Military Totemism and its Impact on Small Wars

[Tom Odom]

Hollywood goes to war: Fad, Fashion and the Star system in today's American Elite Units

Abstract: Strating in the 1920's, Hollwood produced a system of role-emulation. "the Star system", that was designed to draw in movie goers. This social system has since exapted out from Hollywood and has become a staple in American culture. One example of this, is the increasing prevalence of imitation of Elite military units - the "stars" of the military. From "the Green Berets" of the 1960s to "THe Unit" of today, the star system has had a profound effect on how the military is viewed.

Something like that? Actually, it's a really neat idea which has, to my mind, some interesting effects. For one thing, the focusing on "Elite" units comes at the expense of "non-Elite" units. I'm thinking here about the concept of "pride" which goes back to our discussions on regimental heritage. Another corollary is that the Star system has had a nasty tendancy to produce an amost superhero-esque set of expectations, which is antithetical to the sense of "dutiful individualism" that used to be a hallmark of both the US and all Anglo-derived cultures.

There are also some other interesting spin-offs. For example, there is a time expectation inherent such that the "stars" should be able to do the impossible in a couple of days. Another spin-off is in the almost knee jerk reaction to new problems - let's create a "new" elite unit to handle this particular problem (didn't the Nazi's do that in WWII?).

At any rate, that could be a really interesting paper.



<wry grin>. Jane's would probbaly be your best source, at least for something that might approach an objective standard. At the same time, however, it would also be useful to take a look at the costs. After all, if I can get 5 T72's for the price of 1 M1A and I'm using them mainly against people armed with AKs, what the frak? The T72's will certainly do the job.

Marc

Look at Roger Beaumont's book on Military Elites for ideas

See this CSI report as a start: http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resour...r_4/csir_4.asp


Best

Tom

[marct]

Look at Roger Beaumont's book on Military Elites for ideas

See this CSI report as a start: http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resour...r_4/csir_4.asp


Best

Tom

Thanks, Tom. The CSI report is an interesting vignete and it certainly fits into both the star system and the (much) older stratified warrior system.

Marc