Editing Combined operations (section)

==Modern history==
[[File:Foreign armies in Beijing during Boxer Rebellion.jpg|thumb|Armies of the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]] in [[Beijing]], [[China]], during the [[Boxer Rebellion]]]]
Though a significantly-expanded combined operation, the [[Crimean War]] was the first example of a planned combined operations campaign that was directed as part of a multinational coalition strategy. Aside from being the first modern expeditionary operation that used [[steamboat|steam powered]] warships and [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] communications, which made it the departing point for the rest of the 19th- and 20th-century developments, it was also the first used as a military theatre instrument to force decision in the conflict.

The next development in the evolution of combined operations was made during the expansion of the [[history of colonialism|European empires]] and the era of [[colonialism]], which also led to the inclusion of the combined operations methods into the direct expression of national strategies to avoid full-scale conflicts in the shape of the [[gunboat diplomacy]] approach. It was then that [[marine (military)|naval troops]], which had been used almost exclusively for defence of vessels or minor [[amphibious warfare|beach operations]], were expanded to enable extended [[Littoral (military)|littoral]] operations. The colonial experience, though largely confined to the period before [[World War I]], persisted well into the [[Gunboat diplomacy#Notable examples|20th century]].

The period of World War I was prolonged well past its completion into the 1920s and saw combined operations established as a systematic and planned operations with a larger scope than the simple [[troopship|transportations of troops]] and the beginnings of development in true combined operations at strategic, operational, and tactical levels with the unsuccessful [[amphibious warfare|amphibious landing]] at [[Battle of Gallipoli|Gallipoli]]. That operation combined the elements of overall war planning context, multinational deployment of forces as part of the same operation, and the use of troops prepared for the landings (as opposed to [[disembarkation]]), as well as [[naval gunfire support]] that was only limited during the era of sailing ships. It also included extensive use of [[combat engineering]] in support of the [[infantry]].

One of the most extensive and complex of combined operations that followed the war was the [[Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War]], which saw forces deployed in the [[Baltic region]], the [[Arctic region]], along the [[Black Sea]] coast and in the [[Russian Far East]]. It for the first time saw the use of [[aircraft]] used in cooperation with the naval and land components of the deployed forces.

The phrase "combined operations" was first introduced by the [[British War Office]] during [[World War II]] to denote multi-service activities, those that involved air, land or naval forces acting together and coordinated by the [[Combined Operations Headquarters]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.combinedops.com/about_site_background.htm|title=The Combined Operations Project|website=www.combinedops.com}}</ref>

Given the U.S. usage of the word "joint" meaning such activities, the British usage faded relatively quickly. After World War II, the [[U.S. Department of Defense]] began using the term to denote multinational operations, which might mean the land forces of several countries, for example [[Combined Forces Land Component Command]], or Combined Joint multinational multiservice activities and operations.

The term ''Combined Joint Task Force'' then took on an extra meaning, beyond that of a multinational multiservice grouping since it came to refer to a particular type of [[NATO]] deployment planning, outside the treaty area, in the late 1990s.
[[File:2014.3.31. 한미해병대 연합상륙훈련(쌍룡훈련) March. 31st. 2014. ROK-US Marine Combined Amphibious Exercise (SSang Yong) (13557174325).jpg|thumb|[[Republic of Korea Marine Corps|Republic of Korea Marines]] and [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marines]] during an [[amphibious warfare]] [[Military exercise|exercise]] in 2014]]
Since the early 1980s, the concept of combined operations had been referred to by NATO, particularly by the US. Department of Defence, as joint operations. Regardless of the use of combined, joined or interoperability terms, the concept ensures that different military organisations maintain the ability to conduct combat and non-combat military operations regardless of the national and service (ground, naval and air forces) differences.

The ability to conduct combined operations allows national forces, their subordinated formations, units or systems to perform tasks and complete missions and operations together. The overriding requirement is that they share common [[military doctrine|doctrine]] and procedures, utilise each other's infrastructure and [[military base|bases]], and to be able to [[military communications|communicate]] with one another. These abilities reduce duplication of effort and increase [[economies of scale]] in a [[strategic alliance]] of its members, allow pooling of resources and produce synergies among its commands.

In the NATO concept, interoperability does not necessarily require common military equipment. What is important is that this equipment can share common facilities and communicate with other equipment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/docu/interoperability/html_en/interoperability01.html |title=Backgrounder: Interoperability for joint operations|publisher=NATO}}</ref> NATO militaries claim to have achieved interoperability because of decades of joint planning, training and exercises during the [[Cold War]].<ref>p.6, Williams</ref>