What have we learned (2000-2010)?

Over the course of the next several weeks, I will pose several questions for serious response and debate. Here is the first.

At the conclusion of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military spent a decade rebuilding, refitting, and reorganizing itself to face the perceived threat of an interstate conflict with the U.S.S.R. The hardened combat veterans that remained after Vietnam faced significant challenges in manpower, morale, and training. The military transformed itself from one of conscription to an all-volunteer force, BG(R) Huba Wass de Czege designed and developed the concept of AirLand Battle Doctrine to replace “Active Defense,” and future Secretary of State GEN Colin Powell adopted the Powell Doctrine. While some Army Officers on the fringes argued against such a narrow focus to war and warfare, events seemed to coalesce with the fall of the Soviet Union and the limited offensive of Operation Desert Storm.

Operation Desert Storm proved to be a beginning, not an end, to the types of engagements we see today. Much has changed in the last decade. This question is broad, deep and wide, but it is specific to the military,

What have we learned?


-Mike