Contemporary American Military Innovation
by Carlton G. Haelig
Journal Article | July 17, 2017 - 3:26am
“Inevitably, senior leaders, even the most effective, build a picture of what they think future war will look like and then confront combat realities that differ substantially from their assumptions.”
-- Williamson Murray
Introduction
The United States military continues to focus on planning and innovating to fight and win the next major war. The military, however, has been engaged in near constant low-intensity conflicts (LICs) for the better part of twenty years. Their minimal experience with major contemporary warfare is grounded in theory and assumptions. Operational preoccupation with LICs has undermined their ability to test and evaluate many of the major innovations being developed for use in a major war against realistic limitations. This challenge is further compounded by the rapid pace of technological advancement and the growing uncertainty surrounding what a major near-peer conflict would look like.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/contemporary-american-military-innovation
