Getting It Right ANNOTATION
Using the Army as a framework--but including all branches of the service--this is an insider's look at how major reforms in the US armed forces since Vietnam led to success in the Gulf War and improved changes for success in the future. Dunnigan has appeared on Larry King Live, NBC News, Today, and ABC. Charts.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In February 1991 U.S. troops won the first battle of a war and did so with minimal losses. Remarkably, this had never happened before. Getting It Right is an insider's look at how this occurred. It covers subjects as wide-ranging and essential to the understanding of U.S. military affairs as the nation's historically based unpreparedness for war - lessons that were repeatedly learned and forgotten from war to war-the introduction of nuclear weapons to post-World War II military policy, the Cold War fear of the Soviet Union, and the military before, during, and after Vietnam. Most important, however, it stresses the immeasurable gains made in the armed forces during the last two decades, gains that led to successes in the Gulf War and improved chances for continued success in the future. Contrary to popular belief, this reversal has less to do with high-tech weapons than with better training for officers and troops. Haunted by the specter of the Vietnam War, officers have embraced a more pragmatic and professional attitude; troops are more carefully selected and better paid; training has become more sophisticated with the use of wargaming, computer simulations, and more intensive field practice. Using the Army as a touchstone, but including all branches of the armed services, Getting It Right also discusses how the military is dealing with the issues of racism, sexism, and homosexuality and with the cost of keeping troops combat-ready. It additionally looks at how much our military is costing and where cuts can and cannot be made as it heads toward the end of the American Century. Getting It Right is a strong and insightful look at what a strong and efficient military can mean in times of war, and peace.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
One of the bitter legacies of the Vietnam War was the breakdown in discipline, morale and fighting capability that led the U.S. military, particularly the Army, to initiate dramatic reforms in the '70s. Dunnigan, the author of How to Make War , and Macedonia, founder and chairman of the war gaming department of the Army War College, review the movement led by General William DePuy that sparked a host of dynamic concepts formally outlined in the 1976 edition of Field Manual 100-5. Ensuing changes included a revamped officer corps; carefully selected, well-paid volunteer troops; realistic, rigorous and plentiful training; and an overall tactical doctrine that stressed balanced teams of combined arms. In the authors' view, the Persian Gulf War was something of a final exam for the reformed Army--which it passed in a ``historically exceptional performance.'' In the post-Desert Storm era, they warn, the problem is to avoid the ``Victory Disease,'' an affliction to which all winning armies are susceptible and which is marked by institutional arrogance and a conviction that future conflicts should be fought like previous ones. Lucidly written, highly informative, this is an up-to-date appraisal of the current state of the nation's armed forces. (Nov.)
Library Journal
Dunnigan, of wargaming book fame ( The Complete Wargames Handbook , LJ 11/15/92), has become one of the most prolific of the amateur military pundits. This latest entry, coauthored with former army colonel Macedonia, outlines changes made in U.S. military thinking and training since the Vietnam War. It focuses on the army, while shorter sections cover the other services. The authors touch upon salient points of current interest such as interservice rivalries, women, and gays. They point out some interesting facts, for example, that ten percent of the defense budget goes for military pensions. A strictly military view of the military reorganization is found in Al Santoli's Leading the Way ( LJ 10/15/93). Recommended for public, academic, and military libraries.-- David H. Hall, Sunnyvale P.L., Cal.
BookList - Roland Green
Dunnigan, a purveyor of insight and sense about military matters, here joins forces with a career army officer to produce a history of the post-Vietnam revival of the U.S. armed forces that culminated in the victory in the Persian Gulf. His and Macedonia's focus is on innovative leadership, improved training of better recruits, and other less critical factors, all of which were more helpful to the revival than advanced weaponry or larger budgets. In their study, which spans 16 years, they also provide valuable insights into the history of mobilization and demobilization, military professionalism, race and sex problems, and the various methods for reducing the post-cold war armed forces without destroying their effectiveness or potential for expansion. A volume well up to the high standard of other books with Dunnigan's name on them--"From Shield to Storm , for instance.
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