Civil-Military Conflict within the Defense Structure

Abstract

Civil-military conflict within the U.S. defense structure is not a new problem. Conflict between the Secretary of War and the Army Staff in Washington was a serious problem during the Civil War, and it continued to pose a problem in the years following that war. The period of our history spanning the Second World War was atypical as far as civil-military conflict is concerned. The war years from 1941 to 1945 were generally marked by the effectiveness of civil-military teamwork, particularly in view of the magnitude and complexity of the task at hand. Unfortunately, the relative harmony of civil-military teamwork did not survive the national crisis. Civil-military conflict again arose as a serious problem in the postwar years and, despite efforts to eliminate the problem, it remains with us today. Our inability to eliminate the sources of conflict should come as no surprise. Several authorities, including Samuel P. Huntington and Lieutenant General Robert G. Gard, Jr., have identified the problem and pointed out the need for change on the part of the military. This article will review the Huntington and Gard assessments of civil-military conflict within the defense structure and attempt to determine whether their recommendations for change on the part of the military professional still appear justified. Our examination of the problem will focus on military perceptions of the military role in the defense structure and will look at recent evidence that suggests the magnitude of civil-military conflict. Understanding civil-military conflict, both its sources and our ability to eliminate its causes, is of significant importance to national security interests, inasmuch as the elimination of such conflict could serve to increase the productivity of our defense structure.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1978
Accession Number
ADA511038

Entities

People

  • Andrew P. O'meara Jr.

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army Personnel
  • Civil War
  • Civilian Personnel
  • Command And Control
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Military Operations
  • Military Personnel
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Second World War
  • Students
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • History
  • Sociology

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies