The Three Levels of Warfare

In military theory, there are three commonly recognized “levels” of warfare and military deployment: Tactical, Operational and Strategic. Here we will attempt to briefly outline these three levels, as some of the tactics described on this site have different meanings depending on the level they are deployed at.

An outline of the three levels, described below.

Pictured: A diagram outlining a 6-level model combined with a parallel “Institutional” level.

The concept of “three levels” is not a universal science, but rather a way of looking at things. The idea began development in the early 19th century with Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz, who identified only two levels - tactical and strategic. Red Army officer Alexander Svechin proposed the operational level to cover the middle ground between strategic & tactical, an idea which would be expanded upon by the Soviets and ultimately adopted by the US military in the 1980's.

There are several other models built upon the Clausewitz-Svechin model. Some propose five or six levels, further breaking things down. Others propose a parallel “institutional” level, which is where warfighting capabilities (science, technology, education, etc) are developed. See diagram for more details.

• Levels of War: Just a Set of Labels? by Martin Dunn, Chief Research Officer - Australian Directorate of Army Research and Analysis¹⁾