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The Three Levels of War
Levels of Intelligence: Strategic, Operational, and Tactical
OSINT Ltd
October 22, 2023
What are the Three Levels of War?
The Three Levels of War is a military concept which allocates responsibility for the planning and execution of the different levels of warfare to different ranks of commander:
At the Strategic Level, top-level commanders plan the overall strategy for winning the entire war;
At the Operational Level, mid-level commanders plan the operations that will implement that strategy; and
At the Tactical Level, low-level commanders plan how to achieve the individual objectives that are vital to the success of those operations.
Case Study: Hitler’s plan to starve the UK
In WW2, the Nazis attempted to starve the UK into submission by destroying deliveries of food from America. Here’s an example of how this plan could be broken down into the Three Levels of War:
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