5.3 Major American Campaigns and Military Battle History

5.3 Major American Campaigns and Military Battle History

Core Doctrine: Operational history provides the empirical foundation of Army doctrine. Under FM 3-0 (Operations), modern multi-domain operations draw directly from historical lessons learned in the trenches of France, the beaches of Normandy, the frozen valleys of Korea, the jungles of Vietnam, the open deserts of Kuwait, and the urban centers of Iraq and Afghanistan. A promotion candidate must be able to articulate how past campaigns shaped contemporary tactical doctrine, readiness standards, and leadership principles.

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1. World War I (1917–1918): The American Expeditionary Forces

The United States entered World War I in April 1917, encountering brutal industrialized trench warfare defined by machine guns, barbed wire, heavy artillery, poison gas, and tanks. General of the Armies John J. Pershing was selected to command the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF).

Pershing's Strategic Vision and Doctrinal Decisions

European commanders repeatedly pressured General Pershing to allow American regiments to be absorbed as piecemeal individual replacements into depleted French and British divisions. Pershing adamantly refused, insisting that the AEF fight as an independent, unified American military force. Furthermore, while European armies had settled into defensive trench attrition, Pershing championed aggressive open-field maneuver warfare and precision rifle marksmanship.

Major AEF Campaigns

• Battle of Cantigny (May 28, 1918): The AEF's 1st Division (the "Big Red One") conducted the first independent American offensive of the war, capturing the fortified French village of Cantigny and proving American operational capability.
• Battle of Belleau Wood (June 1918): A joint Army and Marine Corps force under the AEF's 2nd Division halted the German spring offensive advancing on Paris, engaging in savage close-quarters hand-to-hand combat.
• Saint-Mihiel Offensive (September 12–15, 1918): The first major offensive organized and executed entirely by the U.S. First Army, pinching off a massive German salient in four days of synchronized maneuver.
• The Meuse-Argonne Offensive (September 26 – November 11, 1918): The largest and deadliest frontline military campaign in United States history. Over 1.2 million American soldiers attacked fortified German defenses across the rugged Argonne Forest and along the Meuse River for 47 continuous days. The AEF severed the vital German rail line at Sedan, shattering Germany's logistical backbone and forcing the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918. During this campaign, Corporal Alvin C. York earned the Medal of Honor for capturing 132 German soldiers almost single-handedly.

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2. World War II (1941–1945): Dual-Theater Global Warfare

Following the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States mobilized over 8 million Soldiers across two vast theaters of operation:

The European Theater of Operations (ETO)

Under the supreme command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Army perfected modern combined-arms warfare:

• Operation Torch (November 1942): Allied amphibious landings in French North Africa. The stinging initial tactical defeat at Kasserine Pass (February 1943) against Rommel's Afrika Korps served as a brutal wake-up call, resulting in sweeping tactical doctrine overhauls, officer dismissals, and the elevation of Lieutenant General George S. Patton Jr.
• Operation Husky (July 1943): The massive airborne and amphibious invasion of Sicily, launching the Italian campaign.
• Operation Overlord (June 6, 1944 — D-Day): The largest amphibious invasion in world history. Allied forces assaulted the coast of Normandy, France, with American soldiers landing on Utah and Omaha beaches. The 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions overcame murderous German machine-gun and artillery fire on Omaha Beach through heroic small-unit leadership, while the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions dropped behind enemy lines to secure causeways and disrupt enemy reinforcements.
• The Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945): Germany's final desperate winter counter-offensive through the Ardennes Forest. German armor surrounded the key road junction of Bastogne, Belgium, trapping the 101st Airborne Division. When German commanders demanded surrender, acting division commander Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe issued his legendary one-word reply: "NUTS!" The "Screaming Eagles" held the line in sub-zero blizzard conditions until General Patton's Third Army executed a brilliant 90-degree tactical counter-march across frozen terrain to break the siege.

The Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO)

In the Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur commanded Southwest Pacific Area forces, conducting a brilliant "island-hopping" campaign. MacArthur bypassed heavily fortified Japanese island bases, seizing lightly defended airfields to cut off enemy supply lines. Following his dramatic return to the Philippines in October 1944 (Leyte), MacArthur's forces engaged in the brutal month-long urban Battle of Manila (February–March 1945), liberating the Philippine capital before Japan's formal surrender aboard the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945.

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3. The Korean War (1950–1953): The Cold War Frontier

On June 25, 1950, Soviet-backed North Korean forces crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded South Korea, pushing surviving South Korean units to the brink of collapse.

   [ JUNE 1950: Task Force Smith Overrun at Osan ]
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                 ▼  Enduring Warning: "No More Task Force Smiths"
   [ AUG-SEPT 1950: Eighth Army Holds Pusan Perimeter ]
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   [ SEPT 15, 1950: MacArthur's Inchon Landing (Operation Chromite) ]
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   [ NOV 1950: Chinese Intervention & Chosin Reservoir ]
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   [ 1951-1953: Mobile Stalemate Along 38th Parallel -> Armistice ]

The Tragic Lesson of Task Force Smith

Unprepared for combat, the U.S. 24th Infantry Division rushed a hastily assembled, understrength battalion of 406 men under Lieutenant Colonel Charles B. Smith to South Korea. Deployed at Osan on July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith lacked anti-tank ammunition, effective communications, and heavy artillery. When North Korean T-34 tanks assaulted, the Americans were easily overrun, suffering heavy casualties and scattering in retreat.

Enduring Lesson for the Board: Task Force Smith remains the Army's primary historical case study on the catastrophic dangers of military unpreparedness, complacency, and hollow forces. The slogan "No More Task Force Smiths" serves as a permanent mandate for maintaining rigorous unit combat readiness.

Inchon Landing and Battle Milestones

• Operation Chromite (Inchon Landing, September 15, 1950): General MacArthur executed an audacious amphibious landing at the port of Inchon, 150 miles behind North Korean lines. Navigating treacherous 30-foot tides, the landing completely severed North Korean supply corridors, liberated Seoul within days, and triggered the collapse of the besieging North Korean armies.
• Battle of Chosin Reservoir (November–December 1950): Following massive Chinese military intervention, surrounded Army (Task Force Faith, 31st Regimental Combat Team) and Marine units fought through sub-zero temperatures to break out against overwhelming odds.
• Combat Desegregation (Executive Order 9981): President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 in 1948 ordering desegregation of the armed forces. The Korean War marked the operational implementation of this order, as combat units integrated fully under fire, dissolving segregated regiments like the 24th Infantry.

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4. The Vietnam War (1965–1973): Air Mobility and Counterinsurgency

The Vietnam War fundamentally altered combat tactics through the introduction of helicopter warfare, counterinsurgency, and jungle patrol operations:

• Battle of the Ia Drang Valley (November 1965): The first major conventional battle between U.S. Army regulars and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). The 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Harold G. "Hal" Moore, demonstrated the revolutionary doctrinal concept of air mobility at LZ X-Ray. Troopers used UH-1 "Huey" helicopters for rapid insertion, aerial resupply, medical evacuation, and air rocket artillery, validating air assault doctrine.
• The Tet Offensive (January 1968): During the Lunar New Year holiday, over 80,000 Viet Cong and NVA troops launched a coordinated surprise assault striking more than 100 South Vietnamese cities and military installations, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. American and South Vietnamese forces achieved an overwhelming tactical victory, virtually annihilating the Viet Cong as an effective fighting force. However, media imagery shocked the American public, creating a devastating strategic and political turning point in domestic support for the war.

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5. Modern Era: Desert Storm and the Global War on Terrorism

Operation Desert Storm (1991): The 100-Hour Ground War

Following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf assembled a 35-nation coalition:

• The "Hail Mary" Left-Hook Maneuver: After an intensive 38-day air campaign, Schwarzkopf secretly repositioned VII Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps hundreds of miles west into the uninhabited Iraqi desert. When the ground offensive launched on February 24, 1991, while coalition forces fixed Iraqi defenses along the Kuwait border, the heavy western armored corps swept deep behind Iraqi lines, destroying the elite Republican Guard.
• Outcome: The ground offensive shattered the Iraqi army in precisely 100 hours, liberating Kuwait with extraordinarily low coalition losses and validating modern AirLand Battle doctrine, GPS navigation, and the M1 Abrams tank.

The Global War on Terrorism (2001–Present)

Sparked by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Army forces deployed into protracted multi-theater campaigns:

• Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF, Afghanistan): Initial unconventional warfare by Special Forces and CIA teams toppled the Taliban. Transitioned into twenty years of rugged mountain warfare, high-altitude counterinsurgency, and advise-and-assist operations.
• Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF, Iraq): Commenced March 2003 with rapid mechanized thrusts into Baghdad, followed by prolonged counterinsurgency operations. Decisive urban battles included the First and Second Battles of Fallujah (2004), Ramadi, and Sadr City. In 2007, General David Petraeus oversaw "The Surge," pairing troop increases with new counterinsurgency doctrine (FM 3-24) to stabilize the region.

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6. Strategic Battle Heritage Matrix