The Culture of Military Organizations

by Peter R. Mansoor (editor), Williamson Murray (Editor)

Culture has an enormous influence on military organizations and their success or failure in war. Cultural biases often result in unstated assumptions that have a deep impact on the making of strategy, operational planning, doctrinal creation, and the organization and training of armed forces. Except in unique circumstances culture grows slowly, embedding so deeply that members often act unconsciously according to its dictates. Of all the factors that are involved in military effectiveness, culture is perhaps the most important. Yet, it also remains the most difficult to describe and understand, because it entails so many external factors that impinge, warp, and distort its formation and continuities. The sixteen case studies in this volume examine the culture of armies, navies, and air forces from the Civil War to the Iraq War and how and why culture affected their performance in the ultimate arbitration of war.

Genres: Military Fiction, Leadership, History, War, Nonfiction, Military History

472 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 17, 2019

Reviews

[Barron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting subject on which it is alas difficult to find good scholarship and analysis. This volume does its best to try, and the result is an uneven set of essays by various authors writing to the general theme.

[Shihab Shahriar Khan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish, stopped around 50%.

I am conflicted about it. I don't think this book is bad. But this seemed primarily written by academics, for fellow academics. Problem is that I'm just an ameteur civilian who simply wanted to learn about military culture.

I hated this adamic style of prose: both the style of it, all those 5 line long sentences with lots of big, dense vocabulary, but also the content. For a book about military culture there was surprisingly little insight into the ideology or worldview of people who actually make up a military. For example, the chapter on japanese army did provide some bits of history and offered arguments like "japanese education system was dominated by ex-military personnel", but they weren't nearly enough to explain the quite fanatical patriotism of japanese army during ww2 or what key cultural forces set it apart from other asian or western forces. In the chapter on Indian army, author claims that bringing people from many different castes and races together didn't lead to any trouble as anticipated. I am from Indian subcontinent, yet this managed to surprise me. But again, there was little to explain how army managed to pull off this incredible feat.

Instead, the space was filled by lots of history and vaporous analysis. I understand history is necessary to talk about culture, but I don't think the book managed to strike a balance between talking about big important events that anyone can find in wikipedia and actual thought process of people involved that one can't. The quotes of actual people involved, scattered throughout the book, I think gave me far better idea about those people's beliefs than anything else (e.g. the IDF chapter in particular).

I don't think ameteur civilians like me, junior military officers/soldiers, or anybody outside academic circle would really enjoy it.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume takes a look at the culture of different militaries, focusing mostly on different branches of the US military. I came into the book thinking that it might be more about how different cultures produce different forms of violence, violations of IHL, etc, but the book is really written from a military perspective about how the bureaucratic structure and culture of a military affects its effectiveness and ability to innovate.

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Excellent book for first-timers, and I have learnt a lot personally.

However, the book suffers from excessive dedication to the US civil war, a lack of analysis on 'older' (Romans, Alexander the Great, etc.) and non-traditional but successful military organisations (Vietnam & Afghanistan). A pity, could've been a better title as volume 1 of an ongoing series.

Update...
After what happened in Afghanistan... I've downgraded this book to 2 stars.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, providing a very informative discussion on the culture of various historical and modern day military organizations. The work collects 16 essays on topics as wide ranging as the U.S. Civil War’s Army of Northern Virginia to the modern day U.S. Air Force. The book follows the (usual) pattern of covering the American, British, and German militaries, but also throws in some noteworthy other organizations, such as the Russian, Indian, Iraqi, and Israeli armies. The forces fighting across three mediums of combat, Land, Sea, and Air, are covered; no Cyber Force or Space Force yet, but their day will come. As a caveat, the book tends to concentrate (mostly, but not entirely) on the senior decision making bodies which dominated strategic and operational decision making within each military. Other than a few of the more informative essays, most of the work tends to concentrate on the cultural forces which influence the Generals and Admirals (and by extension the Colonels and Captains seeking Flag rank) - a very specific subset of a military culture writ-large. This practice puts front and center in the essays those academic institutions and doctrinal guidance meant to influence these senior decision makers. The cultural forces effecting force readiness or tactical warfighting are, at best, only obliquely touched upon by the majority of the authors. That quibble on content aside, the wide variety of writing styles and analytical approaches helps to break up the book and concentrate the reader’s focus. Each author approaches their study of culture, even their definition of it, from a different angle. Kudos to the editors for encouraging this variety of methodology. The result is a great book for anyone wanting to develop a wider view of their own organization and an understanding of how a positive culture can be a resource multiplier. Highly recommended for any student of strategic thought or operational art.

[Brian Thorson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first observations one makes when joining a new organization is the culture. This is because it is often felt and experienced and is reflected in relational structure, symbols, and communication.

This book reviews more than a dozen case studies spanning time and country providing a broad perspective on organizational culture within militaries. It’s important because we all experience the cultures we are part of and we also interact with and impact these cultures. Better understanding them, how they were established, and how they can be impacted better equips leaders to establish positive cultures best suited to care for people and accomplish the mission.

[Dagnija · Rating 2 out of 5]

īss atskats pasaules konfliktos ar daudz nevajadzīgi gudriem vārdiem

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may have to read this again because it was great and insightful. Great comparison work and detailed study. Thought provoking.

[Dusan Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Táto silno akademická kniha obsahuje kapitoly, ktoré sa dajú čítať aj samostatne, a dá sa k nim viackrát vrátiť. Do každej z nich autori napáskovali veľké množstvo historických faktov a okolností. Témou knihy je primárne sa sústrediť na založenie, rozvoj a vybudovanie vojenskej organizácie a vplyv kultúry na všetky tieto procesy. Unikátny produkt, ktorý by sme mohli skopírovať aj v našom regióne.