Technology and the American Way of War

Summary

Thomas G. Mahnken’s Technology and the American Way of War Since 1945 provides a fairly detailed overview of the interaction between and interdependence of technology and the U.S. Armed Forces since World War II. He asserts that technology has shaped the services and provides numerous examples to support his argument. He also asserts that the services have shaped technology to fit their culture and suit their purposes and provides numerous examples. His primary thesis, however, is that the services shaped technology MORE often than technology shaped the services.

Mahnken documents how the integration of technology into the military influenced its organization, mission, and its culture. He describes how new organizations and doctrines have been created to manage and exploit new technologies, including cases where different services pursued the same technologies in different ways, often in competition with one another. Even in instances where a collaborative effort would have proven beneficial, the services generally elected to aggressively defend their “domains” and work independently of each other. Their cultures proved to be an almost immutable force in the face of necessary changes.

Mahnken brings the argument full circle by asserting that America’s traditional way of war – using overwhelming force against the enemy -- has re-emerged in spite of technology. He opines that America can maintain technological superiority by employing its technology exploitation model with regard to the information revolution. In addition, he points out that America’s current enemies are unable to compete directly with its technological conventional superiority and are having to resort to weapons of mass destruction and irregular warfare strategies.

Analysis and Evaluation

The general reluctance of the services to be shaped (reorganized) by technology has very little to do with technology. That reluctance has existed since the...