Changing Attitudes and Changing Latitudes: The Impact of Changes in the StrategicEnvironment on Tactical Doctrine

摘要

This monograph examines the linkage between U.S. Army tactical doctrine andchanges in the strategic environment. If change in the strategic environment as codifed by policy is not understood by soldiers then there is a danger that the Army will produce a doctrine incompatible with the needs of the country. This monograph uses the rational actor model to establish the link between the two variables. The monograph applies the model across three instances of U.S. Army tactical doctrinal change in the Eisenhower, Nixon, and Bush Administrations. The analysis reveals that the Army leadership made a conscious effort to translate the strategic policy of each Administration into a doctrine that would produce victory on the battlefield. Finally, the study concludes by examining the future of doctrinal change in an era of strategic and operational uncertainty. It proposes that future change be guided by four criteria: relevance, achievability, acceptability, and adaptability....Doctrine, Strategy.