Author Description

This monograph analyzes three case studies and compares them to determine some of the critical factors behind models of successful and unsuccessful innovation. These case studies include the German and French Armies and their mechanized doctrine development 1919-1939 and the U.S. Army's autonomous robotic doctrine development 2005 - 2025. The twenty-first century provides a challenging, complex, and dynamic operational environment for US military planners to effectively link tactical ways and means to achieve strategic ends and to ultimately enforce US national policy. The US Army's current Unified Action doctrine states that Unified Land Operations must be executed through decisive action, and by means of the two core competencies of combined arms maneuver and wide area security.4 This doctrine outlines a wide-ranging mission set for land component forces, and therefore maneuver officers will need to develop innovative solutions to effectively train and prepare Soldiers to rapidly respond to a variety of these world-wide contingencies. The recent US troop withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, in conjunction with subsequent reductions in national defense budgets, and lower force levels are congruent with a lack of overall popular support for the mass deployment of US combat Soldiers abroad. In the recent post-war environment, US military planners increasingly strive to develop innovative ways to achieve greater capabilities with fewer resources. Concurrently, many civilian applications and developments of both digital and robotic technology continue to advance at an unprecedented pace. The proliferation of this technology has rendered unmanned, remote controlled, and even autonomous robotic systems accessible to both state and non-state organizations alike. The potential applications for these robotic systems are continually expanding and their capabilities may be exploited for both benevolent and malevolent designs. Though many of these early robotic innovations m