Morale as a Principle of War

For the twenty-first century Army to successfully operate in the dispersed and isolated battlefield of the future, soldiers must be highly committed, well trained, and led to successfully transition, without pause, across the full spectrum of operations. The fundamental principle that will make this all possible is creating and maintaining a high state of morale. In spite of the fundamental need for high morale, the U.S. Army's current principles of war do not include the maintenance of morale. Morale has been and always will be an important principle to the overall success of the Army. The twenty-first century Army operating in an uncertain and often unpredictable future security environment magnifies the importance of soldier morale. The importance is so profound that "morale" should be a principle of war. This monograph explains why "morale" should be included in the U.S. Army's current principles of war. An analysis of the evolution of the principles of war, along with an in-depth historical analysis of three classical theorists, Clausewitz, Fuller and Marshall, establish morale as a viable candidate to be a U.S. Army principle of war. Subsequently, four additional reasons are offered that magnify the importance of morale to the Army, now, and in the future. The four areas explored are the increasing lethality and dispersion on the battlefield, force projection, cultural shift in the Army, and physical versus human dimension. This monograph concludes that the inclusion of "morale' into the principles of war is both historically warranted and relevant based on current trends. Additionally, both practical and doctrinal applications are suggested that would be necessitated by the inclusion of morale as a principle of war.