New and innovative ideas have proven to be instrumental in lifelong learning but there is a great deal to be learned from the study of military history. Today’s military encourages and requires a new way of doing business. Commanders at all levels offer civilian employees incentives for creative ideas to solving problems and encourage service members to “think outside of the box”; business as usual is not the ‘group think’ anymore. But as spoken in the words of General Douglas MacArthur, “…But research does bring to light those fundamental principles and their combinations and applications, which in the past, have been productive of success. These principles have not limitation of time. Consequently the army extends its analytical interest to the dust buried accounts of war long past as well as to those still reeking with the scent of battle.” It is important, if not imperative to be reminded of how our society evolved; if not for the general public, then certainly for the military professional. The study of change in warfare is beneficial to a military professional’s career because of the numerous lessons to be learned in innovation, tenacity and warfare analysis.
When you think about the word ‘innovation’ in the context of history, it could be considered an oxymoron – new ideas born centuries ago that persuade the way we operate today. When reflecting on history, innovation might be defined as a survival technique; a method of self-preservation with high risks for failure looming in the background. History shares several examples of innovation that in some instances produce total shifts in paradigms. “Modern strategic organizations” employed by Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France, during the French Revolution wer...
... middle of paper ...
...SC, June 2009.
Lynn, John A. “Nations in Army, 1763-1815,” In The Cambridge History of Warfare, ed. Geoffrey Parker, 209. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Joint Military Operations Historical Collection. Operation CHROMITE (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 15 July 1997), Chapter II, II-1 through II-15. excerpt reprinted in US Army Command and General Staff College, C500 Book of Readings, 345. Fort Leavenworth, KS: USACGSC, June 2009.
Paret, Peter. “Clausewitz,” in Makers of Modern Strategy: from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age. Edited by Peter Paret, 86. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986.
Rogers, Clifford J. “As if a new sun had arisen”: England’s fourteenth-century RMA,” in The Dynamics of Military Revolution 1300-2050, ed. MacGregor Knox and Williamson Murray, 19. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
The Army’s history includes many unique global events such as World War I and II, the Vietnam War, the Korean conflict and most recently operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. An in depth study of these historical events is beyond the scope of this paper however, the origin of the Army is relevant in discussing the Army’s overall culture.
Stewart R. W. (2005). American Military History (Vol. 1). The United States Army and the
Weigley, Russel F. History of the United States Army. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1st Edition, 1984.
Brown, Jerold E. Historical Dictionary Of The U.S. Army. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2001. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 29 Jan. 2014.
Cameron, R. S. (2003). The army vision: The 4th AD in world war II. Military Review, 83(6), 59-68
Bertrand Russell’s essay’s points about the reception of innovated ideas by the general public are highlighted in the play Julius Caesar. Indeed, the whole play was about an innovator who paid the ultimate price, death, for expressing his innovative idea. The human race will develop into a more understanding society, once we can realize that the only way to advance the human condition is to innovate upon old innovations.
Rather he focuses on the logistics of warfare through the innovations in gunfire, cannon manufacturing and operation, and defensive warfare. Moreover, Parker does not attempt to use his position and research to criticise other scholars position on the military revolution. He simply agrees with Michael Roberts definition and attempts to contribute his principles of innovation as a means to strengthen Roberts
The GI Offensive in Europe by Peter Mansoor is a fresh examination of the United States’ infantry divisions who served in the European Theatre of Operations during WWII. Mansoor’s approach is aggressive and direct as he challenges the time honored and accepted assertions of S.L.A. Marshall, Martin Van Crevald, Russell Weighley and Trevor Dupuy in that the Allies were victorious merely because of the overwhelmingly vast amount of materials thrust at the Germans by soldiers of inferior training. While his writing is geared towards those with at least basic military knowledge, it is still engaging to the average lay person. He provides a new conclusion on how and why the American combat forces were successful in defeating the Germans in Europe. He accomplishes this through extensive self conducted research backed by his own personal experiences as a military commander.
Preston, Richard A., Alex Roland, and Sydney F. Wise. Men In Arms: A History of Warfare and its interrelationships
Warfare was in a state of transition. Older commanders and generals in the French and British militaries were very cavalry and infantry focused. These commanders believed that cavalry, infantry, and artillery would assure victory in any circumstance, against any foe. They clung to the static tactics of the bygone World War I era. World War I had been fought primarily on French soil, and the military as well as the government never wanted that to happen again, therefore they wanted to reinforce their main border against any future German. Little did they know that only twenty two years later they would be bested by German forces in a way that would shock the world. This research will be analyzing many important assumptions, oversights,...
Science fiction never ceases to amaze me as I take great enjoyment in exploring these creative universes. I have always had a great interest in military science fiction for its take on technological innovation and critical analysis. Military science fiction in general is very speculative about future of technology and warfare. The military science fiction genre also serves as a critique of contemporary politics as it deals with many of the same issues that go on today. This has made military science fiction one if the most well respected genres of science fiction for it ability to indirectly criticize modern society. My Integrated Project explores the relationship between how technology that has arisen from war has been some of the most innovative and why war has become an unshakeable aspect of human existence.
Technology changes every day, sometimes the events in our life shape what new technology we use. You would have to be living in a hole not know that we are in conflict with Iraq, and this event has changed digital warfare.
Hoffman, Jon T. A History of Innovation: U.S. Army Adaptation in War and Peace. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 2009. U.S. Army Center of Military History. Web.
Samuel B. Griffith’s translation of “Sun Tzu: The Art of War” is an inside look at military practices of today. I did not find one technique that is not or would not be utilized in modern military maneuver, leadership, or training. The most astounding fact is that the Art of War was written well over two thousand years ago, even at the most conservative date. Although most of the techniques in this text are already in practice today, the value of “The Art of War” is a never-ending treasure chest of knowledge, and it deserves a place as a required reading for anyone seeking knowledge about war fighting or the history of war.
War has fascinated the minds of the greats throughout history. Its concepts and understandings have been passed on to us through the few surviving works of those, whose lives were touched by war, in an ancient archive. Some saw war as an ordinary, inevitable phenomenon that has a place among natural order of human lives (Jacob Walter), while others interpreted it as devastating and terrible deviation from the natural order of things (W.T. Sherman). Over the course of our archival readings we have learned of war through the records from the Trojans in their leather sandals (Hector), the horsemen of Sherman’s brigades, the WWI soldiers with their new gas shells and machine guns, and eventually through the eyes of the jungle and desert warriors with their booby traps and air strikes. While ways and methods of war have changed with the course of time, people never seemed to have loosened their grip on war as they continued to rise to the call to arms and go to battle to kill and to die. This is a crucial observation as it allows us to reason that, perhaps, war is an important part of human existence. People eat, sleep, make love, and make war.