Operational Warfare at Sea: Theory and Practice

by Milan N. Vego

This new volume provides a comprehensive analysis of both the theory and practice of operational warfare at sea.The book is unique in using diverse sources and examples to present a comprehensive topical description and analysis of the key components of operational warfare at sea today. It opens with a survey of the emergence of operational warfare at sea since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, going on describe and analyze the objectives of naval warfare at the operational level and methods of employment of naval forces for accomplishing these objectives. The book explains the specifics of operational functions in a maritime theatre, discusses the personality traits and professional education required for successful naval operational commanders, and explores naval operational command and control in both peacetime and war, closing with predictions for the future of operational warfare at sea.aThis book serves as a primer of how to plan, prepare and execute major naval operations and campaigns for naval commanders and their staffs, but will also be of interest to advanced students of naval history, strategic studies and military history in general.

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 7, 2008

About the author

Dr. Milan Vego has been professor of operations at the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, since 1991. A native of Bosnia & Herzegovina, he obtained political asylum in the United States in 1976. He served for 12 years as a naval officer and four years as 2nd Officer (Deck) in the Merchant Marine. Dr. Vego holds a PhD in Modern European History from George Washington University (1981). He also has a Master Mariner’s license (1973).

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read numerous excerpts for my Naval War College course in Joint Military Operations.
This is a thick door-stop of a book and probably not intended to be read straight through.
The book is procedural and logical in its layout and it is sometimes dry as most school books are.
The summaries tie everything together and bring the ideas closer to real world implementation and practice. The summaries are usually at the conclusion of sections and chapters, so if the statistics and examples get too think, skim the paragraphs or skip toward the end.
As an Aircraft Maintenance Officer with some acquisition training, I felt the need to broaden my horizons after taking part in a joint exercise back in Spring of 2008.
This course and this book filled the bill perfectly.
I have a much greater understanding of joint and combined operations.
Whether the next selection board with my name in it will think JMO was worth my time is somewhat irrelevant at this point, but I feel much more prepared for future assignments and can at least understand a few dozen more acronyms.
;-)
Hooyah!