Strategic Studies Institute

Managing Change Studies

Added October 12, 2012

Type: Letort Papers

A "Hollow Army" Reappraised: President Carter, Defense Budgets, and the Politics of Military Readiness. Authored by Professor Frank L. Jones.

For more than 30 years, the term “hollow army” has represented President Carter’s alleged willingness to allow American military capability to deteriorate in the face of growing Soviet capability. The true story is more complicated than the metaphor suggests.

Added September 10, 2010

Type: Letort Papers

An Army Transformed: The U.S. Army's Post-Vietnam Recovery and the Dynamics of Change in Military Organizations. Authored by Lieutenant Colonel Suzanne C. Nielsen.

Drawing on the literature on military innovation and reform, the author examines an important case of military change: the transformation of the U.S. Army in the 2 decades preceding the Persian Gulf War of 1991. The findings of this study have significant implications for how the U.S. Army should think about implementing changes needed today to meet new strategic, economic, and technological challenges.

Added September 02, 2010

Type: Letort Papers

Is the Organizational Culture of the U.S. Army Congruent with the Professional Development of Its Senior Level Officer Corps? Authored by Dr. James G. Pierce.

In this study of the organizational culture of the U.S. Army, Dr. Pierce has reviewed a previously assumed but unverified connection between organizational culture and professional development. The study has uncovered a lack of congruence between the dominant type of organizational culture of the U.S. Army and the professional managerial/leadership skills of its senior level leaders. This observed lack of congruence may be inhibiting performance and unconsciously perpetuating a cycle of caution and an overreliance on stability and control. The data indicate that the U.S. Army is illustrative of an organization that emphasizes stability and control, and one that attempts to comprehend the ambiguity of the future through an unconscious reliance upon the successful solutions employed in the past.

Added May 05, 2010

Type: Monograph

Towards a U.S. Army Officer Corps Strategy for Success: Employing Talent. Authored by Colonel Casey Wardynski, Major David S. Lyle, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Michael J. Colarusso.

Historically, the U.S. Army has employed its officers to good effect, but is there need for improvement? Does its current assignments paradigm lead to optimal career satisfaction and productivity? Does it allow officers to develop the depth and breadth of talent the Army needs? Perhaps most importantly, does the Army really know enough about the officer talent it possesses, as well as the requirements for that talent?

Added March 29, 2010

Type: Monograph

Towards a U.S. Army Officer Corps Strategy for Success: Developing Talent. Authored by Colonel Casey Wardynski, Major David S. Lyle, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Michael J. Colarusso.

The U.S. Army is almost universally acknowledged as an organization that powerfully develops talent in areas such as leadership, teamwork behavior, work ethics, adaptability, fitness, and many others. Employers know that the Army invests substantially in its people, and that this investment translates directly into enhanced productivity. Despite this well-earned reputation, however, are the Army’s current officer development programs equal to tomorrow’s challenges? Does it suffer from a growing imbalance in talent supply versus demand? Perhaps most importantly, is there an effective relationship between its developmental and employment strategies?

Added February 19, 2010

Type: Monograph

Accessing Talent: The Foundation of a U.S. Army Officer Corps Strategy. Authored by Colonel Casey Wardynski, Major David S. Lyle, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Michael J. Colarusso.

Organizations often focus their recruiting efforts on high-payoff markets--how does the Army identify the right market in which to focus its officer accessions efforts? What role does education play in officer accessions? How does the Army identify and go about meeting its officer diversity requirements? Why is establishing the proper ratio between commissioning sources so important?

Added February 01, 2010

Type: Monograph

The Army Officers' Professional Ethic--Past, Present, and Future. Authored by Colonel Matthew Moten.

Do you think the Army officer corps needs a clear statement of its professional ethic? Colonel Matthew Moten does, and he has written it in one page. Join the debate.

Added October 28, 2009

Type: Monograph

Talent: Implications for a U.S. Army Officer Corps Strategy. Authored by Colonel Casey Wardynski, Major David S. Lyle, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Michael J. Colarusso.

What is the difference between competent and talented? What is talent, and which people have it? What talents should the United States Army seek in its officers? Most importantly, what are the consequences of failing to create an officer talent management system?

Added January 30, 2008

Type: Monograph

Transforming to Effects-Based Operations: Lessons from the United Kingdom Experience. Authored by Dr. Andrew M. Dorman.

The author evaluates the extent to which America’s principal military ally, the United Kingdom, has been able to transition to effects-based operations and the implications this has for the United States.

Added January 24, 2008

Type: Student (Carlisle) Papers

Women in Combat Compendium. Edited by Colonel Michele M. Putko, Dr. Douglas V. Johnson, II.

The topic of Women in Combat has been one of great emotion, but uncertain factual content until recently. The rules created to deal with the fact that women want to serve in the armed forces have ranged from silly to serious, but the factual bases have changed and the plea of all the contributors is to review the entire issue with objectivity and attention to the facts as they exist.

Added October 09, 2007

Type: Student (Carlisle) Papers

A Concept at the Crossroads: Rethinking the Center of Gravity. Authored by Lieutenant Colonel Rudolph M. Janiczek.

The author concludes that, in an effort to operationalize Clausewitz's signature concept, the U.S. military probably limited its utility. The Center of Gravity is best applied as an abstract, rather than as a practical, concept.

Added May 23, 2006

Type: Letort Papers

Strategic Planning by the Chairmen, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1990 TO 2005. Authored by Dr. Richard M. Meinhart.

This Letort Paper addresses how the Chairmen, Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1990 to 2005 used a strategic planning system to respond to their global challenges.

Added March 01, 2006

Type: Monograph

CU @ The FOB: How the Forward Operating Base is Changing the Life of Combat Soldiers. Authored by Dr. Leonard Wong, Dr. Stephen Gerras.

The situation in post-war Iraq is producing combat veterans accustomed to a perspective of combat that differs greatly from past wars. The authors explore the facets of fighting from the FOB.

Added March 01, 2000

Type: Book

Future Leadership, Old Issues, New Methods. Edited by Dr. Douglas V. Johnson, II.

Each year, the Army After Next Seminar students are asked to orient their Strategy Research Papers on topics appropriate to the programs 30-years in the future focus. Thirty years ago, the United States Army was deeply involved in Vietnam and in the Cold War.

Added January 01, 1999

Type: Book

Technology and the 21st Century Battlefield: Recomplicating Moral Life for the Statesman and the Soldier. Authored by Colonel Charles J. Dunlap, Jr..

The author starts from the traditional American notion that technology might offer a way to decrease the horror and suffering of warfare. He points out that historically this assumption is flawed in that past technological advances have only made warfare more—not less—bloody.

Added April 01, 1997

Type: Book

The Future Roles of U.S. Military Power and Their Implications. Authored by Dr. William T. Johnsen.

Only after the future roles of the U.S. military have been determined can the Department of Defense turn to the other important issues posed by Congress. Dr. William T. Johnsen concludes that the U.S. military will continue to perform its traditional roles: deterrence, reassurance, compellence, and support to the nation. The method and manner of carrying out those roles, however, will change.

Added September 01, 1996

Type: Monograph

Managing a Changing Relationship: China's Japan Policy in the 1990s. Authored by Prof. Robert S. Ross.

Dr. Robert S. Ross argues that Japan's relationship with China is a key element in the evolving East Asian security structure. From Beijing's perspective, China's Japan policy rivals its relationship with the United States in relative strategic importance. Today Japanese and Chinese interests compete in many areas, requiring tolerance, patience and diplomatic sophistication.

Added May 01, 1996

Type: Book

The Troubled Path to the Pentagon's Rules on Media Access to the Battlefield: Grenada to Today. Authored by Dr. Pascale Combelles-Siegel.

Ms. Pascale Combelles-Siegel examines the difficult road traveled by the press and the military since Operation URGENT FURY in 1983. She focuses on the development of the 1992 Joint Doctrine for Public Affairs as a practical tool for reducing tension and providing press access to the battle. Her analysis reflects the duality of the relationship and the efforts of both communities to find a modus vivendi.

Added December 01, 1993

Type: Monograph

The Military-News Media Relationship: Thinking Forward. Authored by COL Charles W. Ricks, Dr. Rod Lyon, Prof. William T. Tow.

Given the volatile, unstable, and ambiguous environment in which armed forces can find themselves, the actions of field forces have a greater chance than ever before of affecting subsequent strategic decisions made at higher levels. The pressure on field commanders to "get it right the first time" is demonstrably greater than ever.