Tactical Success and Operational Failure in the Anit-Access Area- Denial Environment: A Historical Operational Art Analysis of Operation CERBERUS

Today the tactical challenges of operating within an anti-access area-denial environment form the focus of the United States Navy. While the tactical tasks are daunting, they must no longer remain the Navy’s first priority. If naval leadership continues to focus on the tactical level difficulties, rather than working towards the proper development of an operational level goal linked to a desired strategic end state, the results on the high-seas will be disastrous. This work uses an operational art analysis of the German Operation CERBERUS during World War II to demonstrate the paramount importance of the operational level over the tactical in an anti-access area-denial environment. If the U.S. Navy only solves the tactical challenges, but does not link these solutions to a properly envisioned operational level objective, we will suffer a similar failure as the Germans after Operation CERBERUS.