Warfighting

Front 1

Explain the warfighting philosophy of the USMC, per MCDP 1 in order to apply during daily

Back 1

leadership, tactical decision-making, and mission execution

Front 2

Battlefield Dynamics The battle field dynamics are: 5

Back 2

• Friction-overcoming friction: knowledge, initiative, decisiveness, flexibility, will
• Uncertainty.
• Disorder.
• Human reaction.
• Violence and danger

Front 3

1 Strategic- national level, president
2 Operational- WWII Island hopping
3 Tactical- battles, engagements

Back 3

1 national level, president
2 WWII Island hopping
3 battles, engagements

Front 4

___ must serve policy. Policy, or national policy, is simply the collected goals and objectives of our country as determined by our civilian elected officials.

Back 4

War

Front 5

Warfare by attrition pursues

Back 5

victory through the cumulative destruction of the
enemy’s material assets by superior firepower.

Front 6

Maneuver warfare is a warfighting philosophy that

Back 6

seeks to shatter the enemy’s
cohesion through a variety of rapid, focused, and unexpected actions which
create a turbulent and rapidly deteriorating situation with which the enemy cannot
cope

Front 7

Mission tactics

Back 7

is the tactic of assigning a subordinate a mission (the 5 W’s) without telling him or her how to accomplish it. Considered the “short-term contract,”

Front 8

mission tactics/orders provide

Back 8

subordinate commanders the latitude to make decisions altering the plan based on the opportunities presented them.

Front 9

The commander’s intent is

Back 9

the vision or “long-term” contract
that allows subordinates to understand the larger context of the operation and provides harmony to their actions.

Front 10

The main effort

Back 10

is the commander’s “bid for success” that recognizes the most critical action to be taken to defeat the enemy within the framework of the commander’s overall

Front 11

battle plan

Back 11

It requires the acceptance of risk (weighting) and attempts to focus combat power at the decisive place and time

Front 12

Surfaces and Gaps

Back 12

Surfaces are enemy hard spots (strengths), and gaps are
enemy soft spots (weaknesses). Avoid enemy strength and focus your efforts against enemy weakness with the object of penetrating the enemy system since pitting strength against weakness reduces casualties and is more likely to yield decisive results.

Front 13

Combined Arms

Back 13

Combined arms are the full interaction of arms in such a
way that to counteract one, the enemy must become more vulnerable to another. We pose the enemy not just with a problem, but also with a dilemma – a no-win situation

Front 14

Center of Gravity

Back 14

Center of gravity is the enemy’s key strength, which if defeated, will most quickly bend him to our will

Front 15

Critical vulnerability

Back 15

is the enemy’s key weakness that provides the pathway for destroying the center of gravity