Military Change & Transformation

Learning the Lessons of Lethality: The Army's Cycle of Basic Combat Training, 1918-2019 Dr Conrad C Crane, Dr Michael E Lynch, Shane P. Reilly, Jessica J. Sheets Historical Research Review by US Army War College, Army Heritage and Education Center "This study analyzes the initial entry training programs for Army inductees for the last 100 years, to identify the patterns that have shaped that training. Technology has changed over the years, and training has adapted, but technological change has been a less important factor than the oscillation between wartime and peacetime methodologies. Changes in technology have not changed the core functions in which the Army trains its new Soldiers: lethality and survivability. The unvarying trend for the last century shows an increase in lethality and survivability skills after the nation enters combat, often learning harsh lessons. As soon as the conflict ends, however, the training emphasis reflexively moves back toward garrison-type activities..."

A History of the Army's Future: 1990-2018 v 2.0 Dr Conrad C Crane, Dr Michael E Lynch, Shane P. Reilly Historical Research Review by US Army War College, Army Heritage and Education Center "The establishment of Army Futures Command (AFC) in August 2018 was the most significant change to the Institutional Army in a generation, and it signaled the value the Army placed on studying the future. While the establishment of a new four star headquarters might be seen as a bold move, it was in reality the culmination of 30 years of future development in the Army. Those three decades saw the development of numerous structures designed to examine the potential for future concepts and technology, with uneven success. The processes were good, but technological overreach, and over 20 years of war in the Middle East, doomed most efforts to put useful concepts into practice..."

“Come As You Are” War: U.S. Readiness for the Korean Conflict Dr Conrad C Crane, Dr Michael E Lynch, Shane P. Reilly, Jessica J. Sheets Historical Research Review by US Army War College, Army Heritage and Education Center "Task Force Smith at the beginning of the Korean War has often been used as a metaphor for military unreadiness. While the story of that first US action of the war provides a timeless cautionary tale for commanders, the story of unreadiness for war in June 1950 went much further than the tactical failures of one infantry battalion. The lack of readiness was caused by a very disruptive interwar period that saw drastic and often chaotic changes to Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership, Personnel, Facilities and Policy (DOTMLPF-P)."

Maintaining Information Dominance in Complex Environments Dr John A S. Ardis, Dr Shima D Keene Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The U.S. Army is committed to a high state of resilience and readiness. The problem is that for complex environments, the U.S. Army cannot afford simply to be very effective in a known set of circumstances and unprepared for others, and neither can it afford to be no more than moderately capable in the broadest possible range of circumstances. The U.S. Army has to be effective across the board, and that places extraordinary demands on its Soldiers during all phases of preparation for and engagement in conflict."

Leading Change in Military Organizations: Primer for Senior Leaders Dr Thomas P. Galvin Publication by the US Army War College, Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, School of Strategic Landpower, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute "Making change happen is a popular topic among U.S. Army War College students and with good reason. There are endless problems to fix, procedures to improve, new ideas to introduce, and an ever-growing and evolving array of state and non-state actors chomping at the bit to challenge the U.S. Furthermore, systems and processes in use by the military rarely seem to bring about change at the desired speed."

Key Strategic Issues List 2018-2020 Document by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "As our National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy acknowledge, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and radical violent extremist organizations pose extant and potential challenges to U.S. national security. Those challenges exist within an extraordinarily complex global security environment characterized by dynamic changes in technology and its application, profound demographic shifts, economic redistribution and distortion, and geostrategic power realignments of historic proportions. These ever-intensifying conditions produce increasing uncertainty concerning the prospects for world peace, stability, and prosperity. Some strategists opine that the potential for great power interstate conflict is higher now than at any time since the end of the Cold War."

Strategic Insights: Revolutionary Change Is Coming to Strategic Leadership Dr Steven Metz Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press

Futures Seminar 2017 - The United States Army in 2035 and Beyond Samuel R. White, Jr. Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "In 2035-2050 the battlespace will be elongated and deepened - and hyper-connected. Engagements will occur at home station military bases through ports of debarkation to tactical assembly areas all the way to the adversary's motor pool. From space to the ocean floor; from military to non-military; from governmental to non-governmental; from state to non-state; from physical to virtual. The operational area will be wherever effects are generated - and the array of stimuli that will generate effects is staggering. The interconnected and global nature of everything will produce physical and virtual effects that have tremendous range, saturation and immediacy - along with daunting complexity and stealth."

2017-18 Key Strategic Issues List COL Todd E. Key Document by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Today's global security environment remains volatile, uncertain, and complex. Resurgent, revanchist, and unstable states, and radical terrorist organizations continue to challenge the international order, undermine peace and stability, and threaten U.S. interests. In the face of this, the United States Army remains America's combat force of decision. If the political leaders of the United States decide to deploy its Army, the Nation's opponents know they will be defeated. This certainty is the foundation of America's deterrent capability."