Principles of War: Objective

The Principles of War provide a flexible structure for understanding how a battle in 253 B.C. is related to one in 1992 A.D. They can also be used to analyze martial arts at the individual level; to optimize the skills and capabilities of the martial artist.

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“O”; the second letter in the MOOSEMUSS mnemonic stands for “Objective”. U.S. Army Field Manual FM-3-0, on page 4-13, defines the Principle of War “Objective”:

“Direct every military operation toward a clearly defined, decisive, and attainable objective.”

An objective must be defined, decisive, and attainable.

DEFINED - You, and all others involved, must understand the expected outcome of the intended action.

DECISIVE - Attaining the expected outcome must result in an anticipated strategic advantage or improvement or be perceived by you and all others as achieving the improvement.

ATTAINABLE – The expected outcome must be possible and perceived by you and all others as possible.

In a military operation the commander issues orders that make the objective understood by the entire command. Knowing the objective sub-units can adapt to conditions on the ground and to the actions of the enemy. Sub-units and the overall command can improvise changes in tactics and maneuver that achieve the clearly understood objective even though the commander’s original plan doesn’t survive contact with the enemy.

In self-defense situations the strategic purpose is typically survival and escape without injury to self or loved ones. The objective chosen should create an opportunity to achieve the strategic purpose; for example disabling the attacker’s knee to permit escape.

The next principle in the MOOSEMUSS mnemonic is “Offensive”.

Link to the Martial Arts Training Report: The Principles of War