The following material might be helpful to the forum in further discussions, or as a prompt for further discussions:
Tactics:
From Military Dictionary Comprising Terms, Scientific and Otherwise, Connected with the Science of War by GE Voyle:
‘All movements of an army executed in presence of or near an enemy; maneuvers carried out on the battlefield. Under tactics are included different orders of battle, positions, attacks, pursuit, retreat…’-420
‘The tactics of a soldier are the correct performance of military movements; those of an officer, to know how to direct their execution, and those of a general, to combine them in such a manner as to ensure success.’-Colonel Burne, from his Military Dictionary.
From A Military Dictionary, or Explanation of the Several Systems of Discipline of Different Kinds of Troops, Infantry, Artillery, and Cavarly by William Duane:
‘A word derived from the Greek, signifying order. Tactics consist of a knowledge of order, disposition, and formation, according to the exigency of circumstances in warlike operations. These dispositions are severally made, or one disposition follows another by means of maneuvers and evolutions.’
‘Tactics may be comprehended under order and disposition: an evolution is the movement which is made by one corps among a larger number of corps, and eventually leads to order. Maneuvers consist of the various evolutions which several corps of a line pursue to accomplish the same object. The higher branches of tactics, or la grande tactique, should be thoroughly understood by all general officers; it is sufficient for inferior officers and soldiers to be acquainted with evolutions.’-672-673.
Strategy:
From Voyle, 411:
‘All movements which are not within the reach or view of the enemy belong to strategy. It embraces, as well, all arrangements of war prior to tactical operations; hence the organization, administration, mobilization, and all the complicated machinery of an army on a war footing come under this head. Strategical skill consists in unity of purpose and of action, in simplicity of design and vigor of execution, and in bringing large concentrated masses into action at the decisive point.’-411.
From Clausewitz:
‘Tactics is the art of using troops in battle; strategy is the art of using battles to win the war.’
From Definitions and Doctrine of the Military Art by John Alger, pages 5-6:
Tactics:
‘Tactics is the planning, training, and control of the ordered arrangements (formations) used by military organizations when engagement between opposing forces is imminent or underway. The word tactics is derived from the Greek taktos, which means ordered or arranged. In effect, tactics…is the art of fighting battles. In the nineteenth century, the term was further refined by adding the adjectives ‘grand’ and ‘minor.’ While neither refinement is any longer used, grand tactics was the tactics of large organizations, and minor tactics was the tactics of small organizations or of organizations consisting entirely of one arm (infantry, cavalry, or artillery.’
The Operational Level of War:
‘The operational level of war…is defined as the activity concerned with using available military resources to attain strategic ends in a theater of war. As the link between tactics and strategy, it governs the manner in which operations are designed to meet strategic ends and the way in which campaigns are conducted.’
Strategy:
‘The term is derived from the Greek strategos, which is the art or skill of the general.’ It is also defined as ‘the planning for, coordination of, and concerted use of the multiple means and resources available to an alliance, a nation, a political group, or a commander, for the purpose of gaining an advantage over a rival. Strategy allows the achievement of adopted goals in war or peace, and if it is to be successful, those goals must be clearly defined and attainable. However, because conditions in war and peace are constantly changing, strategy must be modified as it is being executed, and at times even the goals of strategy must be altered.'
'Although tactics, strategy, and the operational level of war are not clearly separable activities, distinctions between their characteristics can be made. Tactics (the planning, training, and control of ordered arrangements of troops just before and during battle) is the primary concern of battalion, company, and platoon officers, because they immediately control the dispositions of the fighting forces. Strategy (the planning and concerting of various means and resources available to gain an advantage over a rival) lies primarily within the province of national leaders and commanders of divisions, corps, and armies, because they control the multitude of available means and resources. The operational level encompasses the planning of campaigns within a given theater of operations.'
“Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast”. Peter Drucker