Applying Drawdown Lessons from the Past to Future Army Investments

Abstract

The war in Afghanistan is drawing to a close and once again the U.S. Army (Army) is facing a drawdown. The cycle is predictable. When war comes, the Army expands and adapts as necessary to achieve the military and political objectives of the war; then, once the war is over; the Army rapidly reduces in size. By looking to past drawdown experiences, are there key areas of investment that will enable the Army to rapidly adapt itself to the future needs of the Nation? This paper examines investment decisions from three post-war drawdown eras from the Army's history: post-World War (WW) I (1919-1938), post-WWII/Korea 1946-1965, and post-Vietnam (1973-1980). Those investment decisions are described in terms of end strength, force structure, leadership development, modernization, procurement, doctrine, and readiness. The effectiveness of those decisions is then evaluated by assessing the performance of the Army in the first battle of the next war.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA590282

Entities

People

  • Robert E. Waring

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Armored Personnel Carriers
  • Business Administration
  • Department Of Defense
  • Doctrine
  • Force Structure
  • Investments
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Procurement
  • Students
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Economics
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies