Required Operational Capabilities for Urban Combat

Currently, there exists no Joint doctrine to help commanders plan and coordinate the complex tasks of urban operations. Proposed Joint doctrine, JP3- 06 DRAFT, attempts to alleviate this shortfall by providing commanders a framework and list of required operational capabilities to work with in the complex urban environment and states, "The complexity of urban terrain and the presence of noncombatants may combine to erode the effectiveness of current operational capabilities.". The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the relevance of the proposed Joint doctrine's required operational capabilities (ROC): Command, Control and Communications (C3); Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR); Fires; Maneuver; and Force Protection. The thesis attempts to determine if these are the key requirements for planning and executing successful urban operations. Successful combat operations are defined by doctrine as the fighting force maintaining a combat effective strength of seventy percent and the capability of conducting follow on missions. This thesis will analyze four case studies to determine the most critical elements for successfully planning and executing urban operations. It will then compare those elements against the proposed Joint doctrine's required operational capabilities in order to determine the relevance of the ROC's.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Required Operational Capabilities for Urban Combat', published 2000 under ISBN 9781423535539 and ISBN 1423535537.