Kategoria BISAC: History >> Military - United States

Anni Baker has created a fascinating exploration of life in the armed forces, as it has been experienced by millions of men, women, and children over the past six decades. Her book examines the factors that shape military service and military culture, from grueling training exercises to sexual relations with local women, from overseas duty to the peculiar life of the military brat. The book begins with an examination of the enlistment process, follows the military lifecycle through career decisions, promotions, raising families, and retirement, explores the impact of war on military...

Embser-Herbert explores the history of the policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, (DADT) the federal law restricting the military service of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. In this narrative overview, she traces the policy from its origins in the early 1990s, through its evolution and implementation into law in the United States military, before evaluating the impact of post-9/11 events on the military, the policy, and the ongoing debate surrounding the existence of the policy itself as lawmakers consider its repeal.

Her three-part history of DADT begins with a brief look at earlier policies...

According to the Bush administration, the war in Iraq ended in May 2003 when the president pronounced mission accomplished from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Yet, fighting, resistance, and American casualties continue. Stephen PelletiEre argues that it is Iraqi suspicion of the Americans' motive--the belief that the United States is out to tear the state apart--that is fueling the current rebellion. Resistance in Iraq has become a national struggle, tied to the mood of Iraqis generally, as well as to anger fed by experiences of the whole people over the course of the last quarter...

Professional Military Education (PME) is broader and more rigorous than is widely understood in the United States. Improving educational programs within the military service branches is at the very center of ongoing force transformation efforts and advanced educational opportunities occur at various, set levels of military experience. Military education increasingly conforms to standards imposed by outside civilian accrediting bodies and is mandated and monitored, to an extent, by Congress. "Military Education"explores this often-overlooked area of education within the context of the...

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld arrived at the Pentagon in 2001 with an agenda that included the transformation of the American armed forces. His intent was to modernize the existing force while simultaneously developing high-tech innovations to revolutionize the military of the future.The primary architect of transformation, Arthur Cebrowski, conceived what is known as network-centric warfare--a concept to leverage advances in military technology that will influence the U.S. Armed Forces for many decades to come.

The basis of this work was Arthur Cebrowski's autobiographical...

Battles are won in combat. Wars are won by winning the hearts and minds of the people. "Selling War to America" provides a thought-provoking look at the propaganda efforts the U.S. government has exerted to that end. It begins with an examination of the government's campaign to instigate a war with Spain and ends with a review of the methods being used to encourage support for the War Against Terrorism. The book analyzes each of these wars within the context of the techniques used to generate public support, also examining the results of propaganda efforts, both before and after each...

One aspect of war is often overlooked: how much do they cost and how are they funded. "Funding Extended Conflicts" develops a baseline on Federal spending for the two extended conflicts of the Cold War era, Korea and Vietnam, and compares them with the global war on terror, including current outlays for Iraq and Afghanistan. It also provides wartime cases that offer recommendations on how to pay for future wars and focuses on the length of the tails of such spending, which are often omitted in the final analyses and distort funding estimates. Background chapters examine financing and...

On a dark night in February 2005, Sara Sheldon arrived at Camp Fallujah, outside the dangerous ancient city for which it was named. Armed only with a camera, a laptop, and notepads, she was a spectator to the war who secured permission to embed with the 1st MEF and observe and interview Marines who happened to be women then posted at Camp Fallujah. In the time she spent there, Sheldon interviewed women who held ranks from corporal to colonel to gain a broad and varied perspective of the experiences representative of female Marines throughout Iraq. She reveals much about her subjects: the...

The Somervell and Mier Expeditions of 1842, culminating in the famous "black bean episode" in which Texas prisoners drew white or black beans to determine who would be executed by their Mexican captors, still capture the public imagination in Texas. But were the Texans really martyrs in a glorious cause, or undisciplined soldiers defying their own government? How did the Mier Expedition affect the border disputes between the Texas Republic and Mexico? What role did Texas President Sam Houston play? These are the questions that Sam Haynes addresses in this very readable book, which includes...