The ''Small Wars Manual'' is a
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...
manual on tactics and strategies for engaging in certain types of military operations.
The Marine Corps' role in small wars has a long and complex history. During the early years of the 20th century, the Corps was widely viewed as the nation's overseas police and initial response force. Moreover, the actual execution of these roles were a natural adjunct of the Corps' officially directed mission of sea-based power projection, in turn buttressed by its fundamental expeditionary operational character; i.e., the availability for "sudden and immediate call".
As a result of this "natural fit" and the experience of a series of
guerrilla wars and military interventions in
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
and the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...
from the late 1890s through the early 1930s, loosely known as the
Banana Wars
The Banana Wars were a series of conflicts that consisted of military occupation, police action, and intervention by the United States in Central America and the Caribbean between the end of the Spanish–American War in 1898 and the inceptio ...
, the Marine Corps began to systematically analyze the character and requirements of operations short of war proper, or "Small Wars". Major
Samuel M. Harrington of the Marine Corps Schools delivered a formal report ''The Strategy and Tactics of Small Wars'' in 1921. In addition, Major C. J. Miller wrote a 154-page report on the 2nd Marine Brigade's operations in the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
titled ''Diplomacy and Spurs in the Dominican Republic'' in 1923. Versions of these and other reports were serialized in ''
The Marine Corps Gazette'' and additional articles on the subject appeared in
''The Marine Corps Gazette'' and the ''
Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute''.
The results of these efforts were encapsulated in the manual ''Small Wars Operations'' in 1935. For the 1940 revision, it was renamed The ''Small Wars Manual'' (SWM). A classic of military science, based upon experience, not theory, it remains relevant today as the foundation of much current thinking and doctrine.
It was encouraged reading by
James Mattis for the
1st Marine Division
The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF).
It is th ...
in preparation for the Corps's return to the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
as an occupation force.
Chapters
I. Introduction
II. Organization
III. Logistics
IV. Training
V. Initial operations
VI. Infantry patrols
VII. Mounted detachments
VIII. Convoys and convoy escorts
IX. Aviation
X. River operations
XI. Disarmament of population
XII. Armed native organizations
XIII. Military government
XIV. Supervision of elections
XV. Withdrawal
See also
*
Charles Edward Callwell
Major-General Sir Charles Edward Callwell (2 April 1859 – May 1928), was an Anglo-Irish officer of the British Army, who served in the artillery, as an intelligence officer, and as a staff officer and commander during the Second Boer War, ...
Further reading
*
*
*
* Bickel, Keith B. ''Mars Learning: The Marine Corps' Development of Small Wars Doctrine, 1915-1940'', Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2001.
* Green, Lt. Col. T. N., ''The Guerrilla and How to Fight Him: Selections from the Marine Corps Gazette'', ed. for the ''Marine Corps Gazette'', New York: Praeger, 1962.
*
References
External links
Small Wars Journal
{{US Marine Corps navbox
Banana Wars
Military strategy books
Non-fiction books about the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps in the 20th century
1921 books
1935 books
1940 books