Military Change & Transformation

Building for the Future: China's Progress in Space Technology during the Tenth 5-Year Plan and the U.S. Response Mr Kevin Pollpeter Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "China’s space program has achieved spectacular success in recent years. Since 2003 China has launched two human space flight missions, destroyed a satellite with a direct ascent anti-satellite weapon, and launched a moon orbiter. In this monograph, Mr. Kevin Pollpeter assesses China’s rise as a space power and its implications for the United States. He argues that China’s use of space power is part of an integrated approach to increasing its comprehensive national power and achieving great power status. As a result, China’s increasing space power challenges the United States militarily, economically, commercially, and politically."

China's Expansion into and U.S. Withdrawal from Argentina's Telecommunications and Space Industries and the Implications for U.S. National Security Ms Janie Hulse Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The U.S. Government is waking up to China’s growing presence in Latin America. For the last several years as U.S. policymakers’ attention and resources, largely diverted from Latin America, have been focused on the Middle East, China has pursued a policy of economic engagement with the region. Sino-Latin American trade has sky-rocketed, and Chinese investment in the region is picking up. In this monograph, Ms. Janie Hulse, a Latin American specialist based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, argues that increased Chinese investment in regional telecommunications and space industries has implications for U.S. national security. She believes that globalization, advances in information technology and China’s growing capacity and interest in information warfare make the United States particularly vulnerable. Ms. Hulse details China’s expansion into and U.S. withdrawal from these intelligence-related industries in Argentina and highlights associated risks for the United States. The author calls for the U.S. Government to react to this current trend by increasing its engagement in regional strategic industries and bettering relationships with its southern neighbors."

Challenging Transformation's Clichés Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Much of the dialogue concerning military transformation in the United States employs a number of popular, but hitherto unchallenged clichés. Clichés and catchwords are merely handy ways of capturing and conveying truths. Unsubstantiated clichés, however, can masquerade as truths and, unless exposed in time, ultimately prove costly and harmful to policy. This monograph examines five of the more popular clichés, or myths, found in transformation literature today. The fact that they continue to gain currency in the dialogue suggests that we need to examine our accepted truths more regularly."

Network Centric Warfare Case Study Volume II: A View of Command, Control, Communications and Computer Architectures at the Dawn of Network Centric Warfare Mr David W Cammons, Mr Kevin J Cogan, CPT Raymond G Delucio Study by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "...The study hypothesis postulates that “improved sensors, connectivity systems, and networked information technologies enhanced the combat effectiveness of U.S. V Corps and its subordinate units during OIF major offensive combat operations.” The results largely validated the study hypothesis. This study argues that the introduction of extended reach communications and networked information technologies significantly enhanced the ability of U.S. Army commanders to make faster decisions, more easily exploit tactical opportunities, conduct coordinated maneuver while advancing further and faster than at any previous time and more fully integrate and synchronize joint fires; all of which resulted in the rapid defeat of Iraqi military forces and the fall of the Ba’athist Regime in Baghdad..."

Network Centric Warfare Case Study Volume III: Network Centric Warfare Insights John B Tisserand III, David Cammons Study by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "During the past decade, U.S. Armed Forces have been in the process of transforming from an industrial age to an information age military. This transformation is still ongoing; however, Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom demonstrate the emerging power and potential of transformation, at least in part, through the power of information-networked forces."

Ukraine After the Orange Revolution: Can It Complete Military Transformation and Join the U.S.-Led War on Terrorism? Dr Deborah Sanders Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Ukraine is located at a pivotal crossroads in Europe between east and west and has the potential to play an important role in combatting terrorism in two ways. First, by consolidating democracy and democratic control over its armed forces, Ukraine can be a stabilizing force in Eurasia. Second, the country can contribute toward the defeat of terrorism by developing niche capabilities, particularly in its peacekeeping forces. Dr. Deborah Sanders, the author of this External Research Associates Program (ERAP) monograph, argues that for Ukraine to be an effective U.S. ally in the war on terror, it must engage in comprehensive military transformation..."

"What If?" -- A Most Impertinent Question Indeed Mr Nathan P Freier Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "We are in an era of persistent, purposeful, and increasingly complex resistance to American primacy. Unfortunately, the strategic discourse necessary to guide us through our current predicament has yet to coalesce around an appropriate logic. Despite 5 years of irregular conflict, military purists in and out of uniform continue their search for clean boundaries between war and peace—boundaries that will again allow them to focus on the most traditional conceptions of “warfighting” at the expense of those concepts and capabilities necessary to our success against the likeliest and most strategically consequential future challenges."

Proteus Insights and the Protean Media Critical Thinking Game COL William L Wimbish III Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "As our Nation continues to deal with the aftermath of 9/11, the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), and subsequent supporting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, it has become harshly apparent that we have entered a new age of complexity. Leaders are going back to the drawing board to rethink how we deal and cope with future challenges spawned by the age of knowledge. Technology has enabled our foes to adapt and attack the fabric of our fundamental values, beliefs and foundations which have made our nation the global power it is today. These new-age threats have and will continue to be aimed at our vulnerabilities and seams. Using idiosyncratic methods and asymmetric techniques, super empowered groups and individuals are able to hide, adapt, and strike quickly, with precision."

CU @ The FOB: How the Forward Operating Base is Changing the Life of Combat Soldiers Dr Stephen J Gerras, Dr Leonard Wong Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This inquiry has been conducted in the midst of increasing questioning by policymakers and scholars concerning the importance and role of alliances and other multilateral arrangements and legal norms affecting the use of force by the United States. Provoked in part by the transatlantic altercations surrounding Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, the questioning is driven by systemic developments—changes in the structure of world politics and changes in the shape of war—of which the Iraq-focused disputes were a symptom."