MCDP 1-1, MARINE CORPS DOCTRINAL PUBLICATION: STRATEGY (12-NOV-1997)

MCDP 1-1, MARINE CORPS DOCTRINAL PUBLICATION: STRATEGY (12-NOV-1997)., This publication is designed to give Marine leaders a solid, common understanding of the fundamental nature of military strategy that is inherent in each military action. Its intent is to give the reader the basic knowledge required to think “strategi- cally,” that is, to be able to examine the particulars of any spe- cific situation and understand the political and military factors behind the use of military force. Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication (MCDP) 1-1 provides the foundation for thinking strategically. This foundation will enable Marines to better understand their roles in a particular situation and to consider the implications of their actions on the military strategy being employed and the political objectives that strategy is intended to achieve. Just as it is important to appreciate what this publication is designed to do, it is equally important to understand what this publication does not seek to do. It does not attempt to provide a solution to current strategic problems, nor is it concerned with details of current American strategy. MCDP 1-1 does not assume that war and military strategy are exclusively a matter of international or interstate behavior, and the concepts dis- cussed in it are not limited to any particular kind of warfare or level of conflict. Nor does Strategy prescribe any particular strategy, any particular process for the making of strategy, or any specific techniques and procedures for handling military forces. It is meant to educate the mind of future commanders or, more accurately, to guide them in their self-education, not to accompany them to the battlefield.