Call for Professional Reading Lists

[davidbfpo]

The brilliant 'Traffiking and Terrorist Networks, Government Bureaucracies, and Competitive Adaptation' by Michael Kenney. Published by The Pennsylvannia State University Press 2007 (ISBN 0=27102931-5). Best chapters are on how "narcs" and terrorists learn. For this reading list I expect the process of adaptation is more valuable.

Three reviewers cited on publishers website: http://www.psupress.org/books/titles...1-02931-3.html

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B001RTST4C

Note available in e-form (Kindle), paperback and hardback.

davidbfpo

[Starbuck]

As the Army's senior leadership is walking the fields of Gettysburg, and learning from the past, I'd like to suggest "Rethinking Military History" by Jaremy Black.

Robert Haddick brought up a great point the other day regarding staff rides at Gettysburg: we often have difficulty conveying a relevant message to modern audiences. The tactics at Gettysburg were designed for a 1-2GW environment, and are often not relevant for the tactical leader. We also spend a lot more time discussing the nuances of Civil War Cavalry belt buckles than the strategic issues involved in the war.

But we in the military love our history--and rightfully so, make no mistake. The problem is taking away the right lessons from history. For example, walk down the halls of many headquarters buildings (particularly Cav units), and you will see that a number paintings of the US Cavalry in action on horseback in the American West. Yet, should we really be glorifying their approach to counterinsurgency as practiced in the West in light of counterinsurgency experience in Iraq or Afghanistan?

This book gets us to challenge the way we read our history and breaks down a number of paradigms. For example, the American-centric bias in our own history. We focus a lot on our own military history (for good reason, don't get me wrong), but we also need to know our enemies as well. There is also much we can learn from Eastern militaries.

The book also talks about the fascination with technology in military history (just look at the history channel's fascination with the technical aspects of fighter planes).

Finally, we often read about major state-on-state wars, but until recently, there haven't been many books about counterinsurgencies. Partly this is because the narrative of a battle reads well in a book and plays well in a movie--there are good guys, bad guys, a climax, plot, etc. Counterinsurgency doesn't sell well because it is slow, tedious, and filled with well digging, leader engagements and the like. But these are the types of missions armies have performed for millennia, and we should know these missions as well.

Granted, there are a few chapters in the book that are great, and some that aren't that interesting. I wouldn't recommend it for a CSA reading list, but it gives some great insights into the reading of history--appropriate since our leaders are walking the fields of Gettysburg and seem to be trying to take away the right lessons.

[CitadelSix]

Once a Warrior King: Memories of an Officer in Vietnam by David Donovan.

A very insightful book on the dynamics of small unit leadership, especially in the context of a small advisory unit that is isolated from main body U.S. forces. I found the anecdotes on cultural understanding and engagement very helpful as I prepared for my MiTT mission a couple of years ago. While the advisory mission has changed somewhat in the last year, the ideas on building and nuturing relationships with your counterpart without "going native" are still worth a read.

[Umar Al-Mokhtār]

For the Common Defense by Allan R. Millett and Peter Maslowski

A concise, yet excellent, overview of American military history from 1607 through Desert Storm.

US Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1860-1941

and

U.S. Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1942-1976.

Both by Andrew J. Birtle

How “big” Army has dealt with the many small wars it has fought since the Civil War and how the soldiers involved not only fought but often found themselves in roles as governors, constables, judges, diplomats, explorers, colonizers, educators, administrators, engineers, and more. Birtle basically points out that while the Army continually devotes most of its planning and training to “big” war it has actually spent most of its time involved in “small” wars.

[Steve Blair]

If you want to look at the issues faced by the Army both before and after the Civil War, Robert Utley's books "Frontiersmen in Blue" and "Frontier Regulars" should be at the top of the list. Both will help put some of those cavalry paintings in context...something that is sorely lacking from most discussions about the period.

Utley's books show both the organizational challenges the army faced during the major Indian Wars, as well as the governmental issues (relations with the Indian Bureau, competing goals and objectives for field operations, and a host of problems with personalities and institutions both inside and outside the Army) they confronted on a regular basis. And contrary to what one might think, some of these challenges seem almost familiar when placed against contemporary operations.

[Umar Al-Mokhtār]

I would posit that almost anything authored or coauthored by Utley should be read.

[Steve Blair]

I would posit that almost anything authored or coauthored by Utley should be read.

Quite. But I was trying to keep it simple....