Decisive Halt 1942: Guadalcanal and Implications for American Military Strategy in the 21st Century
The recent Report of the Quadrennial Defense Review outlines an increased need to execute "Halt Phase Operations," defined as the halt of an enemy invasion of friendly territory before the enemy reaches his strategic goals. In order to meet this challenge, the QDR panel proposes a force that relies on the Revolution in Military Affairs to leverage increased military capability from a smaller force. Other agencies, in particular the United States Air Force, have proposed that Halt Phase operations can best be executed by modern airpower. Unfortunately, this assertion is not borne out by current military combat models. Therefore, this study examines a historical example, the World War II Guadalcanal campaign, to examine the Halt Phase and develops some critical issues for this key phase of battle. First, trading mass for technological superiority increases the risk of failure under a wide range of circumstances. Second, sound operational force employment is also a key to victory, a major problem in a two-major theater war scenario. Third, sustainment capability is crucial. Fourth, multi-dimensional combat capability provides a war-winning edge. Failure to heed these conclusions may not risk outright defeat but does increase the possibility of failure in the Halt Phase and a reversion to attrition warfare--exactly the situation the American strategy and operational forces are designed to avoid.
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