief of staff.

Departure from French service, to join the Russian Army
Overtures had been made to him, as early as 1807, to enter the Russian service, but Napoleon, hearing of his intention to leave the French army, compelled him to remain in the service with the rank of general of brigade.

For some years thereafter Jomini held both a French and a Russian commission, with the consent of both sovereigns. But when war between France and Russia broke out, he was in a difficult position, which he dealt with by taking a non-combat command on the line of communication.

Jomini was thus engaged when the retreat from Moscow and the uprising of Prussia transferred the seat of war to central Germany. He promptly rejoined Ney, took part in the battle of Lützen. As chief of the staff of Ney's group of corps, he rendered distinguished services before and at the battle of Bautzen, and was recommended for the rank of general of division. Berthier, however, not only erased Jomini's name from the list but put him under arrest and censured him in army orders for failing to supply certain staff reports that had been called for.

How far Jomini was responsible for certain misunderstandings which prevented the attainment of all the results hoped for from Ney's attack at Bautzen there is no means of knowing. But the pretext for censure was in Jomini's own view trivial and baseless, and during the armistice Jomini did as he had intended to do in 1809-10, and went into the Russian service. As things then were, this was tantamount to deserting to the enemy, and so it was regarded by many in the French army, and by not a few of his new comrades. It must be observed, in Jomini's defense, that he had for years held a dormant commission in the Russian army and that he had declined to take part in the invasion of Russia in 1812. More important--and a point that Napoleon commented upon--was the fact that he was a Swiss citizen, not a Frenchman.

His Swiss patriotism was indeed strong, and he withdrew from the Allied Army in 1814 when he found that he could not prevent the allies' violation of Swiss neutrality. Apart from love of his own country, the desire to study, to teach and to practise the art of war was his ruling motive. At the critical moment of the battle of Eylau he had exclaimed, "If I were the Russian commander for two hours!" On joining the allies he received the rank of lieutenant-general and the appointment of aide-de-camp from the tsar, and rendered important assistance during the German campaign: an accusation that he had betrayed the numbers, positions and intentions of the French to the enemy was later acknowledged by Napoleon to be without foundation. As a Swiss patriot and as a French officer, he declined to take part in the passage of the Rhine at Basel and the subsequent invasion of France.

In 1815 he was with Tsar Alexander in Paris, and attempted in vain to save the life of his old commander Ney. This defense of Ney almost cost Jomini his position in the Russian service. He succeeded, however, in overcoming resistance his enemies, and took part in the Congress of Vienna.

Source: Wikipedia.org

The Art of War eBook is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

During the Second
Indochinese War (Vietnam War) (1957–1975), the U.S. incorrectly
referred to it as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), or People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and this term is commonly found throughout Vietnam War-related subjects. The name in Vietnamese is Quân Đội Nhân Dân Việt Nam, and has always been officially known as such since its initial formation in 1944. The VPA was not
the Việt Cộng
(although certain elements disguised as such occasionally and after the
reunification of the country in 1976, all former Việt Cộng forces that
had not been demobilized were incorporated into the VPA). During the
war against the French (First Indochina War, 1946-1954), the VPA was
often referred to as the Việt Minh even though Việt Minh was the name
of the overall independence movement that preceded the founding of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945. The VPA now includes the: Vietnam People's Ground Forces
(including VPA Strategic Rear Forces and Border Defence Forces),
Vietnam People's Navy (including VPN Naval infantry), Vietnam People's
Air Force, and Coast Guard.

History

The predecessor of the VPA was the Armed Propaganda Unit for National Liberation, an organization that was formed by President Hồ Chí Minh on December 22, 1944 to drive the French colonialists and Japanese occupiers from Vietnam. 

General Võ Nguyên Giáp was the first Commander-in-Chief of VPA and the fourth Minister of National Defence (after Chu Van Tan, Phan Anh, Ta Quang Buu).
This force was to launch many offensives, and eventually survive
counter-attacks by United States forces in what was known as the
Vietnam War in the United States. They would later prevail over the
US-backed Saigon government and in 1975 successfully militarily defeat
the former South Vietnamese government.

They would also participate in incursions into Cambodia, toppling the democidal Khmer Rouge.
During peaceful periods, the VPA has actively been involved in Vietnam's workforce to develop the economy of Vietnam, in order to coordinate national defense and the economy. The VPA is involved in such areas as industry, agriculture, forestry, fishery and telecommunications.

The Vietnam People’s Army today

Organization

The President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the Commander-in-Chief, while the Minister of National Defense oversees operations of the VPA. The Minister of National Defense oversees such agencies as the General Staff
and the General Logistics Department. However, military policy is
ultimately directed by the Central Military Commission of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam.

The VPA is composed of a main force and local forces. As with most
countries' armed forces, the VPA consists of standing, or regular,
forces as well as reserve forces. During peacetime, the standing forces
are minimized in number, and kept combat-ready by regular physical and weapons training, and stock maintenance.

Branches
The Vietnam People's Army is comprised of various units of the main forces (Chủ lực), local forces (Địa phương) and the People's Defence Forces (Dân quân-Tự vệ).

It is subdivided into the following branches and sub-branches:

• Lục quân (Ground Force)
  • Biên phòng (Border Defence Force)
  • Quân cơ động (Strategic Rear Force)
• Hải quân (Naval Force)
  • (Naval Infantry or Marines)
  • Hải phòng (Coast Guard)
• Phòng không-Không quân (Air Defence and Air Force).

As mentioned above, reserves exist in all branches and are organized in the same way as the standing forces, with the same chain of command, and with officers and non-commissioned officers.

International presence
The Foreign Relations Department of the Ministry of National Defense organizes international operations of the VPA.

Apart from its occupation of half of the disputed Spratly Islands,
which have been claimed as Vietnamese territory since the 17th century,
Vietnam has not had forces stationed internationally since its
withdrawal from Cambodia and Laos in early 1990.

Components

Main Force

The main force of the VPA consists of combat ready troops, as well
as educational institutions for logistics, officer training, and
technical training.

Local Forces
Local forces are an entity of the VPA that, together with the militia
and "self-defense forces," act on the local level in protection of
people and local authorities. While the local forces are regular VPA
forces, the militia consists of rural civilians, and the self-defense
forces consist of civilians who live in urban areas and/or work in
large groups, such as at construction sites or farms.

Manpower

The Vietnam People's Army consists of:

• Military manpower - military age: age for compulsory service: 18-27 years old; conscript service obligation - 2 years

• Military manpower - availability:
  • males age 15-49: 21,341,813 (2005 est.)

• Military manpower - fit for military service:
  • males age 15-49: 16,032,358 (2005 est.)

• Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
  • males: 915,572 (2005 est.)

• Military manpower - total troops:
  • 9,564,000 (2nd)

• Military expenditures: $1 billion (FY2002)

• Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.5% (FY2002)

Source: Wikipedia

Military of Vietnam is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

Early armies may have been just men with sharpened sticks and rocks; through time they have included advancements such as men mounted on horses, men wielding swords and other metallic weapons, the bow and arrow, siege weapons, to the advance of the musket which form the roots of the armed forces of most nations we know today. In modern times people use vehicles and guns.

While military can refer to any armed force, it generally refers to a permanent, professional force of soldiers or guerrillas—trained exclusively for the purpose of warfare and should be distinguished from a sanctioned militia or a levy, which are temporary forces— citizen soldiers with less training, who may be "called up" as a reserve force, when a nation mobilizes for total war, or to defend against invasion. The term military is often used to mean an army.

The doctrine that asserts the primacy of a military within a society is called militarism.

As an adjective, "military" is a descriptive property of things related to soldiers and warfare. It also refers to such context dependent terms such as military reserves which may indicate an actual unit deployable on command or the general sense, of a Nation States reserve troops available to or eligible for duty in its armed forces.
 

In formal British English, "military" as an adjective refers more particularly to matters relating to an army (land forces), as opposed to the naval and air force matters of the other two services.

In American English, "military" as an adjective is more widely used for regulations pertaining to and between military procurement, military transport, military justice, military strength, and military force.

Military procurement

Military procurement refers to common regulations and requirements for a ship or a detached unit to requisistion and draw on a base's facilies (housing, pay, and rations for detached personnel), supplies (most commonly food stocks or materials, and vehicles) by the service running a primary base; e.g. Army units detached to or staging through an air base, a vessel calling at a port near an army or air base, an army unit drawing supplies from a naval base.

Military transport

Military transport would pertain to an equipment trans-shipped via a sister service, or an individual detached for a technical school operated by a sister service, or the travel orders and authorization of such an individual to proceed via a sister services vehicles, as well as the drawing (loan of) transportation assets (staff cars, Hum-Vees, military trucks) operating from the primary base command.

Military Justice

Military Justice, as in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Most nations have a separate code of law which regulates both certain activities allowed only in war, as well as provides a code of law applicable only to a soldier in war (or 'in uniform' during peacetime).

The statutory laws set down by the United States Congress to apply to the individual conduct within any military force of the United States— these are the specific articles under which a soldier or sailor would be tried for infractions ranging from minor (Late Return, petty theft) to severe (Rape, Murder); this code is usually referred to by the acronym UCMJ.

Military strength

Military strength is a term that describes a quantification or reference to a nation's standing military forces or the capacity for fulfillment of that military's role. For example, the military strength of a given country could be interpreted as the number of individuals in its armed forces, the destructive potential of its arsenal, or both. For example, while China and India maintain the largest armed forces in the world, the U.S. Military is considered to be the world's strongest.

Military Force

Military Force is a term that might refer to a particular unit, a regiment or gunboat deployed in a particular locale, or as an aggregate of such forces (e.g. "In the Gulf War the United States Central Command controlled military forces (units) of each of the five military services of the United States.").

Military is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

The study of the use of Armed Forces is called military science. Broadly speaking, this involves considering offense and defense at three "levels": strategy, operational art, and tactics. All of these areas study the application of the use of force in order to achieve a desired objective.

Organization
Armed forces may be organized as standing forces (e.g. regular army), which describes a professional army that is engaged in no other profession than preparing for and engaging in warfare. In contrast, there is the citizen army. A citizen army (also known as a militia or reserve army) is only mobilised as needed. Its advantage lies in the fact that it is dramatically less expensive (in terms of wealth, manpower, and opportunity cost) for the organizing society to support. The disadvantage is that such a "citizen's army" is less well trained and organized.

A compromise between the two has a small cadre of professional NCOs (non-commissioned officers) and officers who act as a skeleton for a much larger force. When war comes, this skeleton is filled out with conscripts or reservists (former full-time soldiers who volunteer for a small stipend to occasionally train with the cadre to keep their military skills intact), who form the wartime unit. This balances the pros and cons of each basic organization, and allows the formation of huge armies (in terms of millions of combatants), necessary in modern large scale warfare.

The armed forces in many larger countries are divided into three forces: an army, an air force, and usually a navy (unless geography dictates otherwise). These forces may be solely for the purposes of training and support, or may be completely independent branches responsible for conducting operations independently of other services. Most smaller countries have a single organization that encompasses all armed forces employed by the country in question.

Various countries have a variation on this standard model of three basic forces. Some, following the French model, use four forces, an army, a navy, an air force, and a gendarmerie, all with equal status. Other variations include South Africa (army, navy, air force, military health service), and Egypt (army, navy, air force, air defence.) The United States has five armed forces or services; the US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, US Marine Corps, and the US Coast Guard.

In larger armed forces the culture between the different branches of a countries armed forces can be quite different. It has been said that "a navy and an air force man equipment" whereas "an army equips men".

The state of readiness of a military organisation may be indicated by its DEFCON state (US) or BIKINI state (UK).

Benefits and costs
The obvious benefit to a country in maintaining armed forces is in providing protection from foreign threats, and from internal conflict. In recent decades armed forces personnel have also been used as emergency civil support roles in post-disaster situations. On the other hand they may also harm a society by engaging in counter-productive (or merely unsuccessful) warfare.

Expenditure on science and technology to develop weapons and systems sometimes produces side benefits, although some claim that greater benefits could come from targeting the money directly.

Excessive expenditure on armed forces can drain a society of needed manpower and material, significantly reducing civilian living standards. If continued over a significant period of time, this results in reduced civilian research and development, degrading the society's ability to improve its infrastructure. This lack of development in turn can affect armed forces in a vicious cycle. See North Korea for a typical modern example of this problem.

Transarmament is a recent movement to replace armed forces with nonviolence training and infrastructure.

Source: Wikipedia

Armed forces is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

Organizational Layout

Personnel

Personnel in each service

Deployed Forces

Overseas

Within the United States

US Military Capabilities