Full colour and black and white illustrations throughout. Center of Military History publication CMH 70-118-1. Describes the achievement from 1989 through 2005 of the United States Army of a centrally directed and institutionally driven transformation relevant to ground warfare that exploited Information Age technology, adapted to post-Cold War strategic circumstances, and integrated into parallel Department of Defense efforts. Combines participant observation with solid scholarship. Explains what happened in the transformation of the Army over the past twenty years, why it happened, and who was involved. Presents the hard choices, accepted risks, processes of decision making and institutional results.

The involuntary soldiers of an unmilitary people such were the forces that American military planners had to pit against hardened Axis veterans, yet prewar unpreparedness dictated that whole divisions of such men would go to war under the supervision of tiny professional cadres. Much to his surprise and delight, Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall found that the 88th Infantry Division, his first draftee division, "fought like wildcats" and readily outclassed its German adversaries while measuring up to the best Regular Army divisions. Draftee Division is at once a history of the 88th Division, an analysis of American unit mobilization during World War II, and an insight into the savage Italian Campaign. After an introduction placing the division in historical context, separate chapters address personnel, training, logistics, and overseas deployment. Another chapter focuses upon preliminary adjustments to the realities of combat, after which two chapters trace the 88th's climactic drive through the Gustav Line into Rome itself. A final chapter takes the veteran 88th to final victory. Of particular interest are observations concerning differences connected with mobilization between the 88th and less successful divisions and discussions of the contemporary relevance of the 88th's experiences. Draftee Division is especially rich in its sources. John Sloan Brown, with close ties to the division, has secured extensive and candid contributions from veterans. To these he has added a full array of archival and secondary sources. The result is a definitive study of American cadremen creating a division out of raw draftees and leading them on to creditable victories. Its findings will be important for military and social historians and for students of defense policy

This is the story of how the United States Army responded to the challenges of the end of the Cold War by transforming itself into the most capable ground force in the world today. It argues that from 1989 through 2005 the U.S. Army attempted, and largely achieved, a centrally directed and institutionally driven transformation relevant to ground warfare that exploited Information Age technology, adapted to post-Cold War strategic circumstances, and integrated into parallel Department of Defense efforts. The process not only modernized equipment, it also substantially altered doctrine, organization, training, administrative and logistical practices, and the service culture. Kevlar Legions further contends that the digitized expeditionary Army has withstood the test of combat, performing superbly with respect to deployment and high-end conventional combat and capably with respect to low-intensity conflict and the counterinsurgency challenges of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Full colour illustrations throughout. Center of Military History publication CMH 70-118-1. Describes the achievement from 1989 through 2005 of the United States Army of a centrally directed and institutionallydriven transformation relevantto ground warfare that exploited Information Age technology, adapted to post-Cold War strategic circumstances, and integrated into parallelDepartment of Defense efforts. Combines participant observation with solid scholarship. Explains what happened in the transformation of the Army over the past twenty years, why it happened, and who was involved. Presents the hard choices, accepted risks, processes of decision making and institutional results.