Harold R. Winton
This article explores a perennial theme in the literature of strategic studies: the relationship between military theory and the military profession. It begins with a conceptual analysis of this relationship. It then investigates what military theorists themselves have had to say about the utility of their craft. It concludes by assessing the actual influence of military theory on selected individuals and institutions. The individuals are George S. Patton, Jr., and Ulysses S. Grant. The institutions are the United States Army and the United States Air Force in the late twentieth century. The fundamental finding is suggested in the title: military theory can indeed be quite useful in the maturation of military commanders and in the development of martial institutions, but it is not always necessary and by no means perfect. It should thus be studied assiduously but used with caution.
This article is derived from a paper of same title given at the May 2004 meeting of the Society for Military History. A much-abbreviated version appeared as ‘On the nature on military theory’ in Charles D.Lutes, Peter Hays et al. (eds), Toward a Theory of Spacepower: Selected Essays (Washington, DC: National Defense UP 2011) 19–35. I am indebted to Colin Gray for his encouragement to seek publication, to James Schneider for suggesting several of the functions of theory herein addressed, and to the helpful comments of an anonymous reader.
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