Ground Combat

A challenge to common assumptions about the future of land warfare

Ground Combat reveals the gritty details of land warfare at the tactical level and challenges today's overly subjective and often inaccurate approaches to characterizing war. Ben Connable's motivation for writing the book is to offer an evidence-based approach to examining the future of war.

Connable created and analyzed an original dataset of more than four hundred global ground combat cases, showing that there was an evolutionary rather than revolutionary shift in the characteristics of ground combat from World War II through the early 2020s. Despite advances in military technology, tanks, artillery, and infantry remain central to how war is waged on land. This book asks readers to stop and think about the implications of these findings for force planning and future predictions about military-technical revolutions.

This book sets an essential evidentiary baseline for military officers, policymakers, and scholars who think about the future of modern war.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: American Forecasts of War and Ground Combat
Chapter 3: World War II Ground Combat Case Examples
Chapter 4: World War II Ground Combat Characteristics
Chapter 5: Interval Cases—1945-2002
Chapter 6: Interval Period Ground Combat Characteristics
Chapter 7: Modern Ground Combat from 2003 through 2012
Chapter 8: Modern Ground Combat from 2013 through 2022
Chapter 9: Observed Characteristics of Modern Ground Combat
Chapter 10: Conclusions on Ground Combat and on War
Appendix: Methodology and Source Insights
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Reviews

"Connable offers us a study of ground combat with commendable breadth, depth, and context. As a 'pracademic,' he genuinely understands both the theory and practice of war. Those who seek certainty in war will be disappointed—because, with considerable insight and wisdom, Connable reminds us that the answer to almost every war-related question is 'it depends.'"—Andrew R. D. Sharpe, CBE, director, Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research

"Connable sweeps away the dominant theories of military revolutions and future war through forensic analysis of the actual conduct of modern ground combat. The implications for force design are profound. This important book sets a new standard for rigorous military analysis, and is a must read for every officer, defense planner, and student of war."—Theo Farrell, president, La Trobe University

"A rigorous examination of what remains the same and what changes (and in what ways) in the most elemental form of war: ground combat. This book is remarkable not only for the depth of quantitative research backed by shrewd qualitative analysis but also for the tough fair-mindedness of the author. A landmark study."—Eliot Cohen, Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, Center for Strategic and International Studies

"In a time when the Army and Marine Corps grapple with defining the future of ground warfare, Connable's work fills a vital gap, illuminating the risks of treading familiar paths without learning from past missteps. This is more than a history; it's a call to action for military leaders, scholars, and policymakers to rethink foundational strategies and embrace a more informed, adaptive approach to ground combat. Ground Combat is essential reading for those committed to shaping a resilient and effective future force."—James Lacey, Horner Chair of War Studies, Marine Corps University, author of The Washington War and Rome: Strategy of Empire

"In this extensively researched study of ground combat since WWII, Connable demonstrates that modern wars show more continuity than change. Ground Combat certainly deflates the marked tendency in US defense planning circles to embrace each new technology as a paradigm shift or game changer. This book will be provocative to technophiles, but we cannot dictate future military success by emergent technology alone."—F. G. Hoffman, National Defense University

"Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, Ground Combat: Puncturing the Myths of Modern War is an original, seminal, and groundbreaking study of extensive and meticulous scholarship."—Midwest Book Review

"Ground Combat will fill a void in any collection of essential books on warfare....[Connable's] study and understanding of ground combat aligns with the study and understanding of so many retired senior Marines."—Marine Corps Compass Points

"Connable adeptly blends qualitative historical case analysis, coded data from 423 modern ground combat incidents, and critiques of doctrine, modeling, and strategic discourse....[He] gives us the intellectual vocabulary to process this moment."—Modern War Institute

"Ground Combat sets an evidentiary baseline and a new, detail-oriented standard for conflict research and policymaking."—New Books Network

"Connable, a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, provides a comprehensive and meticulous analysis of ground force combat that shows how war has—and hasn't—changed."—Foreign Affairs

"The case studies and data analysis showing elements of modern ground combat over the last 70 years are the most important part of the text....Connable explains in detail how he collected and coded his data, and the dataset is available to all."—CHOICE connect

"Connable looks beyond the usual case-studies, integrating our past, present and future into an empirically grounded and rational perspective that is insulated from hyperinflated proclamations about our technologically determined present or future....[He] is a rare voice for continuity in military affairs."—International Affairs

Contributors

Supplemental Materials

Awards

About the Author

Ben Connable, PhD, is an award-winning research leader, a retired US Marine Corps intelligence and foreign area officer, a former senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, and an adjunct professor in Georgetown University's Security Studies program.