military tactics Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefield. They involve the application of four battlefield functions which are closely related – kinetic or firepower, Mobility (military), mobil ...

, a tactical victory may refer to a

victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

that results in the completion of a tactical objective as part of an operation or a result in which the losses of the "defeated" outweigh those of the "victor" although the victorious force failed to meet its original objectives.

Concepts

Large-scale planning of goals may be called "

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "troop leadership; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " a ...

" and are conducted at the "strategic level of war." Lower-level operations that fulfil the strategic planning are conducted at the "

operational level of war In the field of military theory, the operational level of war (also called operational art, as derived from , or operational warfare) represents the level of command that connects the details of tactics with the goals of strategy. In U.S. J ...

." The lowest level of planning which fulfills operational goals and strategy is called the " tactical level of war".

Based on planning

A tactical mission is one in which the operational area that aims to complete the goals of the assigned mission or task given by "tactical control." Therefore, a tactical victory is the successful completion of that mission. Tactical missions contribute to the success or failure of the whole operation.

Tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics In chess, a tac ...

include the handling of assets such as soldiers, vehicles,

weapons A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...

, and

munitions Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of ...

and tactics might be as simple as the combat maneuvering of an individual soldier in a

skirmish Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to Screening (tactical), screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They may be deployed in a sk ...

with an enemy soldier. The definition of tactical victory may become blurred in large-scale tactical maneuvering of troops in division-sized formations or the operational goals of

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

-sized units to exercise control of important positions, as they contribute in different ways to the success or the failure of operations and strategy. Nations may have differing strategic objectives for a conflict, and their individual combat units may be made to believe in still-different objectives. Survival, on an individual or a unit level, may become an important objective in battle, and the different objectives allow both sides to maintain

morale Morale ( , ) is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value judgment of the willpower, ...

by declarations of victory to justify the costs of combat. Many battles involving multiple units include elements of tactical success by both opposing forces. The individual tactical victories may not cause the force to be successful in that battle or in the larger goals of the conflict.

Based on losses

The term is then applied to a simple tally of the numbers of losses of each side, but that may be complicated by the value attached to certain assets lost. An example of a naval tactical victory dependent on losses would be the Battle of the Coral Sea. The battle was considered a strategic victory for the Allies because they stopped a Japanese invasion. However, the latter lost fewer valuable ships; the Allies lost one

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

, one

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

, and one

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...

, but the Japanese lost one light carrier and one destroyer and so are considered to have won a tactical victory.Potter & Nimitz (1960) p.667, Potter (1976) p.76

Notes

References

* * * {{cite book, title=Nimitz, author=Potter, E.B., publisher=Naval Institute Press, year=1976, isbn=978-0-87021-492-9, url=https://archive.org/details/nimitz00pott, author-link=E. B. Potter Military strategy

Concepts

Based on planning

Based on losses

See also

Notes

References