An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present
An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present

Author: Charles E. Kirkpatrick

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2015-12-08

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 9781519741837

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"An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present: Writing the Victory Plan of 1941"covers the work of then Maj. Albert C. Wedemeyer, the principal author of the Victory Plan. In just forty-eight months America raised and equipped a modern army seemingly overnight, a feat that owed much to sound military planning. As Wedemeyer makes clear, mobilization transcends purely military matters and must be understood to embrace the capacity of nations. His work underscores the fact that even in 1941 warfare had become so vast in scope, so expensive, and so technologically complex that nations could never again afford to maintain in time of peace the armies needed in time of war. The conclusion seems inescapable: The United States Army must keep mobilization planning at the center of all its military planning. Military planners and all those studying mobilization and logistics will benefit from processes Wedemeyer and his colleagues used in reaching their decisions on the units and material needed. The Victory Plan provides a clear picture of how they approached the challenge of preparing for modern war.

An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present
An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present

Author: Charles E. Kirkpatrick

Publisher: Government Printing Office

Published: 1991-04

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 9780160197987

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CMH Pub. 93-10. 1st printing. On cover: World War 2 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition. Spine title reads: Writing the Victory Plan of 1941. Describes the planning process that Major Albert Coady Wedemeyer used in the summer of 1941 to write the plan that became the outline for mobilization and operations during World War 2. Includes an appendix, "The Army Portion of the Victory Plan, Ultimate Requirements Study, Estimate of Ground Forces." Also includes photographs, footnotes, a bibliography, and an index.

An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present
An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present

Author: Charles Edward Kirkpatrick

Publisher:

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13:

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An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present: Writing the Victory Plan of 1941 covers the work of then Maj. Albert C. Wedemeyer, the principal author of the Victory Plan. In just forty-eight months America raised and equipped a modern army seemingly overnight, a feat that owed much to sound military planning. As Wedemeyer makes clear, mobilization transcends purely military matters and must be understood to embrace the capacity of nations. His work underscores the fact that even in 1941 warfare had become so vast in scope, so expensive, and so technologically complex that nations could never again afford to maintain in time of peace the armies needed in time of war. The conclusion seems inescapable: The United States Army must keep mobilization planning at the center of all its military planning. Military planners and all those studying mobilization and logistics will benefit from processes Wedemeyer and his colleagues used in reaching their decisions on the units and material needed. The Victory Plan provides a clear picture of how they approached the challenge of preparing for modern war.

An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present
An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present

Author: Charles Edward Kirkpatrick

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13:

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From United States GPO Bookstore website: Describes the planning process that Major Albert Coady Wedemeyer used in the summer of 1941 to write the plan that became the outline for mobilization and operations during World War 2. Includes an appendix, "The Army Portion of the Victory Plan, Ultimate Requirements Study, Estimate of Ground Forces."

The British Experience In Iraq, 2007: A Perspective On The Utility Of Force
The British Experience In Iraq, 2007: A Perspective On The Utility Of Force

Author: Colonel Ian N. A. Thomas

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2014-08-15

Total Pages: 118

ISBN-13: 1782897801

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Recent years have seen the US, UK and other ISAF and Coalition nations enmeshed in protracted, complex and intense campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Resilient and highly adaptable opponents have operated asymmetrically, and amongst the people, to negate the technological superiority of the West; counterinsurgency (COIN) has been the norm. Progress made has been hard won, consuming considerable resources and testing national will. Despite the achievement of often rapid and spectacular tactical military successes, the desired political dividends have been slower to materialise and scarcely commensurate with the investment of national blood and treasure. This has led some to question the utility of military force and the mood in several Western capitals seems increasingly wary of further stabilisation campaigns abroad. This sense of caution is reinforced by the global economic downturn and its associated fiscal challenges, which have encouraged retrenchment in public spending, especially in defence budgets. It would seem timely, given this context, to reflect upon the utility of force. This monograph examines the purpose and dominant characteristics of military force and highlights the conditions that must obtain if military success is to be translated into political advantage in the contemporary operating environment. It uses recent British experience in Iraq to illustrate some of the challenges involved. It concludes that despite the complexity and frustrations of Iraq and Afghanistan, armed force retains utility in the contemporary operational environment, as long as certain conditions are met. These are that the missions allocated to the military are appropriate, recognising the limitations of force; are adequately resourced; are properly integrated with other instruments of national power; and are underwritten with the requisite political commitment to sustain them over time.

The US, the UK and Saudi Arabia in World War II
The US, the UK and Saudi Arabia in World War II

Author: Matthew Hinds

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-02-17

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0857727591

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The story of Anglo-American relations in Saudi Arabia during the Second World War has generally been viewed as one of discord and hegemonic rivalry, a perspective reinforced by a tendency to consider Britain's decline and the ascent of US power as inevitable. In this engaging and timely study, Matthew Hinds calls into question such assumptions and reveals a relationship that, though hard-nosed, functioned through interdependence and strategic parity. Drawing upon an array of archives from both sides of the Atlantic, Hinds traces the flow of key events and policies as well as the leading figures who shaped events to show why, how and to what extent the allies and Saudi Arabia became 'mixed up together', in the words of Winston Churchill. Perhaps most fundamentally, Britain and the United States were enthralled by the promise of Saudi Arabia serving as an auxiliary to Allied strategy. Obtaining King Ibn Saud's tacit support or more specifically, his 'benevolent neutrality', meant having vital access, not only to the country's prospective oil reserves, but to its prized geographic location, its centrality within Islam and, as international politics increasingly followed an anti-colonial path, to its credentials as a sovereign and independent Arab state. Given what was at stake, London and Washington saw their engagement in Saudi Arabia as seminal; a genuine blueprint for how to forge a lasting 'Special Relationship' throughout the Middle East. Hinds' bold new interpretation is a vital work that enlarges our understanding of the Anglo-American wartime alliance.

Freedom's Forge
Freedom's Forge

Author: Arthur Herman

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published: 2013-07-02

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0812982045

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • SELECTED BY THE ECONOMIST AS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR “A rambunctious book that is itself alive with the animal spirits of the marketplace.”—The Wall Street Journal Freedom’s Forge reveals how two extraordinary American businessmen—General Motors automobile magnate William “Big Bill” Knudsen and shipbuilder Henry J. Kaiser—helped corral, cajole, and inspire business leaders across the country to mobilize the “arsenal of democracy” that propelled the Allies to victory in World War II. Drafting top talent from companies like Chrysler, Republic Steel, Boeing, Lockheed, GE, and Frigidaire, Knudsen and Kaiser turned auto plants into aircraft factories and civilian assembly lines into fountains of munitions. In four short years they transformed America’s army from a hollow shell into a truly global force, laying the foundations for the country’s rise as an economic as well as military superpower. Freedom’s Forge vividly re-creates American industry’s finest hour, when the nation’s business elites put aside their pursuit of profits and set about saving the world. Praise for Freedom’s Forge “A rarely told industrial saga, rich with particulars of the growing pains and eventual triumphs of American industry . . . Arthur Herman has set out to right an injustice: the loss, down history’s memory hole, of the epic achievements of American business in helping the United States and its allies win World War II.”—The New York Times Book Review “Magnificent . . . It’s not often that a historian comes up with a fresh approach to an absolutely critical element of the Allied victory in World War II, but Pulitzer finalist Herman . . . has done just that.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A compulsively readable tribute to ‘the miracle of mass production.’ ”—Publishers Weekly “The production statistics cited by Mr. Herman . . . astound.”—The Economist “[A] fantastic book.”—Forbes “Freedom’s Forge is the story of how the ingenuity and energy of the American private sector was turned loose to equip the finest military force on the face of the earth. In an era of gathering threats and shrinking defense budgets, it is a timely lesson told by one of the great historians of our time.”—Donald Rumsfeld

Ski, Climb, Fight
Ski, Climb, Fight

Author: Lance R. Blyth

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2024-11-05

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 0806195037

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Mountains, Carl von Clausewitz said, introduce a “retarding element” into warfare. To fight in mountains, armies must overcome this challenge via survival strategies and mobility. But the techniques and technologies for doing so are best found in civilian skiing and mountaineering communities, a situation almost unique to mountain warfare. Ski, Climb, Fight looks at how the 10th Mountain Division of World War II met this challenge and how the U.S. military does so today. The first military history of that storied division, the book is also the first general history of U.S. mountain warfare. With a focus on strategy and doctrine, Lance R. Blyth explores how the military has adapted civilian gear and skills for surviving and moving in mountainous terrain to effectively conduct operations. He traces the long-standing but largely unexamined relationship between the civilian outdoor recreation industry and the military—a relationship that figures in almost every aspect of military operations in mountainous terrain. Intertwining the history of the World War II 10th Mountain Division and U.S. mountain warfare with the history of American skiing and mountaineering, Ski, Climb, Fight is at once an unprecedented, in-depth account of one of the most celebrated military units of World War II and a fresh look at U.S. mountain warfare from its inception eighty years ago.

Military Strategy
Military Strategy

Author: Jeremy Black

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2020-04-07

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0300217188

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A global account of military strategy, which examines the practices, rather than the theories, of the most significant military figures of the past 400 years Strategy has existed as long as there has been organised conflict. In this new account, Jeremy Black explores the ever-changing relationship between purpose, force, implementation and effectiveness in military strategy and its dramatic impact on the development of the global power system. Taking a 'total' view of strategy, Black looks at leading powers -- notably the United States, China, Britain and Russia -- in the wider context of their competition and their domestic and international strengths. Ranging from France's Ancien Regime and Britain's empire building to present day conflicts in the Middle East, Black devotes particular attention to the strategic practice and decisions of the Kangxi Emperor, Clausewitz, Napoleon and Hitler.