The Service Dogma Debate. Why is the U.S. Army Different?
Jonathan C. Nielsen
Does the U.S. Army need a dogma? Before you say yes or no, let’s consider a few points worth debating.
An ageless dogma is the foundation for any organization. It conveys a consistent message, focus, and priority regardless of the time period, situation, or location. An ageless dogma is an accepted or promoted guiding principle of a group. Lacking one, opens up arguments to question the attributes that make an organization unique and essential. Moreover, the absence of a dogma allows new, untested, untimely, and cheap ideas to seep in and drastically, and at times quickly, change the direction, focus, and energy of an organization.
In the profession of arms, a dogma supports a defined way of war. Russel Weigley’s article The American Way of War proposes that America holds two distinct strategies for warfare: annihilation or attrition.1 Weigley’s analysis from the War of Independence to Vietnam concluded that as a weak nation, the United States focused on a strategy of attrition to defeat economically and numerically superior foes.2 However, as the military and industrial might strengthened, the United States began to pursue a strategy of annihilation to rapidly defeat an adversary with overwhelming force.3 The nation’s transition to an annihilation strategy saw the birth of the United States’ Navy and Air Force dogmas.
https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/service-dogma-debate-why-us-army-different
