The Army is in the midst of formalizing its operating concept for the land component of AirLand Operations (ALO). This concept stresses the avoidance of attritional, mass on mass, linear warfare. ALO seeks quick and decisive victory with minimal losses through strategy, preparation, setting conditions for success, decisive operations, and force reconstitution. This evolutionary concept requires changes in doctrine, training, organization, materiel, and leader development (DTOML). A model provides a useful aid in guiding these required changes. This monograph seeks to find such a model by looking to the past. The monograph follows General MacArthur's methodology of seeking insight to the future by looking to the past. It begins with an examination of the charted path to the future, i.e., the AirLand Operations concept and the requirements it places on the Army. Then it reviews two major Mongol campaigns, one in the Middle East and the other in eastern and central Europe, to provide a historical basis for understanding and visualizing Mongol operational warfare. Next is an examination of the Mongol's DTOML to provide insight into how they gained the qualitative advantage that contributed to their success at the operational level of war. The monograph concludes with a discussion of the derived implications. The principle implication derived is that Mongol operational warfare may provide a useful model for the ALO concept. The operational warfare of the Mongols appears to be the antecedent of ALO. The Mongols, over 750 years ago, mastered the capabilities required by the ALO concept. As the Army develops the DTOML for ALO, the Mongols provide a useful model to facilitate this undertaking. As warfare evolves toward a more fluid state and by necessity armies change, the Mongols become more relevant.

ADA 253542 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)