The Army after Next: The First Postindustrial Army (Stanford Studies in Jewish History & Culture

by Thomas Adams

Sure to be found controversial by some, compelling by all, this is the only available book-length examination of the way the U.S. Army and Department of Defense have tried to create the capabilities promised by the high-tech Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA). Of more immediate concern, it is also the only in-depth account of the effect RMA and transformation concepts had on the American operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many of the problems in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Adams argues, arose from the DoD's implacable desire to implement RMA-driven transformation concepts-whether they were appropriate or not. What we need to do, he maintains, is to fight the war we have, not the war we want. Over the last several decades, military theorists and others began to believe that new technologies were generating a "revolution in military affairs" (RMA), capabilities so revolutionary that they would redefine warfare. Spurred by these beliefs, and led by President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Department of Defense (DoD) set out to transform the U.S. 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. This vision, however, was totally dependent on a set of unproven suppositions and often nonexistent capabilities, especially a network of information technologies. Moreover, the services, the media, Congress, and industry each had its own agenda, all of which continue to come into play in the development of RMA strategies. The interplay of politics, technology and military reality offers a fascinating narrative.

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 3, 2008

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating read, funny how we repeat ourselves as we go through the same issues today, from the "ilities" to the need for faster deployment times (that in reality are not necessary). Good accounts of the Stryker debacle and other assumptions that should never be made that we somehow make today...if you work in the institutional Army, you should read this book

[Philip Chaston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history of the contemporary US Army and the pitfalls of technological optimism.