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"Turning Victory Into Success: Military Operations After the
Campaign" was the title of a recent US Army Training and Doctrine
Command/Combat Studies Institute military symposium at Fort
Leavenworth. The presenters looked at the imperative of linking
battlefield success to political objectives across both tactical
and strategic spectrums. One of the symposium's salient points was
that overwhelming military accomplishment does not automatically
translate to overall success. Major Tim Karcher's Understanding the
"Victory Disease," From the Little Bighorn to Mogadishu and Beyond
presents further evidence supporting the above premise. With
Operations ENDURING and IRAQI FREEDOM in the foreground today, it
is fitting that this study should focus on military operations
undertaken in the immediate aftermath of extraordinary military
victory. US military planners must possess a solid foundation of
military history and cultural awareness to ensure battlefield and
strategic success today and in the future. Future conflicts are not
likely to resemble those of the past, whether they are conflicts
from dim memory, the previous decade, or last year. Each brings its
own challenges and dynamics. One thing is certain, however, as
Major Karcher points out: The US military cannot rest on the
laurels of previous campaigns. Major Karcher's study makes an
important contribution to military history as a warfighter's tool
to refine critical thinking and adaptability. As a result of
America's national strength and its demonstrated military prowess,
US forces are quite susceptible to falling prey to the effects of
the "victory disease." The disease, by definition, brings defeat to
a previously victorious nation or military due to three basic
symptoms: arrogance, complacency, and the habit of using
established patterns to solve military problems. The growth of the
victory disease can best be analyzed through the study of
historical examples where the symptoms become quite clear. This
work uses the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn and the 1993
actions of Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia to highlight the
disease's effects. Studying the victory disease can help one avoid
succumbing to its effects and ultimately find an effective
vaccination. As this work will argue, the only real vaccine for the
disease is found in increased study of military history in the
Officer Education System, particularly through focusing on
campaigns and battles where defeat may be attributed to the
sickness. Simple awareness of the problem prevents one from falling
prey to the disease, thereby creating immunity.
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