C402 Operational Art & Design

C402 Operational Art & Design
You may use the C400 online lessons and readings to help you answer the exam; moreover, you should not start the exam until you have finished both C401 and C402 lessons. View the computer-based instruction (CBI), complete the lesson readings, and watch the instructional videos prior to starting the C402 Exam.
Your answers to the questions must be typed and double-spaced throughout, and must use Times New Roman 12-pitch font and one-inch margins. Write your answers as complete sentences, not as bulletized comments.
There is 1 reading. Use the “Operations DESERT SHIELD / DESERT STORM” reading found in Blackboard. Read these documents thoroughly, and then answer the exam questions, which begin on page three of this document. The primary doctrinal reference is Joint Publication 5-0 The Operations Process (2011). Other references include:

JP 1-0 Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States (2013)
JP 1-02 DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (2016)
JP 3-0 Joint Operations (2011)

If you state information from the lessons, readings, or doctrinal references as part of your answer, you must give a citation in accordance with ST 22-2 (Turabian endnotes or footnotes).
Overview: On 2 August 1990, Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait with the intent of placing what it claimed as its ‘nineteenth province’ under Iraqi control. President Bush condemned the invasion and met with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Colin Powell; US Central Command Commander, General Norman Schwarzkopf; and National Security Council members in determining a response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. A decision was made for US Central Command (USCENTCOM) to develop potential military options while other senior United States Government officials conferred with neighboring nations in the region. On August 4, USCENTCOM Commander, General Schwarzkopf, briefed President Bush on a proposed plan for the deployment of a defensive force to Saudi Arabia. The following day, senior United States Government (USG) officials consulted with King Fahd of Saudi Arabia on the proposed defensive plan and to assure Saudi leaders of President Bush’s pledge of support for the Kingdom’s security and stability. On 9 August 1990, an element of the XVIII Airborne Corps arrived in Saudi Arabia in preparation for the arrival of the ready brigade of the 82d Airborne Division in support of Operation Desert Shield. Operation Desert Shield would serve as a defensive force to defend Saudi Arabia and to buy time for follow on heavy forces to arrive into country. Operation Desert Storm is a clear example of the use of operational art that guides joint operations today. Modern warfare demands a joint approach (JP 5-0).
Note: Regurgitating doctrine is NOT enough to receive a passing grade; you must be able to APPLY what you have learned about operational art and design.
Final note: Put your answers in the spaces provided underneath the respective question.
Part One: Strategic Theater level of war [100 points possible]
Questions in this part of the exam are about events that occurred during Operation Desert Shield but are focused on the Theater Strategic level. Operation Desert Shield (Defense of Saudi Arabia 2 August 1990-16 January 1991) was a Major Operation in support of the Southwest Asia Campaign. A campaign is a series of related major operations aimed at accomplishing strategic and operational objectives within a given time and space (JP 5-0 pages II-22). Your answers on this portion of the exam will focus on the Theater Strategic issues of Operational Art.

Describing the Operational Environment [20 points]

JP 5-0 states that “The operational environment is the composite of the conditions, circumstances, and influences that affect the employment of capabilities and bear on the decisions of the commander. It encompasses physical areas and factors of the air, land, maritime, and space domains and the information environment (which includes cyberspace). Included within these areas are the adversary, friendly, and neutral actors that are relevant to a specific joint operation.” See JP 5-0 pages III-8 to III-11 for additional detail.

Using the portion of the reading focused on Operation Desert Shield, describe the operational environment in the summer of 1990. Be sure to describe the conditions that led up to the United States and its Coalition partners deploying forces to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield. Your answer should be no more than 250 words.

U.S. Theater Strategic Level objectives [10 points]

What were the U.S. Theater Strategic Level objectives outlined by the President (POTUS) for Operation Desert Shield? Your answer should be approximately 150 words.

Identifying Operational Risk [20 points total]

“Operational design supports operational art with a general methodology using elements of operational design for understanding the situation and the problem.” (JP 5-0, III-2)
JP 5-0 states that an “Operational risk defines aspects of the campaign or operation in which the commander will accept risk in lower or partial achievement or temporary conditions. It also describes areas in which it is not acceptable to accept such lower or intermediate conditions.”

Describe how the United States and its Coalition partners accepted operational risk (window of vulnerability in the reading) in immediately deploying elements of the 82d Airborne Division to Saudi Arabia in the early days of Operation Desert Shield. Your answer should be no more than 250 words.

Decisive Points [10 points]

A decisive point is a geographic place, specific key event, critical factor, or function that, when acted upon, allows commanders to gain a marked advantage over an adversary or contribute materially to achieving success (JP 5-0).

List by type (geographic place, specific key event, critical factor, or function) THREE decisive points (not objectives) you identify as important to achieve the Theater Strategic Level objectives during Operation Desert Shield. Justify why, based on the definition, they are decisive points. Your answer should be approximately 150 words.

Culmination [20 points]

A culmination point is the point at which a force no longer has the capability to continue its form of operations, offense or defense (JP 5-0). Understanding the concept of culmination is critical to success in operational warfare. It helps operational planners determine those factors or events that could cause either an attacker or defender to fail to achieve its operational objectives (increasing the risk of its eventual defeat).

List and briefly explain two possible events which might induce Coalition culmination during Operation Desert Shield without being defeated. Your answer should explain the event and show how this event will cause culmination without attrition by numbers (defeat). Your answer should be no more than 250 words.

Ethics [20 points. Do not exceed one typed page.]

JP 5-0 defines acceptability as: The joint operation plan review criterion for assessing whether the contemplated course of action is proportional, worth the cost, consistent with the law of war, and is militarily and politically supportable.

During Operations DESERT SHIELD / DESERT STORM, Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein used thousands of foreign and Iraqi civilians both voluntarily and involuntarily as human shields in bid to manipulate foreign opinion and to deter Coalition military attacks on potential targets in Kuwait and Iraq. Some that voluntarily served as human shields did so in the belief they were protecting innocent human life.
· Explain: Saddam Hussein argued that the use of human shields was justified as they volunteered. Was Iraq justified using human shields, voluntarily or not, to protect key military installations during the conflict?
NOTE: As part of your answer, you must address any legal issues and or ethical issues under Jus in Bello. Your answer should be no more than 250 words.

Part Two: Operational level of war [100 points possible]
Questions in this part of the exam are about events that occurred during Operation Desert Storm and are focused on the Operational Level of war. Operation Desert Storm (Liberation and Defense of Kuwait 17 January-11 April 1991) was a Major Operation in support of the Southwest Asia Campaign. A campaign is a series of related major operations aimed at accomplishing strategic and operational objectives within a given time and space (JP 5-0 pages II-22). Your answers on this portion of the exam will focus on the Operational Level issues of Operational Art.

Operational Level end state [10 points]

JP 5-0 defines the military end state as “a point in time and/or circumstances beyond which the President does not require the military instrument of national power as the primary means to achieve remaining objectives.”

· What were the Operational Level objectives (end state) for Operation Desert Storm? Your answer should be NMT 150 words.

Operational Approach [20 points]

“The operational approach reflects understanding of the operational environment and the problem while describing the commander’s visualization of a broad approach for achieving the desired end state” (JP 5-0, p. III-13). [Related doctrine: JP 5-0, Chapters III and IV].
General Schwarzkopf’s Operational Approach for Desert Storm involved several key components including maneuver by VII Corps, a direct attack into Kuwait by Coalition forces and a potential amphibious assault.

Explain the purpose of VII Corps’ envelopment. Your answer should be NMT 250 words.

Maneuver [20 points]

JP 3-0 describes maneuver as “the employment of forces in the operational area through movement in combination with fires to achieve a position of advantage in respect to the enemy. Maneuver of forces relative to enemy COGs can be key to the JFC’s mission accomplishment. Through maneuver, the JFC can concentrate forces at decisive points to achieve surprise, psychological effects, and physical momentum. Maneuver also may enable or exploit the effects of massed or precision fires.”

Explain how the Joint Force Air Component Commander (JFACC) and the Joint Force Maritime Component Commander (JFMCC) supported General Schwarzkopf’s scheme of ground maneuver. Your answer should be NMT 250 words.

Lines of Operation (LOO) [10 points]

“A LOO defines the interior or exterior orientation of the force in relation to the enemy or that connects actions on nodes and/or decisive points related in time and space to an objective(s).” “A force operates on interior lines when its operations diverge from a central point.” “A force operates on exterior lines when its operations converge on the enemy.” (JP 5-0 p. III-27)

Explain which type of LOO best characterizes General Schwarzkopf’s Operational Approach for Desert Storm. Your answer should be 150 words

Operational Reach [10 points]

“Operational reach is the distance and duration across which a joint force can successfully employ military capabilities. Although reach may be constrained or limited by the geography in and around the OA, it may be extended through forward positioning of capabilities and resources, increasing the range and effectiveness of weapon systems, leveraging HNS and contract support (system, external, theater) and maximizing the throughput efficiency of the distribution architecture. The concept of operational reach is inextricably tied to the concept of LOOs.” (JP 5-0 p. III-33)

Explain the Operational Reach issues involved in General Schwarzkopf’s scheme of ground maneuver if the ground war had lasted longer. Your answer should be NMT 150 words.

Operational Center of Gravity [30 points total]

Operational Military Objective (10 points)

· What are the Iraqi main objective(s) during Operation Desert Storm? Your answer should be NMT 150 words.

Center of Gravity (20 points.) Centers of Gravity (COG) are linked to objectives that achieve the military end state. COGs can be derived from an ends, ways, and means analysis and have associated critical factors—critical capabilities, critical requirements, and critical vulnerabilities. You will identify the Iraqi Center of Gravity during Operation Desert Storm and its critical factors. The required video from C402, Arguing the OE, Episode 14: Identifying the Center of Gravity, Eikmeier Method, describes center of gravity as the actor that possesses, or is the executor of, the critical capability that will achieve the desired objective. JP 5-0 states; “At the strategic level, a COG could be a military force, an alliance, political or military leaders, a set of critical capabilities or functions, or national will. At the operational level, a COG often is associated with the adversary’s military capabilities – such as a powerful element of the armed force.”

Complete the Operation Desert Storm Iraqi quad chart below. Type your answers into the 4 text boxes; the text boxes will expand to fit your answer.
NOTE: As part of your answer, you must identify three examples for each of the CR/CVs.

Type answers here:

Type answer here:

Type answers here:

***** FOR INSTRUCTOR USE ONLY ON THIS PAGE *******
C402 PART ONE SCORING

Requirement #	Requirement Value	Requirement
1	20	Describing the Operational Environment
2	10	U.S. Theater Strategic Level objectives
3	20	Identifying Operational Risk
4	10	Decisive Points
5	20	Culmination
6	20	Ethics

C402 PART TWO SCORING

Requirement #	Requirement Value	Requirement
1	10	Operational Level end state
2	20	Operational Approach
3	20	Maneuver
4	10	Lines of Operation
5	10	Operational Reach
6	30	Center of Gravity

TOTAL SCORE =
INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS:
Grader: ________________________