Design for military operations

[William F. Owen]

All,

Some interesting comments on design from the CAC blog - read down.
http://usacac.leavenworth.army.mil/B...e-command.aspx

OK, so correct me if I'm wrong here, but it seems to me that these guys seem to think that operational planning is how you plan to conduct operations.

I have always assumed that operational planning was how you "prepared" for operations. You can't produce a plan for how you will conduct a battle. No one who has ever been successful against a competent enemy ever has. It's far more to do with freedom of action, than realising objectives.

That was why Patton, Slim and a few others were able to plan major operations in 24 hours and issue Op Orders on one page. None of these guys even tried to anticipate everything. It was all about preparation, not prediction.