U.S. Navy: A History of Stagnation and Innovation
Abstract
This thesis examines four periods of the U.S. Navy s history, each following a major conflict that perpetuated a decline in institutional and strategic focus, and then ending in a rebirth of innovation. The object is to place the events drove the Navy toward stagnation into historical context and identify similarities between the cycles of stagnation and innovation. The central questions this thesis seeks to answer are: (1) Do shrinking budgets and austerity perpetuate stagnation? (2) What are the similarities and differences between each of the cycles on a macro level? (3) What are the drivers for stagnation and innovation in the Navy? This thesis concludes that a cycle does indeed exist and that circumstances being equal several similarities reoccur time and time again. The thesis also proposes that although it is probable that the will Navy repeat these cycles in the future, that they may be mitigated using proper lessons of the past.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA619476
Entities
People
- Benjiman D. Coyle
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School