http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/10949493

Can the Navy afford a third posture drawdown?

Military triumphs are well and good, but it is widely agreed that the finest display of command is found in an orderly fighting withdrawal. Noteworthy rearguard actions like Corunna, Dunkirk, and Hungnam are interesting not just to balladeers, but to professional instructors who know that maintaining force integrity in the face of severe pressure ranks among the most difficult tests a commander might face. Though a far less dramatic matter - if hardly much of an inspiration for, say, a monument - overseeing a successful force structure drawdown likewise can be thought of as the acid test for posture planners. Maintaining a coherent force able to fulfill its missions in a turbulent political and strategic environment, all the while grappling with the myriad details that occupy force managers especially during a force retrenchment-this is a tall order. We recently completed such a drawdown, occasioned mainly by the end of the Cold War. Many questions about the Navy's future course remain, but for now and for some time to come, our operational options will be shaped by our recent divestiture.

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