Lessons From the East: Nothing New That's Not in the Books
Abstract
Early this century the United States Army began to implement a long overdue and much needed reform program. This program began to form in the 1870s after Brevet Major General Emory Upton published the results of his military observer mission to the armies of Asia and Europe. In the conclusion to his report, he recommended changing the military policy of the United States and his suggestions later formed the basis for Secretary of War Elihu Root's reform program, some 20 years after he published his report. Nearly 30 years after Upton's observer mission, the U.S. Army sent several officers to observe both the Russian and Japanese armies during the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05. This paper will explore what these officers learned; the mechanisms the Army used to share their ideas; and whether the Army, as an institution, learned from the experiences of the observers. To determine this, the paper will examine the professional journals, Army War College lectures, and the subsequent careers of two of these officers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA378244
Entities
People
- Chanley M. Mohney
Organizations
- United States Army War College