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US Mechanized Infantryman in the First Gulf War
by Adam Hook Gordon RottmanOsprey's examination of the US Mechanized Infantrymen of the First Gulf War (1990-1991), In many ways the end of the Vietnam War left the US army a spent force. Plagued by low morale, drug and race issues, and terrible public relations, the army faced an uphill climb in the effort to rebuild itself. The story of this reconstruction is mirrored in the rise of the Mechanized Infantryman. Deciding that the key to future conflict lay in highly trained and mobile warriors that could be delivered quickly to battle, the army adopted the mechanized infantryman as its frontline troops. This new, all-volunteer force was given the best training and equipment that money could buy. Most notably, they were to be deployed onto the battlefield from the new M2 Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicle.This new breed of American warriors got their first test in the First Gulf War. Fighting in the deserts of Kuwait and Iraq, these soldiers proved that the US Army was once again a force with which to be reckoned. This book tells the complete story of the rise of the US mechanized infantryman, focusing on his recruitment, training, lifestyle and combat experiences in Iraq.From the Trade Paperback edition.
US Military Innovation since the Cold War: Creation Without Destruction (Strategy and History)
by Harvey Sapolsky Benjamin Friedman Brendan GreenThis book explains how the US military reacted to the 'Revolution in Military Affairs' (RMA), and failed to innovate its organization or doctrine to match the technological breakthroughs it brought about. Many called for the transformation of the US military in the years after the end of the Cold War, seeking the changes in organization and doctrine that would complete the RMA innovation and a commitment to counter-insurgency, peace keeping and nation building missions. This volume describes the origins, uses, and limits of the RMA technologies, examines how each of the five US armed services (categorising the Special Operations as a separate service) made their adjustments both to the technologies and the use of force, and how the role of the civilian officials and the defense industry altered in this process of change and avoidance of change. The book examines the internal politics of the services as well as civil/military relations to identify the external pressures on the services for significant change in their doctrine and weapons. Many have noted the failure of the services to innovate in what can be called the 'Second Inter-war Period' (the years after the Cold War). This book offers explanations for this failure and arguments about the possible range and desirability of military innovation in the post-Cold war era. This book will be of great interest to students of strategic studies, US defence politics, military studies, and US politics. Harvey M. Sapolsky is Professor of Public Policy and Organization in the Department of Political Science at MIT and former Director of the Security Studies Program. Benjamin H. Friedman is a Research Fellow in Defense and Homeland Security Studies at the Cato Institute and a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at MIT. Brendan Green is a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at MIT and an affiliate of the Security Studies Program.
US Military Strategy and the Cold War Endgame
by Stephen J. CimbalaAt the end of the Cold War security concerns are more about regional and civil conflicts than nuclear or Eurasian global wars. Stephen Cimbala argues that deterrence characteristics of the pre-Cold War period will in the 21st century again become normative.
US National Defense for the Twenty-first Century: Grand Exit Strategy
by Edward A. OlsenThis provocative critique of Washington's current security policies, draws on the arguments made by an array of non-interventionist and conservative-nationalist scholars. It provides a blueprint for a more restrained and unilateral US role in global affairs.
US National Security Concerns in Latin America and the Caribbean
by Harry E. Vanden Gary Prevost Carlos Oliva Campos Luis Fernando AyerbeThe concepts of 'ungoverned spaces' and 'failed states' where the limited presence of the state is seen as a challenge to global security have generated a rich intellectual debate in recent years. In this edited volume, scholars from Latin America and the United States will analyze how US foreign policy making circles have applied the concepts to the creation of new US security initiatives in the Latin American region during the post September 11, 2001 era. The extension of concepts to Latin America has been significant because it has meant that during the past thirteen years US policy in the Hemisphere has shifted away from the primarily economic emphasis of the 1990s, the era of the Free Trade Area of the Americas project, back to a security focus reminiscent of the Cold War era. The last decade has witnessed a significant increase in US military presence in the region highlighted by the re-launching of the Caribbean-based Fourth Fleet, the militarization of drug fighting efforts in Mexico, and the establishment of several new military bases in Colombia, the staunchest US ally in the region.
US National Security Reform: Reassessing the National Security Act of 1947 (Routledge Global Security Studies)
by Heidi B. Demarest Erica D. BorghardThis collection of essays considers the evolution of American institutions and processes for forming and implementing US national security policy, and offers diverse policy prescriptions for reform to confront an evolving and uncertain security environment. Twelve renowned scholars and practitioners of US national security policy take up the question of whether the national security institutions we have are the ones we need to confront an uncertain future. Topics include a characterization of future threats to national security, organizational structure and leadership of national security bureaucracies, the role of the US Congress in national security policy making and oversight, and the importance of strategic planning within the national security enterprise. The book concludes with concrete recommendations for policy makers, most of which can be accomplished under the existing and enduring National Security Act. This book will be of much interest to students of US national security, US foreign policy, Cold War studies, public policy and Internationl Relations in general.
US National Security, Intelligence and Democracy: From the Church Committee to the War on Terror (Studies In Intelligence Ser.)
by Russell MillerThis volume examines the investigation by the 1975 Senate Select Committee ( Church Committee ) into US intelligence abuses during the Cold War, and considers its lessons for the currentwar on terror. This report remains the most thorough public record of America‘s intelligence services, and many of the legal boundaries operating on US intelligence.
US National Security: Policymakers, Processes, and Politics
by Stephen J. Cimbala Sam C. Sarkesian John Allen WilliamsThe main focus of US national security policy has shifted dramatically since the years of the Obama administration, moving away from nation building and counterinsurgency efforts and toward preparing for traditional state-on-state conflict with powerful peers. The sixth edition of US National Security reflects that change. It also addresses such current issues as the impact of an increasingly partisan political process, sharp divisions in public opinion, the ongoing challenges of homeland security, and developments in cyberspace and other possible domains of future warfare. <P><P>Retaining the successful structure and approach of the previous editions, the book clearly introduces and explores the full range of actors, processes, and politics involved in maintaining US national security.
US Naval Aviation, 1898–1945: The Pioneering Years to the Second World War (Images of War)
by Leo MarriottThis pictorial history tells the story of US naval aviation from its early beginnings in the 1920s to its dominance in the Pacific theater of WWII.The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor sank or crippled almost all of the battleships in the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet. But the fleet’s aircraft carriers survived—and soon demonstrated the power of US naval aviation. Thanks to pioneering technology and far-sighted pre-war policy, the US Navy had the necessary ships, aircraft, and crews to turn the tide of the Pacific war.With more than 200 rare photographs, Leo Marriott traces the growth of US naval aviation from the flimsy seaplanes of the first years of the twentieth century to the mighty armadas that challenged those of the Japanese and, after the carrier battles at Coral Sea and Midway, led the advance across the Pacific. Marriott puts special focus on the navy’s first aircraft carriers of the 1920s, the tremendous progress made in the decades between the wars in tactics and strategy, and the innovative design of ships and aircraft themselves.
US Naval Aviation, 1945–2003 (Images of War)
by Leo MarriottIn this the highly illustrated second volume of his history of US naval aviation, Leo Marriott takes the reader through the extraordinary developments in design and capability that transformed American aircraft and aircraft carriers after the Second World War, and he describes the succession of conflicts in which they were deployed. Increasingly, advanced jets replaced propeller-driven aircraft and nuclearpowered carriers allowed the US Navy to project American military power across the world. As the many remarkable photographs in this book show, wherever naval aviation was involved, it played a crucial role, especially in the wars in Korea and Vietnam. The vessels built in the 1940s to fight in the war against Japan gave way to a new generation of super carriers. Supersonic fighters and strike aircraft entered service – the F-8 Crusaders and F-4 Phantoms of the Vietnam era, then the F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet and S-3 Viking of more recent times. Carrier-based helicopters became more important, first for search-and-rescue missions, then for anti-submarine warfare and for landing assault forces. Throughout this period of the Cold War the US Navy’s carriers and aviation served to demonstrate American power worldwide and to counter the threat represented by the Soviet Union’s challenge to US mastery of the seas.
US Naval Aviator
by John White Robert HargisThe US naval aviator of World War II played a pivotal part in the winning of the war. From the warm waters of the Pacific to the icy conditions of the Bering Sea (including the battle of Midway), the Naval aviator was on hand to fight the enemy in any and all conditions. Between 1940 and 1942 the training of the naval aviator lasted eleven months, divided into five separate and distinct phases. From phase one, known as the Elimination or "E" base for short, through to final assignment to a carrier based squadron, the training was demanding and unrelenting.This title examines the life and experiences of the US Naval Aviator in all three types of carrier squadron - fighters (VF), dive-bombers (VB) and the torpedo squadrons (VT). From recruitment to battle, the detail of what it was like to fly and fight for the US Navy is brought vividly to life.
US Naval Strategy and National Security: The Evolution of American Maritime Power (Cass Series: Naval Policy and History)
by Sebastian BrunsThis book examines US naval strategy and the role of American seapower over three decades, from the late 20th century to the early 21st century. This study uses the concept of seapower as a framework to explain the military and political application of sea power and naval force for the United States of America. It addresses the context in which strategy, and in particular US naval strategy and naval power, evolves and how US naval strategy was developed and framed in the international and national security contexts. It explains what drove and what constrained US naval strategy and examines selected instances where American sea power was directed in support of US defense and security policy ends – and whether that could be tied to what a given strategy proposed. The work utilizes naval capstone documents in the framework of broader maritime conceptual and geopolitical thinking, and discusses whether these documents had lasting influences in the strategic mind-set, the force structure, and other areas of American sea power. Overall, this work provides a deeper understanding of the crafting of US naval strategy since the final decade of the Cold War, its contextual and structural framework setting, and its application. To that end, the work bridges the gap between the thinking of American naval officers and planners on the one hand and academic analyses of Navy strategy on the other hand. It also presents the trends in the use of naval force for foreign policy objectives and into strategy-making in the American policy context. This book will be of much interest to students of naval power, maritime strategy, US national security and international relations in general.
US Navy A-1 Skyraider Units of the Vietnam War
by Jim Laurier Rick Burgess Zip RausaOsprey's examination of the A-1 Skyraider Units' participation in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Designed and built as a carrier-based attack aircraft in 1944, the A-1 reached frontline units too late to see combat in World War II (1939-1945). With the advent of jets in the late 1940s, the Skyraider was seen as a dated throwback to the golden age of piston-engined naval aviation. Despite its days seemingly numbered, the A-1 proved to be a huge success in the Korean War. Remaining in production through to 1957, some 3,180 Skyraiders had been built by the time the last one left the Douglas plant. Nicknamed the ''flying dump truck'', the A-1 remained a key component in naval air wings into the 1960s, allowing the aircraft to play its part in the escalating conflict in Vietnam. Both A-1 attack and EA-1F airborne early warning aircraft saw action in Southeast Asia from 1960 through to 1969, when the last examples were finally retired from carrier decks. The A-1s in particular bombed targets in both North and South Vietnam, despite the aircraft being highly vulnerable to enemy flak and fighters. Co-written by a two-tour Vietnam War combat veteran in the A-1, this is the first book that focuses exclusively on the aircraft's service in Vietnam, providing a must-have volume for Vietnam aviation enthusiasts.
US Navy A-7 Corsair II Units of the Vietnam War
by Peter MerskyOsprey's examination of A-7 Corsair II Units of the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Arriving on station with the USS Ranger (CVA-61) in early December 1967, the first Corsair II squadron became operational immediatedly and sustained its first combat loss three weeks later. This book tells how the A-7 soon proved its worth supporting ground operations in South Vietnam. As it continued to serve in the ground support role, the navy swiftly introduced the A-7E which soon ran into difficulties with supply lines - perhaps on account of what many perceived to have been a rushed introduction to service. Once these teething problems were resolved, the A-7E became the primary air-to-ground aircraft of the fleet.
US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942-45
by Tony Bryan Mark StilleDominating the seas during World War II, the US aircraft carrier played a crucial role in every major naval combat of the war. Development of the Essex class began in 1941, and was the largest class of carrier ever built. During the Pacific War it formed the backbone of any fighting force and became renowned for its mighty 'Sunday Punch' - the impressive offensive power of 36 fighter planes, 36 dive bombers, and 18 torpedo planes.The Independence class was a lighter and faster carrier, built after Pearl Harbor, to bring more ships into action as quickly as possible. Alongside the Essex class their crews saw a dramatic change in tactical deployment as they began to form the fast carrier task forces that were so effective in Pacific operations.Featuring an annotated cutaway and artwork detailing both the interior and exterior features of the ships, this book explores the design, development, and deployment of both the Essex and Independence class of light carriers. This sequel to US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1922-45: Prewar classes (New Vanguard 114), provides a detailed exploration of the carriers that were at the forefront of many actions in World War II, including the climatic battles of Phillipine Sea and Leyte Gulf in 1944.
US Navy Carrier Aircraft vs IJN Yamato Class Battleships
by Jim Laurier Mark StilleAs the Pacific War approached a crescendo, the clashes between swarming US Navy carrier aircraft, and the gigantic Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Yamato-class battleships became symbolic of the fortunes of the two nations. They also served as a metaphor for the profound changes in naval technology and doctrine that the war had brought about. The two opposing forces were the most powerful of their kind - the Japanese Yamato and Musashi were the biggest most heavily armored and armed battleships ever built, while US carrier aviation had evolved into a well-oiled, war-winning machine. With detailed analysis of the technical features of the opposing war machines and a gripping account of the fighting itself, this vividly illustrated work presents views from the cockpits of US Navy Divebombers, and down the sights of IJN anti-aircraft guns, during two of the most dramatic naval engagements ever fought. After proving at Pearl Harbor that even the mightiest battleships were vulnerable to air attack, the Japanese would be forced to re-learn the lesson as the American Helldiver and Avenger bomber crews battered and eventually sunk the last remaining jewels of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Never again would a surface fleet be the dominant power at sea.
US Navy Dreadnoughts 1914-45
by Paul Wright Ryan NoppenWhen the United States went to war with Spain in April 1898, few European observers believed the small and relatively inexperienced American navy could achieve a decisive naval victory over an established European colonial power. In less than five months however, two Spanish naval squadrons lay at the bottom of the seas and the once great Spanish Empire ceded its last colonies in Asia and the New World to the upstart Americans. Admiral George Dewey, victor at the battle of Manila Bay, became a demigod in the eyes of the American media and public overnight and the excitement of new conquests overseas breathed new life into the traditional American expansionist doctrine of Manifest Destiny. The American naval hubris that developed in the wake of the Spanish-American War in reality rested on only a handful of modern battleships in a navy that was an obsolescent coastal defense force only ten years before. No one understood this better than Theodore Roosevelt. An expansionist who fought with distinction during the war with Spain and an advocate of the sea power theories of Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt knew the present American navy was not strong enough to defend American shores against the larger navies of Europe let alone those of a new empire. European powers still skirted the Monroe Doctrine as evidenced by the British-German-Italian blockade of Venezuela from 1902-03 and the Dutch FI Venezuela War of 1908, and the United States was increasingly threatened in the Philippines, Samoa, and the Caroline and Marshall Islands by the imperial ambitions of Germany and Japan. To remedy the lack of naval preparedness for America's sudden emergence as a world power, Roosevelt and the United States embarked on rapid naval building program. To emphasize America's growing naval prowess and to demonstrate his "speak softly and carry a big stick" approach to foreign policy, Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet, a squadron composed of sixteen battleships (all commissioned after 1898), to circumnavigate the globe, a great technical and logistical feat for the time. As impressive as the spectacle of the Great White Fleet was, all of the ships in it were quickly being rendered obsolescent by the dreadnought-type battleships coming into service in Great Britain and Germany. This did not catch the United States off-guard however for as the Great White Fleet was completing its world cruise, the USS South Carolina, America's first dreadnought whose design pre-dated that of HMS Dreadnought, was already fitting out. By the beginning of World War I, the United States possessed the third largest navy in the world and had ten dreadnoughts in service with four more under construction.
US Navy F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom
by Jim Laurier Tony HolmesSince the limited Desert Fox campaign against Iraq in December 1998, the Tomcat has been integral to virtually all combat operations involving the US Navy in the Arabian Gulf. Indeed, on every carrier deployment to the Persian Gulf since Desert Fox, the F-14 unit(s) on station has ventured into 'The Sand Box' over southern Iraq and prosecuted targets operating in contravention to United Nations security council resolutions. This book covers the F-14 Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-present) actions against battlefield targets and integrated air defence sites, command and control centres, regime leadership targets and military installations in Baghdad, Tikrit, Mosul and Kirkuk.
US Navy F-4 Phantom II MiG Killers 1965-70
by Jim Laurier Brad ElwardFor every American fighter pilot involved in the Vietnam War (1955-1975), the ultimate goal was to 'kill a MiG'. In eight years of conflict 43 Vietnamese Peoples Air Force aircraft were claimed by US Navy and US Marine Corps Phantom II crews, and one single ace crew produced. Navy Phantom IIs scored the first kills of the Vietnam War, in April 1965, as well as scoring the last in January 1973. This volume charts the successes of the navy fighter crews as they encountered 'MiGs, Missiles and AAA' over the jungles of North Vietnam.
US Navy F-4 Phantom II MiG Killers 1972-73
by Jim Laurier Brad ElwardThe second of two books on the Navy's Phantom II MiG killers of the Vietnam War (1955-1975), this book covers the numerous actions fought out over North Vietnam during the Linebacker I and II operations of 1972-73. No fewer than 17 MiGs were downed during this period, five of them by the Navy's sole aces of the conflict, Lts Randy Cunningham and Willie Driscoll of VF-96. Drawing on primary sources such as surviving Phantom II aircrew and official navy documentation, the author has assembled the most precise appraisal of fighter operations involving US Navy Phantom II units and those elusive MiGs ever seen in print.
US Navy Hornet Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Part One)
by Tony Holmes Chris DaveyThe first installment examining the US Hornet Units' participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-present). The F/A-18 Hornet in its various guises was the 'universal soldier' of OIF, with around 250 seeing combat. Flown by various squadrons and groups, the Hornet attacked a range of targets including tanks of the various Iraqi Republican Guard units and government buildings housing elements of the Baath party regime. Apart from its ability to drop precision munitions such as laser-guided bombs, the Hornet was also capable of launching anti-radar missiles and acting as an aerial tanker and reconnaissance platform for other strike types. This book explores the Hornet's versatility which has enhanced its reputation as one of the world's leading strike-fighter aircraft.
US Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Atlantic War
by Jim Laurier Ragnar RagnarssonSeveral books have been written about US naval air patrol operations in World War II (1939-1945), but none do full justice to the role played by patrol squadrons of the US Navy in the longest, most bitterly fought campaign of the war, the Battle of the Atlantic. From the Arctic to the Equator, anti-submarine aircraft of the US Navy patrolled both sides of the stormy Atlantic alongside their Allied counterparts. They escorted merchant convoys through the submarine-infested waters, protecting the crucial lifeline from the United States to Great Britain and the Mediterranean that carried troops and supplies for the ultimate liberation of North Africa and Europe. The PBY Catalina, in which most of these vital missions were flown, was the most successful flying boat ever designed. Built in greater numbers than any other, it served the maritime air forces of all principle Allied nations, as well as the four branches of the US military. Except for a handful of Martin PBM Mariners, the Catalina was the only long range patrol bomber in the US Navy's inventory when the USA entered World War II. Though considered obsolete in 1939, it served in significant numbers until war's end and for many years after. Its total contribution to victory can only be surmised and the number of ships and lives saved by the PBY's mere presence over convoys will never be known. However, US Navy PBYs sank 19 Axis submarines, all identified by the author from contemporary evidence. Photographs of the Catalina in service in the Atlantic are rare but the author has assembled over 80 through research in official archives and private collections.Related TitlesPV Ventura/Harpoon Units of World War II (Combat)Kriegsmarine U-boats 1939-45 (New Vanguard)Sunderland Squadrons of World War II (Combat)
US Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Pacific War
by Jim Laurier Louis DornyAlthough designed in the mid-1930s and in squadron service several years prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, the PBY Catalina proved its soundness in combat throughout the four years that World War II raged across the Pacific. Deadly in its primary role as a submarine hunter, the PBY was the scourge of the Imperial Japanese Navy's submarine force. Its amphibious traits also made the aircraft well suited to air-sea rescue, and thousands of Allied airmen were saved from a watery grave by PBY crews. Using personal interviews, war diaries and combat reports combined with original Japanese records and books, Louis B Dorny provides a view on the role of the Catalina from both sides of the war. Illustrated with over 80 photographs and color profiles detailing aircraft markings, this is the definitive history of and insight into the PBY's use by the US Navy and Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II (1939-1945).
US Navy SEALs
by Mir Bahmanyar Michael WelplyAfter the United States' failures in special operations missions during the late 1970s and 1980, a decision was made to revamp its unconventional military capabilities. The subsequent reorganization and redesignation in 1983 created the SEALs as they are known today, and later the all-encompassing command for US special operations forces under which they operate. Since then, these Navy Special Warfare (NSW) forces have operated in Grenada, the Persian Gulf, Panama, Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, and Liberia. NSW units have also participated in the ongoing missions of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. This book looks at the history, organization, training, uniforms, equipment and missions of the US Navy SEALs since their redesignation until the recent conflict in the Gulf.
US Navy and Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk Units of the Vietnam War 1963-1973
by Jim Laurier Peter MerskySeeing considerable combat in the nearly 50 years since its service introduction, the Skyhawk was involved in the Vietnam War (1955-1975) from the very beginning. Navy and Marine Corps A-4s quickly established a presence in Southeast Asia, flying from aircraft carriers and land bases in South Vietnam in thousands of sorties against the entrenched communist forces from Hanoi to the communist supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This book includes details of missions including the siege of Khe Sanh, Lam Son and the contentious invasion of Laos and Cambodia in 1971 and gives a fascinating account of the variety of missions pilots were asked to perform. These operations were not without risk, and large numbers of A-4s were shot down and their pilots killed or, like Edward Alvarez, imprisoned as POWs for up to eight years in appalling conditions.Officially endorsed by the Skyhawk Association and including first-hand accounts from veteran pilots who flew one of the greatest attack aircraft ever, Peter Mersky provides an insightful account of some of the most thrilling aerial combat missions that took place during Vietnam and the pilots who flew them. The first book to focus on the A-4's Vietnam service, this title is supported by previously unpublished colour and black and white photographs with 30 detailed colour profiles.