Intent of Research: This paper examines current and future requirements for strategic leadership of the United States Army and identifies Special Operations Forces senior leaders as potential strategic leaders of the Army based upon the alignment their professional attributes and competencies with the future operating environment and the probability of continued irregular and hybrid conflict. First this paper assesses the concept of strategic leadership within the framework of recent historical and future global conditions. Next, an analysis of U.S. Army strategic leaders identifies...

Recently the fifth goal (Goal 5: Break foreign and domestic drug sources of supply) of the United States drug policy, as delineated in the Strategic Goals and Objectives of the 2000 National Drug Control Strategy resulted in $1.3 billion of military and non-military anti-drug aid being directed toward Colombia. Possible outcomes of this direct aid to Colombia will be a greater involvement in Colombia's internal revolutions and little improvement in the domestic US drug problem. The operative idea for Plan Colombia is that US military and non-military aid will allow the Colombian authorities...

As a generalization, for most Army officers the Korean War evokes images of General MacArthur and his famous landing at Inchon. Perhaps his subsequent defeat by the Chinese at the Yalu River, and his relief by President Truman come to mind as well. Few of us, however, ever associate General Bradley with the war in Korea. Rather, we associate Bradley with World War Two, in the European Theater, along with his friends Patton and Eisenhower. And of course, we associate Bradley with the Army's Infantry Fighting Vehicle, which bears his name. For most of us, he is kind of an icon, the last of the...

The Campaign of the Sixth Coalition, from the Summer of 1813 until the abdication of Napoleon in April 1814, offers some important and valid insights into the successful execution of coalition warfare while serving to illustrate the complexities of coalition warfare. As the United States continues to rely on the use of coalitions as a major component of our National Strategy when committing military forces, it is incumbent on senior leaders to understand the complexities of coalition warfare. This campaign offers that opportunity. The major turning point in the Campaign occurred in the Summer...

Great military leaders inspire their troops and lead them into battle. No senior officer in today's Army has risen to this level of greatness. Instead, we are led by a corps of general officers who are better described with superlatives like "scholar," "diplomat," and "manager." This book examines what has changed in our leadership doctrine, selection process, training and philosophy of leadership that has resulted in this profound change. It makes recommendations regarding how we can return to our heritage and revise our leadership programs to develop the next generation of Generals to lead...

America's preeminent ground combat capability is the result of the "Big Five" acquisition that produced the Abrams main battle tank, the Bradley fighting vehicle, the Apache attack helicopter, the Black Hawk utility helicopter, and the Patriot air defense missile system. The battle-proven capability of the "Big Five" systems - the mainstay of the Army's combat formations today - demonstrates the success of these programs both individually and collectively. Clearly, the "Big Five" acquisition is perceived as the gold standard. Like most legends, the legend of the "Big Five" has its roots in...

Institutional tensions between civilian government leaders and senior military officers have waxed and waned over the 223-year history of our republic. The framers of our constitution laid the foundation for this relationship and defined its basic tenets based on their experience under British colonial rule and with an innate disdain for the unchecked power of a poorly regulated militia. Recent events lend a fresh urgency to recurring concerns about the potential harm that could result from violations of those tenets. The voting public constitutes the third element of a "civil-military...