Transformational Leaders and Doctrine in an Age of Peace: Searching for a Tamer Billy Mitchell

摘要

This article is about three interwar transformational American military leaders: Major General John A. Lejeune, Marine Corps commandant, Admiral William A. Moffett, and William 'Billy' Mitchell. This 20-year interlude between the world wars marked a time of great social, economic, political, and technological change in the developed world. During that 'age of peace,' these men individually and collectively saved, changed, and created military institutions and fundamentally redefined the air doctrine of the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy, and Army Corps. The doctrinal seeds were planted in response to the force-on-force carnage of World War I, the ideas germinated in the rough growing season of the interwar period, and the blooming of doctrine during World War II with its actual employment on the battlefields and oceans of the world. These men are still important and relevant today because they influenced two important areas. The first area is doctrine -- how their service should best go about doing its mission when defending the United States. The second area is their influence on organization, training, allocation of resources, force structure, and personnel. These issues are very much a part of the 'jointness' debate, particularly the doctrinal debate within the Air Force today. The fundamental question this article attempts to answer is, In times of great change, how do successful transformational military leaders guide or attempt to guide their services through these periods. To answer this question as the Air Force turns 50 and prepares for a new century, the article follows these three extraordinary leaders from their early years during the interwar period, examines their doctrinal legacy, and parlays their experience into lessons learned.