Movement and Maneuver: Culture and the Competition for Influence Among the U.S. Military Services

Abstract

This report presents findings intended to assist the Office of the Secretary of Defense to understand the current character of interservice competition and how service culture impacts the ways in which the military services posture themselves to secure institutional relevance. We examine cultural shifts and competitive strategies that have developed over the last 30 years, focusing on events and patterns that have emerged since the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. In this report, we analyze the cultural characteristics and competitive strategies and tactics exhibited by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Based on this analysis, we assess how each of the services and USSOCOM might adapt and respond if faced with major policy shifts in the future, focusing specifically on contingencies in the Asia-Pacific.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2019
Accession Number
AD1086185

Entities

People

  • Colin Roberts
  • Dan Madden
  • Kimberly Jackson
  • Natasha Lander
  • Rebeca Orrie
  • S. R. Zimmerman

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Combat Areas
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Military Force Levels
  • Military History
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Personnel Management
  • Recreation
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control