Over time, underground warfare continues to maintain its allure in conflict as combatants seek a competitive edge over their opponent. Currently, most US doctrine addressing the subterranean environment is from a tactical perspective, focusing on technology, techniques, and procedures to combat a subterranean threat. Understanding subterranean operations remains critical as the United States endeavors to understand themselves, its enemies, and the future environment while preserving the American way of life. Through historical analysis and the development of a subterranean typology, this study provides the operational planner with a better understanding of the operational implications of a subterranean fight. This understanding is critical to the success of the United States in large scale combat operations. It will allow the operational level planner to better understand the operating environment, estimate the enemy's capabilities, and provide the combatant commander with more suitable options for success. The subterranean threat is not an army problem, rather a defense problem requiring combined resources and assets at all echelons. However, physical effects are only cogent when they are followed by deliberate cognitive design and virtual shaping effects. At the operational level, the United States must reshape their mental model and reframe the problem in order to shape the deep fight against an enemy whose subterranean networks make them impervious to our traditional, lethal, deep-fires effects. While still an important facet, the answer to the subterranean threat is not in the next technological advancement or tactical solution, rather it is in the operational artist's creative and critical thinking and ability to reframe the problem, apply systematic thinking, and provide better solutions to the commander.

School of Advanced Military Studies Monographs.