Long-time followers of the Urban Warfare Project will be familiar with a frequent theme that arises in the project’s podcast episodes, urban warfare case studies, and other analysis: the challenges posed to military forces by cities are fundamentally unique. The complex man-made terrain, the presence of populations—and the infrastructure to support those populations—a complicated information environment, and a wide range of political and other factors combine to make planning for urban operations extremely difficult. And too often, militaries rely on a limited set of major operational approaches to enemy-held cities, such as the deliberate assault, or employ planning processes that rest on the belief that these cities can be bypassed.
But history is a valuable source of lessons for military forces on the offensive, including at the brigade and division levels, as they seek to create effective operational approaches to cities. Chief among these lessons is that developing these approaches requires a full accounting of an array of unique, environment-specific planning considerations. In this episode of the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, Dr. Jacob Stoil—the chair of applied history at the Modern War Institute, an associate professor of military history at the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies, and a senior fellow at the 40th Infantry Division Urban Warfare Center—examines these planning considerations and details several operational approaches for brigades or divisions, drawing on historical case studies to illustrate their value.
You can listen to the discussion below or find the episode on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, or your favorite podcast app. Be sure to subscribe, and if you’re enjoying the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, please take a minute and leave the podcast a review or give it a rating!
Image: Company F, 145th Infantry, 37th Infantry Division soldiers move past the general post office building on their way to assault the walled city of Intramuros on February 23, 1945, in Manila, Philippines. (Credit: Ohio Army National Guard Historical Collections)