Lessons for Tomorrow’s Multi-Domain Battlefield from the Pacific Campaign of World War II
Brandon Morgan | June 25, 2019
Earlier this month, the world gave a tremendously deserving tribute to the brave servicemen who stepped foot into battle on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. This month also marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of another amphibious assault, half a world away from France: the US landings on Saipan on June 15, 1944. If Operation Overlord was the decisive operation of the European theater, Operation Forager—the Allied campaign to seize the Mariana islands from the Japanese—was the decisive campaign of the Pacific. The contest on land, at sea, and in the air—despite the passing of three-quarters of a century—provides lessons for the future of multi-domain operations. It illustrates the need to balance offensive striking power with operational reach, especially in campaigns that span the Indo-Pacific. It also affirms that joint doctrine, training, and relationships must be continuously maintained in order to promote the mutual trust and shared understanding required to conduct mission command during multi-domain operations. Lastly, the technological advances in long-range weaponry of the era, combined with the island-hopping strategy of the Pacific campaign, highlights modern-day opportunities in modernization investment for the Army of today.
https://mwi.usma.edu/lessons-tomorrows-multi-domain-battlefield-pacific-campaign-world-war-ii/
