Q&A with Tecumseh Court

The author of WAR 101 answers your questions. This week: The Principles of War.

Dear Tecumseh Court:

You wrote recently that if you were procuring equipment for the Ukrainian military, tanks would “be much lower on my wish list than Javelin stockpiles, combat pickup trucks, and a raid package of Switchblade drones and ATVs.” Why?

Yours,

Quinsy G. SHOEMAKER

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Dear Mr. SHOEMAKER,

As always in war, operational design mixes art and science. But it does so in a specific way, using principles we can define and explain. 

Let’s expand the concepts presented in WAR 101 by introducing the Principles of War and the US military acronym MOOSEMUSS. Keep in mind that the principles may come into conflict: Sometimes, emphasizing one means sacrificing another. Other NATO militaries use different acronyms to define the Principles of War, but MOOSEMUSS will do for our purposes: