The ''Small Wars Manual'' is a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

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 is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

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 Interventionism (politics), intervention by the United States in Central America and the Caribbean between the end of the Spanish–American W ...

, 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 is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

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. General James Mattis encouraged the troops of the 1st Marine Division to read it in preparation for the Corps's return to the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

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

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 American imperialism

Chapters

See also

Further reading

References

External links