The Colonels' Revolt: Eisenhower, The Army, and The Politics of National Security.

Abstract

This paper reviews the budgetary politics and interService rivalries involved in the formulation of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's defense policies. Specifically, the paper chronicles the reaction of the U.S. Army General Staff to proposals to greatly increase U.S. reliance on strategic air power at the expense of Army force structure and modernization. The impact of The Revolt on joint policy making in general and Cold War defense policies in particular is chronicled. The paper concludes with a discussion of the lessons of The Revolt for those who make strategy and defense policy. While the Revolt had little immediate impact on defense planning, it was part of a larger series of events that culminated in the Goldwater-Nichols Act and other reforms in the Department of Defense budget process and in Joint Service planning and operations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 17, 1994
Accession Number
ADA289051

Entities

People

  • Jay M. Parker

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Foreign Relations
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • Military History
  • Military Organizations
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Recreation
  • Second World War
  • Sociopolitics
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.