Author Description

This study examines historical and contemporary uses of the core concepts of red teaming, and determine the value of using the concept of red teaming in decisionmaking. Studying how great commanders in history used the core principles of red teaming may help solidify the U.S. Army's red teaming doctrine. Therefore, this monograph compares the success of past "great captains" of warfare against relatively modern military failures of the U.S. Army in order to determine the necessity of using the core concepts of red teaming in the current U.S. army and Joint decision-making processes. To this end, this monograph presents three case studies to analyze military campaigns that successfully used the core concepts of red teaming and campaigns that did not. Each case study evaluates the extent to which the campaign included the core concepts of red teaming, and their implication on the campaign's outcome. The first two case studies, Field Marshal Slim's 1945 counteroffensive into Burma and T.E. Lawrence's participation in the Arab Revolt during World War I, demonstrate how applying the core concepts of red teaming enabled each commander to develop a better understanding of their operating environment and subsequently achieve success. The final case study presented in this monograph, Operation Iraqi Freedom, demonstrates the dangers of misapplying the core concepts of red teaming, and emphasizes the importance that realism and accuracy plays in using alternative perspectives and divergent analysis. This monograph concludes that using the core concepts of red teaming, namely challenging the organization's thinking, incorporating alternative analysis and incorporating alternative perspectives, can significantly improve understanding of the operating environment, which is critical to achieving success on the modern complex battlefield. Therefore, this monograph recommends that U.S. Army and Joint doctrine incorporate red teaming concepts throughout their respective decision-mak