National Defense University

From Gettysburg to the Gulf and Beyond: Coping with Revolutionary Technological Change in Land Warfare National Defense University

Publisher Marketing: TODAY, AT THE CLOSE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, technology is changing at a pace without precedence in human history. One day's marvel becomes a necessity of ordinary life the next. Rapid technological change permeates the whole of human existence, exhausting our mental ability to comprehend and cope. In the military realm, we have won the most technologically sophisticated war ever fought. With lightning speed, hightech weaponry annihilated a massive Iraqi force while the world watched minute-by-minute from its living rooms, leading to a fundamental question of critical importance to the armed services and the nation: How does our military--as an institution--- deal with technological change? How well have we done it in the past, and how well are we prepared to do it in the future? What approach should we use? How do we even frame the issues? Herein lies the subject of this paper. Readers who seek exciting acronym-spiced accounts of futuristic battles fought with their favorite high-tech weaponry are encouraged to look elsewhere. The issue here is much more mundane-- and much more important--than specific applications of technology: it is, rather, our basic ability to comprehend the total impact of technology on warfare. If, however, you suspect this issue is dull and uninspiring stuff, let me conjure up a few mental images for you.