The Marine Corps Way: Using Maneuver Warfare to Lead a Winning Organization

Maneuver Warfare Defined

Maneuver warfare represents ”in the words of Warfighting :

A state of mind bent on shattering the enemy morally and physically by paralyzing and confounding him, by avoiding his strength, by quickly and aggressively exploiting his vulnerabilities, and by striking him in a way that will hurt him most. ^[2]

Its ultimate objective is not to destroy the adversary s forces but simply to render them unable to fight as an effective, coordinated whole. For example, instead of attacking well-established enemy defensive positions, maneuver warfare prescribes bypassing those positions, capturing the enemy s command-and-control center in the rear, and cutting off supply lines. Moreover, it embraces the uncontrollable factors that inevitably shape competitive encounters as keys to vanquishing the foe. This approach stands in stark contrast to more simplistic and brutish forms of combat, so-called wars of attrition, where combatants lined up in fixed positions and endeavored to overwhelm one another with superior firepower, as wars were generally fought through the First World War.

^[2] Ibid, 73.