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Transformation Under Fire: Revolutionizing How America Fights First Edition
Purchase options and add-ons
- ISBN-100275981924
- ISBN-13978-0275981921
- EditionFirst Edition
- PublisherPraeger
- Publication dateSeptember 30, 2003
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions9.66 x 6.14 x 1.11 inches
- Print length320 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Colonel Douglas Macgregor has once again pointed the way towards real transformation and innovation in the army. It is because he brings the combination of a military intellectual and a 'muddy boots' soldier to his work that he is able to see the potential for real change. This is a book for all those who give a damn about America's defense in the 21st century."-Williamson Murray Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University co-author of A War To Be Won, Fighting the Second World War
"Colonel Macgregor is to the Information Age joint military what Billy Mitchell was to airpower and what Liddell Hart, Fuller, DeGaulle and Guderian were to armored warfare. He understands what has to be done, understands the principles for creating a 21st century joint military, and has outlined a practical guide to America's next quarter century of military effectiveness. Every citizen who cares about national security should read this book and every professional who wants to be competent in the information age MUST read this book."-Newt Gingrich Former Speaker of the House of Representatives
"Colonel Macgregor provides anew and vibrant look at the age-old issue of military reform in Transformation Under Fire. His expert use of history and personal combat experience creates a compelling case for landpower's crucial role in joint expeditionary warfare."-Frank Carlucci Former Secretary of Defense, 1987-1989
"Not everyone will agree with every point in this controversial book, but it deserves to be read and engaged seriously by those who lead the armed forces and care about transforming them to be dominant in the future."-Admiral Dennis Blair, U.S. Navy (Ret) former Commander, U.S. Pacific Command
"Peek inside the Pentagon and see the U.S. Army faking transformation, refusing to reform the inside, and betting on unproven technology like Stryker and Future Combat Systems to keep Army troopers relevant. Col. Macgregor loves the Army enough to tell the truth: six ways to meet and beat the threats of the future."-Congressman Jim Cooper, D-Tennessee Member of the House Armed Services Committee
"Thought provoking and insightful, this book is a must read for leaders who care about shaping America's future fighting force. Colonel Macgregor continues to lead the way in shaping thoughtful solutions to transforming the nation's military."-Congressman Mack Thornberry, R-Texas Member of the House Armed Services Committee
?Found a receptive audience in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office....The defense secretary is intrigued by Macgregor's thinking, which he has refined in a new book, Transformation Under Fire: Revolutionizing The Way America Fights, due out in the fall: three to five rapidly deployable battle groups is the kind of force Rumsfeld believes is necessary in the global war on terrorism.?-The Washington Post
?Has delivered another insightful vision in his latest book.... Transformation Under Fire is a must-read for both military professionals and public officials charged with overseeing defense programs. It is likely to figure prominently in ongoing discussions of defense reform. The value of this book lies in its superb analysis of the current geopolitical environment and the author's coupling of this analysis with an informed assessment of the impact of information technology on warfare to support his proposals....Offers a strident critique of recent Army transformation efforts while also providing the reader a comprehensive vision of near-term changes within the department of Defense that could truly enhance our military's ability to conduct joint expeditionary operations....Essential reading for military professionals and for those with oversight of defense programs.?-Army Magazine
?In today's Global War on Terrorism, the Pentagon's senior civilian and military leaders--who should read this book--must be afraid of nothing, not even a new idea.?-Military Heritage
?Macgregor, now stationed at National Defense University, has a knack for skillfully blending historical examples from the past with powerful arguments about the future. The combination is both thoroughly educational and extremely stimulating. This is a serious book worthy of reading by today's field grade officers and civilian policymakers interested in arguments that challenge the status quo. It is also highly recommended for joint combat developers and force planners at U.S. Joint Forces Command....Professionals who want to "think differently" and examine the kinds of forces and capabilities that can meet new challenges and "unexpected circumstances" should start with Transformation Under Fire.?-Marine Corps Gazette
?Macgregor's book is the best tradition of military theorists, whose ideas transformed armies to meet the challenges of WWII: Hans Von Seckt, B. H. Liddell Hart, Charles de Gaulle, and Heinz Guderian. Macgregor presents the first coherent view of how the information age should transform the way we organize for war. The question now remains whether the U.S. Army will heed his calls for true or continue to cede more and more of its missions to the Marine Corps, which has embraced expeditionary warfare. Macgregor takes to task the leadership culture that stifles change; but more importantly, he sketches out a realistic, immediate path to true transformation that will vault the Army out of exile at the Pentagon and back into the forefront of the Nation's fight in the war on terrorism.?-Armor
?The book is scholarly, well researched, cohesive, and technically written in a stimulating manner...Macgregor's book is ideal for reading at the war colleges, for the professional soldier and military planner, and for advanced courses in strategic defense.?-Perspectives on Political Science
?Though widely considered a maverick, Col Macgregor enjoyed influence beyond his rank. Two of his books--Breaking the Phalanx, published in 1997, and the more recent Transformation Under Fire--were considered must-reads within the army, and some of the changes he advocated have been adopted in some form.?-London Financial Times
?Transformation Under Fire offers a strident critique of recent Army transformation efforts while also providing the reader a comprehensive vision of near-term changes within the department of defense that could truly enhance our military's ability to conduct joint expeditionary operations....Essential reading for military professionals and for those with oversight of defense programs.?-Army
"Found a receptive audience in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office....The defense secretary is intrigued by Macgregor's thinking, which he has refined in a new book, Transformation Under Fire: Revolutionizing The Way America Fights, due out in the fall: three to five rapidly deployable battle groups is the kind of force Rumsfeld believes is necessary in the global war on terrorism."-The Washington Post
"In today's Global War on Terrorism, the Pentagon's senior civilian and military leaders--who should read this book--must be afraid of nothing, not even a new idea."-Military Heritage
"Macgregor, now stationed at National Defense University, has a knack for skillfully blending historical examples from the past with powerful arguments about the future. The combination is both thoroughly educational and extremely stimulating. This is a serious book worthy of reading by today's field grade officers and civilian policymakers interested in arguments that challenge the status quo. It is also highly recommended for joint combat developers and force planners at U.S. Joint Forces Command....Professionals who want to "think differently" and examine the kinds of forces and capabilities that can meet new challenges and "unexpected circumstances" should start with Transformation Under Fire."-Marine Corps Gazette
"Macgregor's book is the best tradition of military theorists, whose ideas transformed armies to meet the challenges of WWII: Hans Von Seckt, B. H. Liddell Hart, Charles de Gaulle, and Heinz Guderian. Macgregor presents the first coherent view of how the information age should transform the way we organize for war. The question now remains whether the U.S. Army will heed his calls for true or continue to cede more and more of its missions to the Marine Corps, which has embraced expeditionary warfare. Macgregor takes to task the leadership culture that stifles change; but more importantly, he sketches out a realistic, immediate path to true transformation that will vault the Army out of exile at the Pentagon and back into the forefront of the Nation's fight in the war on terrorism."-Armor
"The book is scholarly, well researched, cohesive, and technically written in a stimulating manner...Macgregor's book is ideal for reading at the war colleges, for the professional soldier and military planner, and for advanced courses in strategic defense."-Perspectives on Political Science
"Though widely considered a maverick, Col Macgregor enjoyed influence beyond his rank. Two of his books--Breaking the Phalanx, published in 1997, and the more recent Transformation Under Fire--were considered must-reads within the army, and some of the changes he advocated have been adopted in some form."-London Financial Times
"Transformation Under Fire offers a strident critique of recent Army transformation efforts while also providing the reader a comprehensive vision of near-term changes within the department of defense that could truly enhance our military's ability to conduct joint expeditionary operations....Essential reading for military professionals and for those with oversight of defense programs."-Army
"Has delivered another insightful vision in his latest book.... Transformation Under Fire is a must-read for both military professionals and public officials charged with overseeing defense programs. It is likely to figure prominently in ongoing discussions of defense reform. The value of this book lies in its superb analysis of the current geopolitical environment and the author's coupling of this analysis with an informed assessment of the impact of information technology on warfare to support his proposals....Offers a strident critique of recent Army transformation efforts while also providing the reader a comprehensive vision of near-term changes within the department of Defense that could truly enhance our military's ability to conduct joint expeditionary operations....Essential reading for military professionals and for those with oversight of defense programs."-Army Magazine
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Praeger; First Edition (September 30, 2003)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0275981924
- ISBN-13 : 978-0275981921
- Item Weight : 0.049 ounces
- Dimensions : 9.66 x 6.14 x 1.11 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #358,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #648 in Military Strategy History (Books)
- #2,526 in American Military History
- #5,400 in Engineering (Books)
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As in his previous book, Macgregor demonstrates his understanding that Command, Control, Computers, Communication, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Systems. C4ISR Systems are information driven and allow battlefield awareness to be pushed to the top of the command structure while allowing decision making to pushed down to the tactical level of a command structure. This is brought about by the fact that functioning C4ISR systems simultaneously provide near real time information (situational awareness) to all levels of a military force.
This availability of information allows force structures to be both more flexible and to execute rapid maneuver warfare using dispersed tactical units. Also Macgregor believes that common or at least inter-operable C4ISR Systems make joint operational commands feasible. He argues that warfare in the 21st Century will require multi-service joint operations using small mission oriented modules of air, ground, and naval units. Again such joint operations are made possible by sharing a common and timely information base.
Perhaps most importantly, Macgregor discusses the cultural change that must take place among the Officer Corps of the U.S. Armed Forces to take advantage of the transformational opportunity offered by information technology, especially the ease with which information can be transmitted and processed. He is especially concerned to break the culture of what he refers to as the garrison mentality which encourages risk aversion, strict adherence to command hierarchies, and discourages initiative and creativity especially by junior officers. The qualities found in wartime combat leadership he feels should replace that of peacetime garrison thinking which now pervades the armed forces.
In the end Macgregor builds a good case for the fact that military transformation is not about new technology, but is cultural and structural change in response to new technologies or new threats to national security.
Most of Macgregor's ideas especially about cultural change have proved too radical for the Army, although the Army is replacing its divisional structures with the smaller, "more agile" brigade group concept. What is surprising is the resistance of all the services to adopting a single compatible C4ISR system that would all for inter-operability and make joint operations a reality. This resistance is caused by parochialism, lack of effective leadership by the Joint Chiefs, and the simple fact that the services don't really want to conduct joint operations.
In Transformation Under Fire: Revolutionizing How America Fights, Colonel Douglas MacGregor examines the Army's failure to transform itself and forge a truly effective force to carry its burden in the war on terror. Instead of delaying transformation, he argues, the war on terror makes structural reform all the more urgent. MacGregor maintains that recent Army attempts at transformation, relying on the Stryker and a distant Future Combat System, fail to address the heart of the Army's problem: its anachronistic and cumbersome organization on the tactical and operational levels. MacGregor, however, spends the majority of his book proposing a solution to the problem: an immediate re-organization of the Army's combat units; and the fielding of currently available technology that will quickly address its tactical and operational needs.
MacGregor's ideas are not new. A Gulf war veteran who fought in the battle of 73 Easting, Colonel MacGregor went on to command 1-4 Cavalry at Ft. Riley. While serving there, he recognized the need to re-structure the Army to meet the post cold war demands. He likened the new world order to the American frontier in the late 1800s, which required not the mass infantry formations of the Civil War, but a flexible, expeditionary force based easily deployable, mounted formations. MacGregor's first book on transformation, Breaking the Phalanx: A New Design for Landpower in the 21st Century, laid out in detail his path to structural reform of the Army, emphasizing truly independent, self-contained Brigade sized units; elimination of the Army Divisions, and the formation of Joint Task Forces (roughly the size of a Corps) which integrate all services under a single command structure. Although his ideas received a lot critical acclaim, they went nowhere with the conservative Army leadership.
In Transformation Under Fire: Revoluationizing How America Fights, MacGregor argues that the "war transforms armies." Now, more than ever, the Army must finally shed its industrialized warfare skeleton, and adapt to the realities of Information Age warfare. The Army's essential structure has remained unchanged since the end of WWII, while the end of the cold war necessitates that the Army transform into "an irresistible offensive-maneuver force against a fleeting, mobile enemy." While the Army has recently recognized the need for transformation, he points out, it has sought technological solutions at the expense of addressing the fundamental question of organization for joint warfare.
Rather than transforming to meet the nation's needs, the Army is trying to "do what it wants to do." MacGregor explores the global trends that require a radically different approach to national security issues by the military. Globalization has severely disrupted social structures in much of the developing world, and brought America plenty of new enemies in all corners of the earth. The complete dominance we enjoy in world power has forced our new enemies to resort to unconventional attacks to inflict harm on United States interests. This requires a radically different approach from our Armed Forces. The current administration has developed pre-emption as the national security strategy to deal with emerging threats; such a strategy requires early decision in a crisis. The Pentagon has switched to an "Effects-based" strategy, that emphasizes rapid victory in conflicts by rapidly striking the enemy's strategic center of gravity. The Army's current attrition warfare structure does not position it to conduct rapid, decisive operations in support of the "Effects-based" strategy.
MacGregor goes on to sketch out an operational re-organization into Joint Force Headquarters, which integrate Army maneuver capabilities with strike capabilities of the Air Force and Navy. The Army would re-organize its core service capabilities into specialized modules that would support the Joint Task Force mission. By cutting out the Divisional structure and merging all branches of service at the Joint Task Force level under a three star General, the armed forces would have an organization capable of executing operations in a truly joint fashion with much reduced command decision cycles. MacGregor argues that army must create "network centric" organizations immediately. Combat Groups (roughly a brigade sized unit with all of its support assets organic) would be capable of independent, dispersed mobile warfare, rather than tightly scripted, coordinated mass maneuvers favored by divisions and corps. To forge truly effective combat groups, MacGregor urges training cycles based on unit manning concepts currently under consideration by Army leadership.
MacGregor reserves his last chapters for the upper echelons of the Army and what must change to effect true change. He calls for re-alignment of our combat power, shifting troops away from cold war bases to forward bases that enable power projection and expeditionary warfare. He calls for returning units to the United States and rotating them through forward bases to provide forward capabilities to the national leadership. Additionally, he argues for significant stream-lining of the Army's command structures in Europe and Korea. MacGregor goes on to advocate a new, stream-lined Army command structure to equip the new force, eliminating such headquarters as TRADOC and merging others. Bureaucracy and entrenched interests are the main impediments to effective, rapid transformation. MacGregor goes on to lambaste the Army promotion system that rewards officers who are "yes-men," while punishing officers with bold, forward-thinking ideas. As an example, he points out that selection for General requires the unanimous consent of all 17 General Officers on the board; essentially, a Colonel who aspires to serve at the higher ranks must keep his nose clean and not upset anyone with bold thinking. Finally, he takes the Army to task for remodeling existing Brigades, divisions, corps, and armies with new systems, while passively waiting for technology that is ten years in the future; instead, they should be restructuring now, using existing technology to carry the Army through the battles of the next fifteen years.
MacGregor's book is in the best tradition of military theorists, whose ideas transformed armies to meet the challenges of WWII: Hans von Seckt, Liddel Hart, Charles De Gaulle, and Heinz Guderian. MacGregor presented the first coherent view of how the information age should transform the way we organize for war. The question now remains whether the U.S. Army will heed his calls for true reform, or continue to cede more and more of its missions to the Marine Corps, which has embraced expeditionary warfare. MacGregor takes to task the leadership culture that stifles change; but more importantly, he sketches out a realistic, immediate path to true transformation that will vault the Army out of exile at the Pentagon and back into the forefront of the nation's struggles in the ongoing war on terrorism.