Military brass vs. civilian academics at the National War College
Subtitle: a clash of cultures
By: Howard J. Wiarda
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Lanham, Md
Language: eng
Number of pages: 165
ISBN-13: 9780739150856; 9780739150870
Subjects: Military education; National War College (U.S.); Military Sociology; Academic freedom
Description: The National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., is the apex of the American system of Professional Military Education (PME) Schools. Yet, despite its prestige, not all is right at the College. There is a festering conflict between the military brass who run the school and the civilian academics who teach there. The curriculum is outdated, the courses are old-fashioned, and the college has completely failed to prepare a new generation of military leaders for guerrilla terrorism, asymmetrical warfare of the kind we face in Iraq and Afghanistan, and democracy promotion and nation building. In this book, the author examines the conflict between the two cultures and the issues--tenure, academic freedom, research, teaching--that divide them.
Table of contents: title: Geography and history; title: Command structure and organization; title: The National War College program; title: Students and faculty; title: Traveling for NWC and for myself; title: The military mind; title: The academic mind; title: Conclusion.