Warfare Technology Research Articles

Selective Promotion in Officer Cohorts

ONE APPROACH to the study of social and organizational change is the study of life histories of strategic cohorts.' This approach is particularly appropriate for military elites because of the marked age grading in education, selection, and career development. Thus, the officer who is slow in his movement through the ranks is clearly recognized as over-age in grade. Cohort analysis must be seen in the light of external events affecting the cohort. The demands placed upon the American military establishment during this century have altered the nature of relations between the and military sectors of society. American involvement in two world wars and in postwar world politics has required a vast expansion of the armed forces which was achieved through widespread enlistment and conscription of civilian soldiers. The increasingly complex technology of warfare and of military organization, moreover, required professional skills other than those traditionally taught within the service academies. Thus, there has been a tendency toward reciprocal of the and military spheres.2 The defining characteristics of this interpenetration are (1) a convergence of the skills required in the and military spheres as the technological bases of both systems become more complex; (2) a broadening of the base of military recruitment generally and of officer recruitment specifically, so that nonacademy graduates are admitted to the officer corps; (3) the presence of personnel employed within the military system.3 The values generated within organizations such as the military provide a basis for the development of processes aimed at maintaining the structural integrity of these organizations. These processes may be said to be maintaining the boundaries of the organization as a system.4 The broadening of the base of military officer recruitment, which causes newly

Technology and Cities: The Dilemma of the Modern Metropolis

MODERN cities have grown large on the basis of extensive manufacturing and trade, which reflect the high development of production and transportation technology. Many problems of the contemporary metropolis—especially its vulnerability to the newer technology of warfare—trace back to the concentration and congestion of the population. The dispersal of urban populations may be a practical policy for reducing these problems if it is consonant with trends in the factors affecting population distribution.

Sources of Tension Between Western Europe and the United States

The Atlantic Alliance has undergone a transformation which shows its enduring strength, its limits, and the stresses with which it must continuously cope. Its strength lies in the community of interests between the United States and the nations of Western Europe. Its limits are circumscribed by the limita tions of these interests to the defense of Western Europe. The stresses to which it is subject result from changes in the technology of warfare and in the over-all distribution of power, the "new look" of Soviet foreign policy, organizational deficiencies, divergence of policies and personalities. The rock of common in terests upon which the Atlantic Alliance is built remains intact, but its surface is rougher than it used to be and the structure built upon it is in need of repair.

Churchill as an Authority

THOSE who will be responsible for the passage of new reservist legislation would do well to read at least one chapter in Sir Winston Churhill's book Their Finest Hour. Indeed, all through his six-volume history of the World II period Churhill makes reference to the role of science and technology in modern warfare but his comments in the chapter Wizard War are especially pertinent. The first paragraph of the chapter sets the stage and demonstrates conclusively how thoroughly Churchill appreciated the importance of science although he did not completely understand the details—During the human struggle between the British and German air forces, between pilot and pilot, between anti-aircraft batteries and aircraft, between ruthless bombing and the fortitude of the British people, another conflict was going on step by step, month by month. This was the secret war, whose battles were lost or won unknown to the public, and only with difficulty ...

Record War Output Established by Chemical Industry in 1944

Constantly shifting and growing demands of this ultra-mechanized was necessitated large expansion of the chemical industry in 1944. Such expansion demanded a high degree of adaptability and technical skill at a time when shortages and manpower problems were acute. The obstacles overcomes serve to emphasize the achievements and are relatively unimportant when the benefits to be enjoyed after peace is were are contemplated. TECHNOLOGICAL warfare as it has been applied in our two-front war has called for continued expansion during 1944 within the chemical industry, whose products enter into the processing and fabrication of virtually every article used in combat. In effect, this ultra-mechanized war is being conducted from a chemical base which encompasses explosives and shells, planes, tanks, rockets, incendiaries, and smoke screens. In addition, the chemical industry directly serves the war effort through the antimalarials, sulfa drugs, penicillin, vitamins, and therapeutic medicines essential for the trea...