The Army After Next: The First Postindustrial Army (Praeger Security International) - Hardcover

Adams, Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 027598107X ISBN 13: 9780275981075

Publisher: Praeger, 2006

Synopsis

This book recounts the successes and failures of the US Army's Army Transformation program in the larger context of the Department of Defense's overall military transformation effort.

About this title

Review:

"Security consultant Adams attempts to analyze the revolution in military affairs (RMA) that began in the 1990s and how it impacted US forces in combat in the global war on terror. The author contends that the Department of Defense believed that RMAs, consisting primarily of technological innovations, could transform the US armed forces and thereby reduce conventional forces. He asserts that the former combined with new doctrine and organization could be employed to shock and stun an adversary with precision air power in such a way that its will and capability were shattered without the need for largescale ground combat. But as these superbly written 11 chapters illustrate, despite new and improved push-button warfare hardware, tactics, and doctrine, the global war on terror has proven that in the end infantry and heavy armor are the only existing ways to seize and hold ground against determined opposition. Highly recommended. All academic levels/libraries." - Choice

"[T]he Army after Next is spot on and Tom Adams is something of a prophet....[a] well-documented, well-reasoned, and well-written piece of work by a highly experienced practitioner. This book should be mandatory reading for citizens as well as decision-policy-and opinion makers. At base, The Army after Next deals with the issue of security--our security. Too few of us have paid much attention. Pay attention now." - Parameters

"In recent years, many military theorists became convinced that new information technologies were generating a revolution in military affairs (RMA). In response, the Department of Defense undertook to transform the U.S. Armed Forces by adopting RMA concepts. In this study, national security consultant Adams critically examines the U.S. Army's attempts to make this hypothetical revolution a reality. Particular attention is paid to the effects of RMA concepts on American operations in Afghanistan and Iraq." - Reference & Research Book News

Synopsis:

During the later part of the 20th century, military theorists and others began to believe that new technologies were generating a "revolution in military affairs" (RMA), providing capabilities so revolutionary that they would redefine warfare. Led by President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. Department of Defense set out to transform the US armed forces by adopting RMA concepts and spending billions to make the hypothetical capabilities real. The entire structure of the armed forces changed as a result; however, this vision is totally dependent on a set of unproven and often non-existent capabilities, especially a network of information technologies. Without these developments, the result is a set of small, less capable battle platforms. This is the only book-length examination of the way that the US Army and the Defense Department have tried to create in reality the revolutionary capabilities promised by the high-tech Revolution in Military Affairs. It is the only in-depth account of the effect that RMA and transformation concepts had on the American operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The author argues that the U.S. needs to fight the war it has, not the war it wants.

Many of the problems in both Iraq and Afghanistan arose from the Department of Defense's implacable desire to implement RMA-driven transformation concepts whether they were appropriate or not.

About this edition

• Publisher: Praeger
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 027598107X
• ISBN 13: 9780275981075
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 338