America’s Greatest Weapon

America’s Greatest Weapon by Maj Gen Charles J. Dunlap, Jr., USAF and Lt Col John Nagl, USA; Small Wars Journal Blog.

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Where would one find the U.S.’s greatest weapon? Try traveling to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the home of the Army’s War College.

You will enjoy the trip. The College’s stunningly beautiful campus hosts historic buildings that reflect the service’s proud warfighting history in a dignified yet refreshingly unapologetic manner. Just being there makes you stand straighter and – importantly – think clearer about serious subjects.

Clear thinking about serious subjects is what marked the Army’s XIX Strategy Conference convened there in early April. The premier convocation of its type, the meeting displayed an often misunderstood aspect of how the U.S. military improves itself: by welcoming critiques from the widest variety of sources, and encouraging opposing ideas to collide with great force.

The ability to think, learn, and adapt is what makes America’s military the finest in the world. Though it does not use these words, the Army exploits conferences like that at Carlisle to, in effect, tap into a concept from the Nation’s powerful engine of change, its free enterprise system...

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There is nothing all that unique about Army's undertaking conferences (of any shape or form) or critical self review. Almost all 'modern' and 'western style' defence forces do something similar. Some of them occasionally even do it in places just as scenic and picturesque in their own nations as Carlisle is in the USA. The assertion that the US has the 'worlds finest' because they are uniquely self aware , self critical and adaptive is difficult to justify. Indeed, throughout much of John's book he implies that for a lot of the time during the Vietnam war the US was anything but institutionally self aware and self critical. Yet the record shows that at the same time similar claims to 'greatness' were being made.

Perhaps the claim to 'worlds greatest' has a bit more to do with other things that are indeed truly unique to this period of American hegemony . Such the size of the US economy and the massive spending it allows on the US defense budget (of an order that is magnitudes greater - in both quantum and % of GDP, than the next closest defence spender). Now that is unique.

The US' greatest weapon is its wealth. All else - economic, political, social and military might follows.

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Originally Posted by Mark O'Neill

There is nothing all that unique about Army's undertaking conferences (of any shape or form) or critical self review. Almost all 'modern' and 'western style' defence forces do something similar. Some of them occasionally even do it in places just as scenic and picturesque in their own nations as Carlisle is in the USA. The assertion that the US has the 'worlds finest' because they are uniquely self aware , self critical and adaptive is difficult to justify. Indeed, throughout much of John's book he implies that for a lot of the time during the Vietnam war the US was anything but institutionally self aware and self critical. Yet the record shows that at the same time similar claims to 'greatness' were being made.

Perhaps the claim to 'worlds greatest' has a bit more to do with other things that are indeed truly unique to this period of American hegemony . Such the size of the US economy and the massive spending it allows on the US defense budget (of an order that is magnitudes greater - in both quantum and % of GDP, than the next closest defence spender). Now that is unique.

The US' greatest weapon is its wealth. All else - economic, political, social and military might follows.

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I don't think Nagl and Dunlap implied that self criticism was unique to the U.S. military. Of course you're right that there is no single point explanation, but that power is a result of both extensive resources and methods to maximize effectiveness in their application.

In fact, I had an entirely different take on the issue. I saw it within the context of comparing the services within the U.S. military rather than comparing the U.S. military to others. Having worked for the U.S. military for more than 20 years, my impression is that the Army is the most self critical. That ranges from the inculcation of the AAR process (especially things like the brutal ones at NTC) to the fact that the Army actually pays the Strategic Studies Institute to sometimes tell it that it's wrong.

Ironically, though, the Army seems incapable of integrating its rating system with the slightest modicum of honesty, much less brutal frankness. I thought the first OER I ever wrote was very flattering. My boss looked at it and told me that if I submitted it, I'd get the officer kicked out of the Army. I quickly learned that it was mandatory to write things like "This LTC has single handedly altered the course of history. Must be promoted immediately to Intergalatic Grand Field Marshall and given command of a multiplanet battle fleet."

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Originally Posted by Mark O'Neill

...Perhaps the claim to 'worlds greatest' has a bit more to do with other things that are indeed truly unique to this period of American hegemony ... Now that is unique.

The US' greatest weapon is its wealth. All else - economic, political, social and military might follows.

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All true but you left off one other thing that makes us unique; egos -- you forgot our massive egos that continually foul up things because we love to think only we have all the right answers.

Which is scary because we often don't even ask the right questions. :mad:

god only knows that I have seen plenty of egos on display during my current 'working holiday', I just was conscious of not wanting to come across as being too curmudgeonly.

I have been continually disappointed over the last six months by the sheer number of people who I have met, on one of our courses or in the field, who lack even the merest element of humilty in their approach to the fight and their knowledge of it. Whilst we do not need or want shrinking violets as military leaders, especially in combat, there is a fair distance between that and outright hubris.

If I received a dollar for everyone I have met over here who:

1) knows 'everything' because he has been here before;
2) has a preconceived plan to deal with the COIN situation in his putative AO, no matter what the predecessor unit has said to him from their hard earnt experience;
3) 'knows' the 'limitations' of the ISF and accordingly treats them much like a senile uncle at the annual extended family gathering; and
4) doesn't need to read FM3-24 (and hence, hasn't) because 'he is to busy getting ready to win' (on his tour of course...);

then I would nearly have enough $ to fly to DC from Australia for the next SWJ get together and shout several rounds.

Now, thankfully, I have met as many great American leaders / soldiers who 'get it' as I have the ego ridden little men that I have described. These are the guys who are winning the fight and carrying the rest of them, and the force, on both their backs and intellects.

As the old saying goes, 'Quantity has a Quality of its own'. Perhaps this is also a contributing factor to the US 'greatness' being discussed- it is perhaps inevitable that the US will have a large number of smart guys to counteract the egoists and dunderklumpen.

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Originally Posted by Mark O'Neill

...then I would nearly have enough $ to fly to DC from Australia for the next SWJ get together and shout several rounds.

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I'd even fly up for that. :D

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Now, thankfully, I have met as many great American leaders / soldiers who 'get it' as I have the ego ridden little men that I have described. These are the guys who are winning the fight and carrying the rest of them, and the force, on both their backs and intellects.

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Been there, done that -- as they say. That's long been true. Wasn't it Bertrand Russell who said "20% of the people do 80% of the work" or words to that effect -- whoever said it had to close to right for total comfort.

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As the old saying goes, 'Quantity has a Quality of its own'. Perhaps this is also a contributing factor to the US 'greatness' being discussed- it is perhaps inevitable that the US will have a large number of smart guys to counteract the egoists and dunderklumpen.

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True, they generally are not only effective but they're usually quiet. Fortunately, there are more of them than one realizes due to the blatant foolishness of the egoists and the bland incomprehension of the dunderklumpen. Those are the good guys and gals that do make it work...