Within each main field each branch of activity wiil have its own distinct category of strategy. This level at which concept and implementation meet, when the optimum must be adjusted to the possible in the light of technical limitations. In the military fileld this vital process of articulation has been termed by the Germans operational strategy (operativ). Whether it is realized or not, each branch of activity does in fact have an operational strategy. Its purpose is notonly to harmonize theobjectives laid down by overall strategy with the capabilities of the tactics and techniques in use in the branch concerned, but also to ensure that those tactics and techniques are developed in the directions which will best fit them to meet future strategic requirements. Operational strategy therefore has a vital part to paly; it is one about which there have been often misconceptions.
Take for instance the classic strategy of land warfare; it is at this level that the tactical and logistic factore' must be taken into account (eg the size of force in relation to the area of operations, strategic and tactical mobility, offensive and defensive capacity). It is impact of these factors which will dictate the form the war will take (static warfare or war of movement, a rapid military decision or a battle of attrition, etc); it is therefore these factors which determine what the strategic possibilites are. Because neither the importance nor the mechanics of this aspect of strategy were understood, we were taken by surprise by the static warfare of 1914 and by our defeat in 1940; it shourl have been possible to foresee and so avoit both.
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