tactics and strategy - the difference

I've been asked by my friend to translate Polish version of this post to English.
Polish version still can be read here.


 What is the difference between tactics and strategy? 


Again drawing on my notes that I've made myself while reading the forum taktyka.net
I recommend reading the forum. Especially I like to read such people as Barbarossa@, Jakub and Bartek. Thank you, gentlemens (and perhaps the ladies, nevertheless these are online pseudonyms).


The division is really simple:
strategy: We define the goal.
tactics: We make everything to achieve it.
The rest is just a matter of scale and amount of people that commander have under his command.



And all these would be nice but there are three levels in this set - strategy, operations and tactics.


Going from the bottom:


Tactics
While looking for the definition of tactics once I have found a very simple one - "this is the way of using the force" (author, already mentioned Barbarossa@).


Operational Art
I've always had a big problem with a good and simple definition of this. I would tempted by the following: "to coordinate the use of force in pursuit to achieve the goal."


Strategy
It is a setting of the goal from a distant perspective, and an achievement of which can be reach through a series of operations.


The MDMP (military decision making process) or the NATO decision-making process is referred to as the process of defining the two points. Point A, the state in which we are, and point B, the state in which we want to be. The operational art is then the way of coming from one point to another. Tactics are the steps in this process.


We have to distinguish differences between tactics, operational art and strategy from tactical, operational and strategic levels of command. Tactics is determining a ways of fighting, strategy a way of reaching objectives. However, the military people are attaching these concepts to the levels of command. And so up to the battalion level it will be a tactic. At brigade, division and sometimes corpse it will be operational art. Finally at the level of the army or front it will be strategy. Generally at every level  applies the same rules, only the scale is different. 


The distinction between tactics, operational art and strategy comes from the beginning of the twentieth century. In the ongoing conflicts there were other tasks for the battalions, brigades and divisions than today. Generally, the lowest ranks that were capable of conducting independent operations were regiments or brigades. Currently, the progressive evolution in the organization of subunits have made the battalions structurally self-sufficient. The range of activities of brigades and divisions have moved from the realm of tactics to operations, and corpses to the operational and strategic levels (e.g. NATO operations in Afghanistan is under command of the corps-level - one day it has been at least the army or front / army group / theater activities).


There is always one level above strategy - policy. ;)