What was the most successful military operation in the world over the past seven years?
That was the opening question Dr. James Derleth posed to an audience of cadets and faculty at a recent Modern War Institute Speaker Series event. Dr. Derleth is a senior adviser at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany. He took part in the MWI event to discuss the Army’s ongoing transition—after nearly two decades of counterinsurgency and stability operations in Iraq and Afghanistan—toward preparing for large-scale combat operations and countering the threat posed by peer and near-peer adversaries.
So what answer was he looking for? Crimea.
“[Russia] dismantled an army, six thousand enemy soldiers, without firing a shot, and got them to surrender,” he said. “[They] got two million people and ten thousand square miles.”
He used that as an example of the conditions that characterize the contemporary operating environment—the conditions that the US military must be ready for.
A specialist in Russian next-generation warfare, Derleth went on to describe the challenges facing US forces today and explain some of the steps that must be taken to mitigate new threats.
Watch his remarks in full below.
Image: A US Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle with the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, rolls down a dirt road “in the box” as part of the culminating force-on-force exercise of Combined Resolve XII at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany on Aug. 24, 2019. (Credit: Sgt. Thomas Mort, US Army)
Not a comment on the video, but I am pretty sure there are no Bradleys assigned to the CAB in the Big Red One. Perhaps SGT Mort meant the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team.
Good catch, Zachary. You're right, and the image description has been updated. Thank you!
From our item above:
Q: "What was the most successful military operation in the world over the past seven years?"
A: "Crimea."
Perhaps the more important question and answer however — for both the U.S. Army and for the United States and the West as a whole — is:
Q: What was the most successful political strategy and operation in the world over the past seven years?
A: That of Russia as directed against the United States and the Western world.
In this regard, consider the following two offerings:
First, from "National Review:"
"Compounding it all, Russia’s dictator has achieved all of this while creating sympathy in elements of the Right that mirrors the sympathy the Soviet Union achieved in elements of the Left. In other words, Putin is expanding Russian power and influence while mounting a cultural critique that resonates with some American audiences, casting himself as a defender of Christian civilization against Islam and the godless, decadent West."
(See the "National Review" item entitled: "How Russia Wins," by David French, December 12, 2016)
Next, from Voice of America:
"Russian efforts to weaken the West through a relentless campaign of information warfare may be starting to pay off, cracking a key bastion of the U.S. line of defense: the military.
While most Americans still see Moscow as a key U.S. adversary, new polling suggests that view is changing, most notably among the households of military members."
(See the "Voice of America" item entitled: "Pentagon Concerned Russia Cultivating Sympathy Among U.S. Troops" by Jeff Seldin.)
Thus:
a. As to "the conditions that characterize the contemporary operating environment and the conditions that the US military must be ready for" that Dr. Derlith discusses above, is:
b. The susceptibility/the vulnerability of the U.S./the West's political right — and the susceptibility/vulnerability of the U.S./the West's military personnel — something that, re: Russia's "Next Generation Warfare," should give us the most grave concern?
Always wise to take a look back and see what lessons we can learn.