| Abstract |
"The US military must be continually reshaped to adapt to evolving technologies, shifting adversaries, and a changing social environment for its personnel. However, introducing reform into the vast Department of Defense and its service branches is notoriously difficult. This book uses history as a guide for leading successful change in the Pentagon. To illuminate pathways, Dave Oliver and Anand Toprani have studied the experience of the Navy during four key periods of disruptive transformation: the late 1940s Revolt of the Admirals, the rocky implementation of Secretary Robert McNamara's systems analysis, the fallout and need to remake the military after the Vietnam War, and the paradigm shift after the Cold War. In the second part of the book, they examine the roles of civilian political appointees, Congress, and private industry in influencing defense innovation. Oliver and Toprani's analysis leverages insights from historical documents, previously unpublished interviews, and Oliver's own experience as a senior Navy officer and defense industry executive. They find that major change usually requires a shock event to proceed it, and that innovation must be a collaborative process between civilian leaders and the military brass, not imposed by one or the other. Furthermore, Congress is not effective at influencing change, and the experience of the private sector is generally not well suited to the public sector. This book will be essential reading for the US defense community, policymakers, and scholars and students of security studies and military history"-- Provided by publisher. |
