Urban Warfare
World Leading Expert
John Spencer is considered one of the world’s leading experts on urban warfare. In addition to personal experiences from 25 years as an infantry soldier and officer in the US Army, including urban battles of Iraq in 2003 and the Battle of Sadr City in 2008, he has spent over a decade researching, publishing, and lecturing on all facets of urban warfare. He has conducted field research all around the world. Just in the last five years he has conducted research in India, Israel, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine. He has served as an advisor to the top four-star general and other senior leaders in the U.S. Army as part of strategic research groups from the Pentagon to the United States Military Academy. He has also trained multiple militaries in urban operations. His research focuses on all military operations in dense urban areas, megacities, and urban and subterranean (aka tunnel) warfare.
In February 2022, Spencer wrote a guide, The Mini-Manual for the Urban Defender, for the citizens of Ukraine on how to defend their cities. The manual was translated into Ukrainian and spread widely across all of Ukraine. It is now available in sixteen separate languages with many other translations in the works.
URBAN WARFARE RELATED Works
Books
“Understanding Urban Warfare,” Howgate Publishing, October 3, 2022
“The Mini-Manual for the Urban Defender,” John Spencer, March 1, 2022
Book Chapters
“Siege and Intrusive Operations” In: Small Armies, Big Cities: Rethinking Urban Warfare, Lynne Rienner Publishers, forthcoming September 2022
“Gangs of Baghdad,” In: Strategic Notes On Third Generation Gangs, Xlibris US, 2020
“Urban Warfare Studies” foreward for the book Blood and Concrete: 21st Century Conflict in Urban Centers and Megacities, 2019
Historical Case Studies [7]
“2004 Second Battle of Fallujah,” Modern War Institute, July 25, 2023 (coauthored)
“2004 First Battle of Fallujah,,” Modern War Institute, October 28, 2022 (coauthored)
“1943 Battle of Ortona,” Modern War Institute, February 26, 2022 (coauthored)
“1973 Battle of Suez City,” Modern War Institute, January 13, 2022 (coauthored)
“1968 Battle of Hue,” Modern War Institute, November 4, 2021 (coauthored)
“2016-2017 Battle of Mosul,” Modern War Institute, September 15, 2021 (coauthored)
“1942-1943 Battle of Stalingrad,” Modern War Institute, June 28, 2021 (coauthored)
LECTURES
“Why Is Urban Warfare Is So Hard,” US Army Urban Operations Course, May 18, 2023
“Urban Warfare 101,” US Army Urban Operations Planners Course, May 18, 2023
“The 2022 Battle of Kyiv,” Kyiv Independent, Kyiv, Ukraine, April 1, 2023
“Urban Warfare: Threats and Opportunities,” UK Fight Club, June 26, 2021
“Armies in Urban Rehabilitation,” USARPAC, November 17, 2020
“Tunnel Bombs: Detect, Destroy, and Deter,” International Working Group on Subterranean Warfare Conference, Israel, December 15, 2019
“Urban Warfare: The Future is Here,” Sandhurst Academy, May 1, 2018
Professional Articles (57)
“The Road to Ceasefire Leads Through the Rafah Offensive.” Newsweek, March 11, 2024 (coauthored)
“I Have Delivered Aid in War Zones. They Were the Missions We Feared Most,” Newsweek, March 7, 2024
“The Untold Story of the Ukrainian Helicopter Rescue Missions During the Mariupol Siege,” Time, February 15, 2024
“Memo to the 'Experts': Stop Comparing Israel's War in Gaza to Anything. It Has No Precedent,” Newsweek, February 12, 2024
“Israel Implemented More Measures to Prevent Civilian Casualties Than Any Other Nation in History,” Newsweek, January 31, 2024
“Gaza’s Underground: Hamas’s Entire Politico-Military Strategy Rests on Its Tunnels,” Modern War Institute, January 18, 2024
“The 2023 Urban Experts’ Christmas Wish List,” Modern War Institute, December 13, 2023 (coauthored)
“Rebuilding Resiliency: Kyiv’s Opportunity to Bolster Its Defense,” War on the Rocks, December 12, 2023 (coauthored)
“Opinion: I’m an expert in urban warfare. Israel is upholding the laws of war,” CNN Opinion, November 7, 2023
“Underground Nightmare: Hamas Tunnels and the Wicked Problem Facing the IDF,” Modern War Institute, October 17, 2023
“These are the Challenges Awaiting Israeli Ground Forces in Gaza,” Modern War Institute, October 11, 2023
“The Battle of Hostomel Airport: A Key Moment in Russia’s Defeat in Kyiv,” War on the Rocks, August 10, 2023 (coauthored)
“Twelve Months of War in Ukraine Have Four Fundamental Lessons on Urban Warfare,” Modern War Institute, February 23, 2023
“The Second Battle of Fallujah: American Forces at War Inside a Hotbed of Insurgency,” Soldiers of Fortune Magazine, October 20, 2022
“Defending the City: An Overview of Defensive Tactics From the Modern History of Urban Warfare,” Modern War Institute, February 14, 2022 (coauthored)
“What We Learned Creating the Army’s First Urban Planner’s Course,” Modern War Institute, November 29, 2021
“Enter and Clear a Room: The History of Battle Drill 6, and Why the Army Needs More Tactical Training Like It—Not Less,” Modern War Institute, July 21, 2021 (coauthored)
“The Battle of Shusha City and The Missed Lessons of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.” Modern War Institute, July 14, 2021 (coauthored)
“Square Peg, Round Hole: Maneuver Warfare and the Urban Battlefield,” Modern War Institute, March 11, 2021
“The Eight Rules of Urban Warfare and Why We Must Work to Change Them,” Modern War Institute, January 12, 2021
“The Twelve Days of Urban Warfare Christmas,” Modern War Institute, December 21, 2020
“The Pentagon thinks urban warfare is obsolete. That’s wrong.” Washington Post, November 20, 2020 (coauthored)
“Four Transformational Steps The US Army Should Take To Get Serious About Urban Operations,” Modern War Institute, July 21, 2020
“The City is Not Neutral: Why Urban Warfare is So Hard,” Modern War Institute, March 4, 2020
“War Books: Preparing for Underground Warfare,” Modern War Institute, February 12, 2020
“Gangs of Baghdad,” Modern War Institute, January 21, 2020
“The Return of Tunnel Bombs: A Medieval Tactic on the Modern Battlefield,” Modern War Institute, December 30, 2019
“Difficult Megacity Fight Seen in Mumbai” Army Magazine, November 1, 2019 (coauthored)
“Facing Our Underground Nightmares: Casting Light On the Subterranean,” Army Magazine, August 20, 2019 (coauthored)
“How our recent Medal of Honor shows a weakness in military power,” Military Times, July 15, 2019
“Every City is Different. That’s Why a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Urban Operations Won’t Work,” Modern War Institute, May 30, 2019
“The Destructive Age of Urban Warfare; Or, How to Kill A City and How to Protect It,” Modern War Institute, March 28, 2019
“My Underground Warfare Wish List,” Modern War Institute, February 19, 2019
“Stealing the Enemy’s Urban Advantage: The Battle of Sadr City,” Modern War Institute, January 21, 2019
“Why Militaries Must Destroy Cities to Save Them,” Modern War Institute, November 8, 2018
“Crossing the Street: Addressing on of Urban Warfare’s Greatest Challenges” Modern War Institute, October 30, 2018
“Getting Beyond Door Kicking: Four Tasks for Urban Warriors,” Modern War Institute, September 18, 2018
“While the North Korean Nuclear Button Cools, The Threat of The Underground Lingers,” Modern War Institute, August 31, 2018 (coauthored)
“Investing in understanding cities is investing in national security,” The Hill, August 6, 2018 (coauthored)
“The missing link to preparing for military operations in megacities and dense urban areas,” Army Times, July 20, 2018 (coauthored)
“Prepare the Army for the Future Urban Battlefield,” Army Magazine, May 16, 2018 (coauthored)
“War Books: Preparing for Urban Warfare,” Modern War Institute, April 30, 2018
“The Era of Urban Warfare is Already Here,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, March 21, 2018
“Sticker Shock: The World Just Got the Bill for Rebuilding War-Ravaged Cities in Iraq,” Modern War Institute, February 21, 2018 (coauthored)
“A Soldier’s Urban Warfare Christmas Wish List,” Modern War Institute, December 19, 2017
“How drone swarms could change urban warfare,” C4ISRNET, December 11, 2017
“America’s Mumbai,” Modern War Institute, October 17, 2017
“A Better Approach to Urban Operations: Treat Cities like Human Bodies,” Modern War Institute, September 13, 2017 (coauthored)
“Why America Is Destroying Iraqi Cities to Save Them,” The National Interest, August 23, 2017
“The City Is the Battlefield of the Future,” The Wall Street Journal, July 19, 2017
“Three ‘War Hacks’ for Urban Combat,” Modern War Institute, July 03, 2017
“So You Think the Army Can Avoid Fighting in Megacities,” Modern War Institute, May 16, 2017 (coauthored)
“The Army Needs an Urban Warfare School and it Needs it Soon,” Modern War Institute, April 05, 2017
“What an Army Megacities Unit Would Look Like,” Modern War Institute, March 08, 2017
“It’s time to Create a Megacities Combat Unit,” Modern War Institute, January 31, 2017
“Grenade Launchers and Bed Sheets: An Invisibility Kit for Urban Combat,” Modern War Institute, December 12, 2016
“The Most Effective Weapon on the Modern Battlefield is Concrete,” Modern War Institute, November 14, 2016
John’s Urban Warfare Project podcasT (73 episodes)
You can listen to John’s podcast at the Modern War Institute at West Point site, on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, or your favorite podcast app. Be sure to subscribe, and if you’re enjoying the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, please take a minute and leave the podcast a review or give it a rating!
#73 - “Urban Warfare 101,” January 19, 2024
#72 - “An Urban Warfare Christmas Wish List,” 2023 Edition, December 22, 2023
#71 - “The Law of War and the Urban Battlefield,” November 24, 2023
#70 - “What Can the IDF Do about Hamas Tunnel,” October 20, 2023
#69 - “Israel, Gaza, and the Looming Challenges of Urban Warfare,” October 12, 2023
#68 - “Surviving Occupied Mariupol,” September 15, 2023
#67 - “Training Ukrainians in Urban Warfare,” September 1, 2023
#66 - “Creating a Unit Optimized for Urban Warfare,” August 18, 2023
#65 - “Defending Mariupol,” July 21, 2023
#64 - “Artillery in the Urban Battles of Ukraine,” May 26, 2023
#63 - “What Do We Actually Need for Urban Warfare Training,” April 28, 2023
#62 - “The 2022 Battle of Kyiv: A Lecture,” April 14, 2023
#61 - “The Battle of Bakhmut,” March 17, 2023
#60 - “An Urban Warfare Expert’s Christmas Wish List,” December 23, 2022
#59 - “A Firsthand Account of the Battle of Mariupol,” November 25, 2022
#58 - “The Battle of Jenin”, November 11, 2022
#57 - “Russia, Ukraine, and Urban Warfare,” August 19, 2022
#56 - “Round 2 of the World’s Only Urban Warfare Planners Course,” August 5, 2022
#55 - “Studying the Battle of Kyiv, Part 1,” July 8, 2022
#54 - “Why Urban Warfare is the Hardest Type of Warfare,” June 10, 2022
#53 - “A New Way of Combined Arms Urban Warfare Training,” May 27, 2022
#52 - “The Israeli Way of Urban Warfare,” May 13, 2022
#51 - “Social Media and the War in Ukraine: Twitter Spaces,,” April 29, 2022
#50 - “Concrete Hell Revisited,” April 14, 2022
#49 - “What Will the Battle of Kyiv Look Like?” March 14, 2022
#48 - “Walking the Urban Battlefield of Shusha,” February 18, 2022
#47 - “Learning From the 2008 Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai,” January 21, 2022
#46 - “The Urban Warfare Project’s Christmas Wish List, 2021 Edition,” December 24, 2021
#45 - “The Mothers’ Bus Attack and the Yamam,” December 10, 2021
#44 - “The US Army’s First Urban Warfare Planner,” October 29, 2021
#43 - “The Man in The Tank Wins: IDF Armor, Part 2,” October 15, 2021
#42 - “The Man in The Tank Wins: IDF Armor, Part 1,” October 1, 2021
#41 - “Discovering Jerusalem’s Hidden Urban Warfare Lessons,” September 3, 2021
#40 - “Book Talk: Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century,” September 17, 2021
#39 - “Deep Futures and Urban Warfare,” July 23, 2021
#38 - “Urban Breaching,” July 9, 2021
#37 - “Policing a Major City,” June 25, 2021
#36 - “Rebuilding Fallujah,” June 11, 2021
#35 - “Underground Warfare in Israel and Gaza,” May 28, 2021
#34 - “Italian Stalingrad: The Battle of Ortona,” May 14, 2021
#33 - “Civil Affairs and The Second Battle of Fallujah,” April 30, 2021
#32 - “The Army’s Next-Generation Combat Vehicle,” April 16, 2021
#31 - “Urban Warfare at Echelons Above Brigade,” April 2, 2021
#30 - “The Battle of Marawi,” March 5, 2021
#29 - “The Future of Urban Warfare Training,” February 19, 2021
#28 - “Battle of Ramadi, 2006-2007” February 5, 2021
#27 - “Beneath the Streets,” January 22, 2021
#26 - “The Second Battle of Fallujah and the Future of Urban Warfare,” January 8, 2021
#25 - “All I want for Christmas is an urban Warfare capability set,” December 25, 2020
#24 - “Seeing Through Walls,” December 11, 2020
#23 - “Why is Urban Warfare So Challenging,” November 27, 2020
#22 - “Explosive Ordnance Disposal and the City,” November 14, 2020
#21 - “Urban Warfare and Military Ethics,” October 30, 2020
#20 - “Defending the City of Ubungsdorf,” October 16, 2020
#19 - “A Roundtable Discussion with Three Leading Experts on Urban Warfare,” October 2, 2020
#18 - “Russia’s Urban Warfare Tech,” September 18, 2020
#17 - “Smart Cities and the Military,” September 4, 2020
#16 - “Urban Policing 101,” August 21, 2020
#15 - “Multi-Domain Operations at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center,” August 7, 2020
#14 - “Understanding Global Cities,” July 24, 2020
#13 - “Attacking the City of Dara Lam,” July 10, 2020
#12 - “A Talk With The US Army’s Underground Warfare Expert,” June 26, 2020
#11 - “A Senior Enlisted Perspective on Combat in Megacities,” June 12, 2020
#10 - “Attacking the City of Razish,” May 29, 2020
#9 - “Fighting ISIS in the City,” May 15, 2020
#8 - “Is Urban Combat the Great Equalizer,” May 1, 2020
#7 - “Feral Cities, Pandemics, and the Military,” April 17, 2020
#6 - “When War Goes Underground,” April 3, 2020
#5 - “Preparing the Military for the Complexity of Megacities,” March 20, 2020
#4 - “The Battle of Sadr City, March-May 2008,” March 6, 2020
#3 - “Protecting Civilians in Urban Combat,” February 7, 2020
#2 - “Army Doctrine and the Urban Battlefield,” January 1, 2020
#1 -“Out of the Mountains: A talk with Dr. David Kilcullen,” December 13, 2019