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The Army before last military transformation and the impact of nuclear weapons on the US Army during the early Cold War

Approved for Public Release, Distribution is Unlimited / This thesis analyzes the impact of nuclear weapon on the doctrine and force structure of the US Army during the Early Cold War (1947-1957). It compares these impacts with those that occurred on the US Air Force and Navy during that time. Nuclear weapons brought a new aspect to warfare. Their unprecedented economy of destructive power changed the way nations viewed warfare. For the Army, nuclear weapons presented a dual challenge. The Army faced a US security policy centered on the massive use of these weapons; the Army also struggled to understand how these weapons would be utilized on the battlefield. The nation's security policy of large scale strategic nuclear bombardment of the Soviet Union favored the Air Force and to a lesser degree the Navy. The Army viewed this policy as single minded and purposely limiting the nations options to all out nuclear war or deference to another national will. In all the Army faced an internal struggle to incorporate these weapons and an external struggle to retain a useful position within the US Defense establishment during this period. / Major, United States Army

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:nps.edu/oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/1398
Date09 1900
CreatorsKinman, Bret C.
ContributorsMoran, Daniel, Hoffman, Richard, Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)., National Security Affairs
PublisherMonterey California. Naval Postgraduate School
Source SetsNaval Postgraduate School
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatxii, 81 p. ;, application/pdf
RightsThis publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.

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