Military misfortunes are complex and involve not only individual failures in judgment or action, but also organizational failures rooted in the values each military organization upholds. This book uses examples from several military battles to highlight the need for military operations and organizations that: 1) learn from past mistakes and mistakes made by others, 2) anticipate future mistakes, and 3) adapt to changing circumstances that may reshape the type of mistakes that occur, how they occur, and when and where they may occur. The book focuses on three types of failure, moving from basic to more complex, that happen when one or more of the above three ideals are missing in USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-201. 2007 49 an operation simple failures, aggregate failures, and catastrophic failures. This book applies directly to managers who want to better understand how failures occur and the relationship between individual and organizational responsibility of the misfortunes that result.