Recognizing Signposts

By examining four historical contexts featuring corps headquarters performing their doctrinal roles, this study indentified three signposts that assist practitioners with anticipating the future role of a corps headquarters at onset and throughout the duration of a campaign. These signposts are the nature of the conflict, the campaign objectives by phase, and the theater structure. Using these signposts as a framework for historical analysis, the assessment demonstrates that when the operational environment presents traditional warfare, and the campaign objectives require the conduct of large-scale offensive and defensive operations with multiple divisions and corps, then a corps headquarters will perform the role of an intermediate tactical headquarters. When the operational environment presents a mix of traditional and irregular warfare requiring the conduct of small-scale offensive and defensive operations with one division and one corps headquarters, the corps headquarters will perform the role of a joint task force headquarters. However, when the operational environment presents a mix of traditional and irregular warfare requiring the conduct of large-scale full spectrum operations with multiple divisions and the integration of joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational efforts, the corps headquarters may perform the role of a joint task force for a relatively short period of time, followed by transition to its role as a land component command headquarters. The purpose of this study is not to provide a Nostradamus-style prediction of the future role of a corps headquarters. However, since preparing to perform multiple roles effectively presents numerous training challenges, the study provides future corps practitioners with a historical framework for inquiry that can assist with anticipating the future role of a corps headquarters. To validate the framework logic, the study presented analysis of four historical contexts featuring the corps headqua