21st Century Blitzkrieg: The Marine Corps and the Revolution in Military Affairs
Abstract
Never in our history as a nation have we been faced with a more deviant threat than the one that became apparent on September 11, 2001. Indeed, terrorism in many ways is even more daunting than past enemies due to the elusive nature of the enemy and its seemingly unimaginable callousness for the lives of non-combatants. In the past our government has created large land armies, navies, and air forces to deal with conventional enemies. Are those organizations capable of adapting their weapons and doctrine to this new threat? At the dawn of a new millennium, we find ourselves in the enviable position to rethink our allocation of resources, and our way of thinking toward the next generation of weapon systems and doctrine that will defend our future interests. Therefore, by understanding the concepts of the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), which exploits the current administration's initiative to skip a generation in weapons development, the Marine Corps will be better able to develop core technologies in the 21st century. The Marine Corps has prided itself on its initiative, innovation, and ability to adapt to an ever-changing world for well over 200 years. However, we are now on the precipice of a time when the intelligent application of our resources and knowledge can lead us well ahead of any potential foe in the near future. The choice is ours; we can either continue to develop systems based on legacy technology, while maintaining the status quo of parity with the other nations of the world, or we can envision and develop technology that will ensure our technical edge for decades to come. By embracing and promoting the ideal of RMA, in this economically unstable environment, we can assure that the revolution we fight in the military currently will be as successful as those that laid the groundwork for modern warfare as we know it today.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 04, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA527724
Entities
People
- Stephen Pritchard
Organizations
- Marine Corps University