US military strategy has seldom been clearly expressed and infrequently described in sufficient detail for all to understand. Some say that it is unwise, impossible or even dangerous to openly enunciate a military strategy. This very act may limit our options in a crisis situation or tip off our potential adversaries on what our actions might be. A nation may need more than one military strategy at a time. These are some of the options, if it does not also have a warfighting strategy.
Military strategy can change rapidly and frequently, since objectives can change in an instant.
However, it takes much longer to alter the military forces so that they may be responsive to new objectives and concepts. In summary, military strategy consists of the establishment of military objectives, the formulation of military strategic concepts to accomplish the objectives and the use of military resources to implement the concepts. When any of these basic elements is incompatible with the others, our national security may be in danger. Carl von Clausewitz, On War , ed. and trans. Colonel Arthur F. Lykke Jr., US Army, Retired, has been a professor of military strategy at the US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, since 1976.