Small Wars Journal – U.S. Army Mission Command Training Program (MCTP) Partnership

Small Wars Journal is taking a moment to announce a new publishing partnership with the U.S. Army’s Mission Command Training Program (MCTP). The series, which is based on the insights and observations gleaned by MCTP’s staff, seeks to help provide the reader with context and lessons learned from warfighter exercises (WFX) and other notable events.

Adaptation and improvement are the key ideas driving this partnership. As the U.S. Army shifts its focus from decades of counterinsurgency and stability operations to future large scale combat operations, division and corps headquarters have assumed greater importance as the Army refocuses on massing and sustaining large maneuver and fires units. However, the transition to more dynamic large-scale operations, even in a simulated or constructive environment, has continued to be a challenge. This is immediately apparent during the U.S. Army’s division, corps, and higher echelon WFXs.

Based on direct observations from these exercises and informed by historical cases studies and practices, the articles in this six-part series aim to identify problems with staff processes, manning, and organization at the division and corps level and provide meaningful solutions to those problems. The articles focus on topics such as how to enable staff processes while executing large scale combat operations in accordance with the flow, or “rhythm”, of combat; maintaining running estimates; targeting and massing fires assets; and improving the Army’s often risk-averse culture to get leaders and staffs to identify and exploit fleeting opportunities, situations so often crucial to success in current and previous conflicts.

You can anticipate one MCTP-authored publication per quarter, the first of which will be released on Monday, September 1, 2025. Be sure to check back at the beginning of next month for the first release in this six part series.