A Bias for Action: The German 7th Panzer Division in France & Russia 1940-1941

Abstract

With this issue, The Marine Corps University inaugurates a new series of scholarly papers on warfighting. The series is called Perspectives on Warfighting and the first paper is Professor Stolfi's revealing study, "A Bias For Action." We hope and believe that "A Bias For Action" will be of immediate use to Fleet Marine Force organizations, especially those that are deployed. Professor Stolfi's research adds an additional and essential dimension to the Marine Corps' high-tempo maneuver warfare doctrine, set forth in FMFM-1, Warfighting. Such doctrine requires the most imaginative commanders and thoroughly trained cohesive units if it is to be effective. Professor Stolfl searches the record of units in combat to find the organizational and personal characteristics that maneuver warfare demands.