Title: The masks of war :
Authors: Builder, Carl H.
Date: 1989
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press,
Physical description: xiii, 240 pages ; 24 cm.
Language: English
LC classification: U
Abstract: Why was the Navy ready to clear the skies over the Persian Gulf, yet surprised by the mines laid under it? Why is it that the Army is always prepared for war in Europe, but was caught off guard in Korea and Vietnam? And why is the Air Force indifferent to "Star Wars"? In The Masks of War Carl H. Builder asks what motives lie behind the puzzling and often contradictory behavior of America's military forces. The answer, he finds, has little to do with what party controls the White House or who writes the budget. Far more powerful -- and glacially resistant to change -- are the entrenched institutions and distinct "personalities" of the three armed services themselves. ON THE US ARMY CHIEFS OF STAFF PROFESSIONAL READING LIST 2012.
Contents: Personalities -- The Masks of War -- Five Faces of the Service Personalities -- The Service Identities and Behavior -- Strategy -- What Is Strategy? -- Service Strategies -- The Air Strategy -- The Navy and Strategy -- The Army and Strategy -- Analysis -- What Is Analysis? -- Service Styles toward Analysis -- Images of Conflict -- Implications -- The Service Concepts of War -- Military Commitments to Combat -- Implications for Military Planning -- Implications for Regional Security -- Prospects -- The Army's Identity Crisis -- Implications for the Future.
Notes: Includes index.
Subject headings (LCSH): Military planning--United States.; Strategy.; United States--Armed Forces.; United States--Military policy.; United States. Armed Forces