Modular Transformation: The Unintended Impacts on Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness
Abstract
The Army experienced early success with transformation in the 1990s with Force XXI and the creation of the Stryker Brigades. After 2003, however, modular transformation was expedited at an alarming rate and scale resulting in catastrophic long-term consequences for the Field Artillery. Popular demands for creative new concepts in force redesign contributed to a service-wide failure to adhere to core principles of leadership, mission command, and span of control. Time-proven organizational structures such as the Division Artillery (DIVARTY) were deemed a redundant echelon of command and became a bill payer to the new landpower design. In sharp contrast, the U.S. Marine Corps maintained a deliberate and disciplined approach to modernization. This approach was based on strict adherence to the same core principles the Army was quick to ignore. Employment of artillery in Operation Enduring Freedom provides an excellent case study of why the U.S. Marine Corps met with much more success in building adaptive Fire Support leaders in comparison with the Army. The paper provides recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of the Field Artillery in the future.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA590662
Entities
People
- Andrew T. Rendon
Organizations
- United States Army War College