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Urban Operations: An Historical Casebook

️John Pike

Combat Studies Institute
Command & General Staff College
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
2 Oct 2002

Urban Operations: An Historical Casebook
Introduction	Donn Starry
Attacking the Hearts and Guts: Urban Operations through the Ages	Lou DiMarco
The Battle of Stalingrad	S.J. Lewis
"Knock'em All Down:" The Reduction of Aachen	Christopher R. Gabel
The Battle of Manila	Thomas M. Huber
The Battle for Hue, 1968	James H. Willbanks
The Take-Down of Kabul: An Effective Coup de Main	Lester W. Grau
Siege of Beirut	George W. Gawrych
Operation JUST CAUSE in Panama City, December 1989	Lawrence A. Yates
Humanitarian Operations in an Urban Environment: Hurricane Andrew, August-September 1992	Jerold Brown
The 31 December 1994 - 8 February 1995 Battle for Grozny	Timothy L. Thomas
The Siege of Sarajevo, 1992-1995	Curtis S. King
Todo o Nada: Argentina's Montañeros - Urban Terrorism in Latin America	Alan Lowe
Conclusion	Roger Spiller

It is axiomatic in the military community that operations in an urban environment should be avoided if at all possible, given the costs they tend to exact in time, personnel, casualties, and supplies. Yet, throughout history, cities have continuously been at the center of a variety of military undertakings: sieges, street fighting, coups de main, peacekeeping and peace enforcement, stability and support operations, and humanitarian relief. Moreover, this trend continues into the recent past and up to the present, as headlines concerning Beirut, Sarajevo, Mogadishu, and Grozny would indicate.

Because of a resurgence of interest in urban operations within the U.S. military, the Commander, Training and Doctrine Command, last year tasked the Combat Studies Institute (CSI) to research and write several in-depth case studies aimed at providing historical perspective on the subject. The result is an anthology containing the chapters listed below. Arranged chronologically, the studies cover a wide range of urban operations conducted by various countries from World War II to the present. Each chapter contains a narrative account of the designated operation together with an identification and analysis of the lessons that remain relevant today. It is hoped that today's military professional, as well as interested parties within the general public, will find these studies stimulating and informative.

A paperback edition of this anthology will be available later this year. While that is in preparation, the authors of these studies welcome constructive feedback, which can be sent via email to CSI.

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