Tribal Ways of War: Combat Branch Conceptualizations of Warfare in the United States Army, 1983 - 1999
Abstract
This thesis addresses the questions: how did the three primary combat branches, or tribes, of the United States Army – the Infantry, Armor, and Artillery – conceptualize warfare from 1983 to 1999? Additionally, how does that relate to the Army’s military culture, and strategic environment? Primary research of the Infantry, Armor, and Artillery’s professional journals is used to understand how intra-organizational units’ conceptualizations of warfare related and interacted with the international system, the American national security apparatus, and the Army’s military culture. These conceptualizations were characterized by complex relationships with events, where they were influenced by and shaped responses to changes in the international system, fluctuations in the American national security apparatus, and internal dynamics within the Army itself. Ultimately, this demonstrates the complexity of militaries and provides greater insight into how organizations function, but, more importantly, it reveals the power of tribal conceptualizations to shape responses in a bottom-up manner.
Description
Keywords
Military Studies, Political Science--International Law and Relations
Citation
Stephenson, H. (2017). Tribal Ways of War: Combat Branch Conceptualizations of Warfare in the United States Army, 1983 - 1999 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28527