Technology and Military Doctrine: Essays on a Challenging Relationship

174 Pages·2004·0.678 MB·English

by  Jr. I. B. Holley

Technology and Military Doctrine
Essays on a Challenging Relationship
I. B. HOLLEY JR.
Major General, USAF, Retired
Air University Press
Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
August 2004
Air University Library Cataloging Data
Holley, I. B. (Irving Brinton), 1919–
Technology and military doctrine : essays on a challenging relationship / I. B. Holley,
Jr.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-58566-127-9
1. Military doctrine––United States. 2. Military doctrine––Effect of technological in-
novations on. 3. United States. Air Force––History. 4. Military art and science––United
States. I. Title.
358.4009––dc22
Disclaimer
Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of
the editor and do not necessarily represent the views of Air University, the United States Air
Force, the Department of Defense, or any other US government agency.Cleared for public re-
lease:distribution unlimited.
Air University Press
131 West Shumacher Avenue
Maxwell AFB AL36112-6615
http://aupress.maxwell.af.mil
ii
Doctrinal inadequacy is no less often the cause of de-
feat, or of unnecessary reverses, than is technological
backwardness.
––Colin S. Gray
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
Contents
Essay Page
DISCLAIMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
EPIGRAPH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1 THE ROLE OF DOCTRINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 THE DOCTRINAL PROCESS: SOME
SUGGESTED STEPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3 CONCEPTS, DOCTRINES, PRINCIPLES . . . . . . . 19
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4 SOME SEMINAL THINKERS ON
TECHNOLOGY AND DOCTRINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5 WEAPONS AND DOCTRINE:
A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
6 INSIGHTS ON TECHNOLOGY AND
DOCTRINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
7 OF SABER CHARGES, ESCORT FIGHTERS,
AND SPACECRAFT: THE SEARCH FOR
DOCTRINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
v
Essay Page
8 LOOKING BACKWARD TO SEE AHEAD
IN SPACE: REFLECTIONS ON THE NEED
FOR SPACE DOCTRINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
9 A MODEST PROPOSAL: MAKING DOCTRINE
MORE MEMORABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
10 FIFTY QUESTIONS FOR DOCTRINE WRITERS:
MEANS ARE AS IMPORTANT AS ENDS . . . . . . . 131
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
11 THE DYNAMICS OF DOCTRINAL
DEVELOPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
FURTHER READINGS ON DOCTRINE . . . . . . . . 157
Illustrations
Figure
1 Terminology Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2 Doctrine Continuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
3 Doctrine Development Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4 Formulation of Tactics and Techniques . . . . . . 145
5 Doctrine Distillation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Tables
1 Doctrinal Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
2 Illustrative Example 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
3 Illustrative Example 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
vi
About the Author
Professor I. B. Holley Jr. is an emeritus member of the De-
partment of History, Duke University, Durham, North Car-
olina, where he has served since 1947. He taught US social and
intellectual history with special interest in military history and
the history of technology. Among his better known writings are
Ideas and Weapons: Exploitation of the Aerial Weapon by the
United States in World War I; A Study in the Relationship of
Technological Advance, Military Doctrine, and the Development
of Weapons (Yale University Press, 1953), reprinted by Archon
Books (1971) and the Government Printing Office (1983 and
1997); Buying Aircraft: Air Materiel Procurement for the Army
Air Forces, a volume in the Official History of the US Army in
World War II (1964); and a biography, General John M. Palmer:
Citizen Soldiers and the Army of Democracy, published by
Greenwood Press in 1982. His specialty is the field of military
doctrine. Although retired, Professor Holley still teaches un-
dergraduate and graduate students.
Professor Holley enlisted in the Army Air Forces in World War
II, served as an aerial gunner instructor, and returned to pri-
vate life after five years of active duty. He retired in February
1981 as a major general in the Air Force after nearly 40 years
as a reservist. In his final duty assignment he served as assis-
tant to the commander of Air University, Maxwell Air Force
Base, Montgomery, Alabama.
Professor Holley was for 10 years chairman of the Advisory
Committee on History (appointed by the secretary of the Air
Force) and has been a member of the National Aeronautics and
vii
Space Administration’s history advisory committee. He has been
a trustee of the American Military Institute and is currently a
member of the advisory boards of Air Power History, the Air and
Space Power Journal, and the Air Force Journal of Logistics. In
1974 he gave the Harmon Memorial Lecture at the Air Force
Academy, “An Enduring Challenge: The Problem of Air Force
Doctrine.” During the academic year 1974–75, he was visiting
professor of military history at the United States Military
Academy, West Point, New York; in 1978–79 he held a similar
appointment at the National Defense University in Washington,
D.C. Professor Holley has frequently lectured at the Air War Col-
lege, the Army War College, the Army Command and General
Staff College, and the Pentagon. He also has taught at the Ma-
rine Corps University at Quantico, Virginia, and at the Mil-
itärhögskolan, the Military Staff College, in Sweden. He has been
invited to give papers in Israel, Germany, and England.
Professor Holley received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Am-
herst College (1940) and a Master of Arts (1942) and Doctor of
Philosophy (1947) from Yale University where he received the
Tew Prize as the outstanding scholar in history in 1941 and
the Townshend Prize for the best dissertation in 1947. He re-
ceived Social Science Research Council Fellowships in 1955
and 1961 and was a Smithsonian Institution Fellow in 1968.
He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aero-
nautics and Astronautics. In 1975 he received the Outstand-
ing Civilian Service medal from the US Army, and in 1979 he
received the Exceptional Civilian Service medal from the US
Air Force, which also awarded him the Distinguished Service
Medal and the Legion of Merit.
viii
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the Publication Review Board of
the Air University Press for selecting this manuscript for publi-
cation. I extend my sincere thanks to Thomas Lobenstein and
Carolyn McCormack for their conscientious editorial assistance
and to Dr. Jim Titus who first suggested the idea of publishing
an anthology of my doctrinal writings.
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