War’s Horizon: Soldier-Led Adaptation in Iraq and Vietnam

Abstract

Wartime adaptation is a process of adjustment from the war you planned for to the one you have. This process of adjustment is done, in part, by the practitioners of war in the theater of conflict–soldier-led adaptation. Drawing upon two case studies of gun truck development in Iraq and Vietnam I argue that soldiers created networks in order to adapt to battlefield challenges and that the pattern of those networks carries implications for the likelihood of formal adoption by the organization. Simply put, the pattern of the flow of ideas, resources, and skills across the battlefield may affect the likelihood of bottom-up adaptation.

Key Words:

• Innovation
• Bottom-up
• Informal Innovation
• Horizontal Innovation Network
• User-innovation
• Gun Truck
• Military Adaptation
• Diffusion

Acknowledgements

I extend my deepest thanks to the reviewers of this journal for helping me fundamentally reshape and enhance the depth of this work. In addition, this work would not have been possible without the assistance of Richard Killblane, my research assistant Andrew Santora, and my colleagues Dr Jennifer Kibbe, Dr Paul Brister, Dr David Ciuk, and Dr Tim McCarty.

Notes

¹ The ‘deuce-and-a-half’ is generally a reference to the M35 cargo truck. Also referred to as a 2.5 ton cargo truck.

² Though intended as a metaphor, there actually are indeed no crows in Vietnam, or Southeast Asia for that matter. Special thanks to Dr Paul Brister for this particular insight.

³ Richard Killblane, ‘Circle the Wagons: The History of US Army Convoy Security’, Global War on Terrorism Occasional Paper 13 (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press 2005).

⁴ Col. Joseph Bellino, ‘Convoy Security 8th Transportation Group’, in The Bellino Report (1968), 107–54, <http://www.transchool.lee.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/bellino.htm>.

⁵ Author interview with Richard Killblane, US Army Transportation Historian, Fort Eustis, 14 Jan. 2012.

⁶ Col. Joseph Bellino, The Bellino Report (1970), <http://www.transchool.lee.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/bellino.htm>.

⁷ Department of the Army, ‘US Army Official Report on 507th Maintenance Co.: An Nasiriyah, Iraq’ (US Army 2003), 3.

⁸ US Army Transportation Historian Richard Killblane provided the historical context of each of the innovations and advised my data collection throughout the process. Special thanks to him for his assistance throughout my research process.

⁹ Eliot Cohen, ‘Change and Transformation in Military Affairs’, Journal of Strategic Studies 27/3 (2004), 395–407; Adam Grissom, ‘The Future of Military Innovation Studies’, Journal of Strategic Studies 29/5 (2006), 905–34; Theo Farrell and Terry Terriff, The Sources of Military Change: Culture, Politics, Technology (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner 2002).

¹⁰ Michael D. Doubler, Closing with the Enemy: How GIs Fought the War in Europe, 1944–1945 (Lawrence: UP of Kansas 1994); John Keegan, The Face of Battle (New York: Viking Press 1976).

¹¹ Farrell and Terriff, The Sources of Military Change., 6.

¹² Theo Farrell, ‘Improving in War: Military Adaptation and the British in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 2006‘, Journal of Strategic Studies 33/4 (2010), 567–94.

¹³ Theo Farrell, Frans P.B. Osinga, and James A. Russell, Military Adaptation in Afghanistan (Stanford UP 2013).

¹⁴ B. Elkjaer, ‘Organizational Learning: The “Third Way”, Human Resources Abstracts 40/2 (2005), 419–434; Albert Bandura, Social Learning Theory (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall 1977); George P. Huber, ‘Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures’, Organization Science 2/1 (1991), 88–115. See examples: Paddy O’Toole and Steven Talbot, ‘Fighting for Knowledge: Developing Learning Systems in the Australian Army’, Armed Forces & Society 37/1 (2011), 42–67; Theo Farrell, ‘Figuring out Fighting Organisations: The New Organisational Analysis in Strategic Studies’, Journal of Strategic Studies 19/1 (1996), 122–35.

¹⁵ Farrell, ‘Improving in War’, 567–94.

¹⁶ Farrell, ‘Improving in War’, 590.

¹⁷ James A. Russell, Innovation, Transformation, and War: Counterinsurgency Operations in Anbar and Ninewa, Iraq, 2005–2007 (Stanford, CA: Stanford Security Studies 2011), 191.

¹⁸ Russell, Innovation, Transformation and War, 203.

¹⁹ Robert T. Foley, ‘A Case Study in Horizontal Military Innovation: The German Army, 1916–1918’, Journal of Strategic Studies 35/6 (2013), 799–827.

²⁰ Foley, ‘A Case Study’.

²¹ Sergio Catignani, ‘Coping with Knowledge: Organizational Learning in the British Army?’, Journal of Strategic Studies 37/1 (2013), 31.

²² Williamson Murray, Military Adaptation in War (Alexandria, VA: Institute for Defense Analysis 2009), 8–9.

²³ Williamson Murray, Military Adaptation in War, 3–14.

²⁴ Chad C. Serena, A Revolution in Military Adaptation: The US Army in the Iraq War (Washington DC: Georgetown UP 2011), 113.

²⁵ Serena, A Revolution in Military, 116; Michael Polanyi, The Tacit Dimension (Garden City, NY: Doubleday 1966).

²⁶ Network theory has a rich history across academic disciplines. For sources of particular influence on this article see: Walter W. Powell, ‘Neither Market nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organization’, Research in Organizational Behavior 12 (1990), 295–336; Hari Thadakamalla, Prasad Raghavan, Usha Nandini, Kumara Soundar and Albert Reka, ‘Survivability of Multiagent-Based Supply Networks: A Topological Perspective’, IEEE Intelligent Systems 19/5 (2004), 24–31; A. Peine and A.M. Herrmann, ‘The Sources of Use Knowledge: Towards Integrating the Dynamics of Technology Use and Design in the Articulation of Societal Challenges’, Technological Forecasting & Social Change 79/8 (2012), 1495–1512.

²⁷ Eric von Hippel, ‘Horizontal Innovation Networks – by and for Users’, Industrial and Corporate Change 16/2 (2007), 293–315.

²⁸ Ranjay Gulati, Nohria Nitin, Zaheer Akbar, ‘Strategic Networks’, SMJ Strategic Management Journal 21/3 (2000), 203–15.

²⁹ Jeremy Howells, Andrew James and Khaleel Malik, ‘The Sourcing of Technological Knowledge: Distributed Innovation Processes and Dynamic Change’, RADM R&D Management 33/4 (2003), 395–409.

³⁰ While there are a large number of network characteristics, I highlight only these here. For more on additional relationships see: Brian Hayes, ‘Graph Theory in Practice: Part I’, American Scientist 88/1 (2000), 9–13.

³¹ Howells, ‘The Sourcing of Technological Knowledge’.

³² These insights were derived from a series of conversations with Dr Michael L. Anderson. See also M.L. Anderson, ‘Circuit Sharing and the Implementation of Intelligent Systems’,Connection Science 20/4 (2008), 239–51.

³³ The other characteristic of connection behavior is broadcast, which simply sends data but does not collect. That aspect will not be addressed here.

³⁴ The ‘field expedient measure’ is the general term for the kinds of tinkering that soldiers do with technology. See John L. Baer, ‘The Use of Field Expedient Armor – Revision 1‘ (Aberdeen: USA Limited Warfare Laboratory 1965).

³⁵ For more on logistics and the role of CSS, see John J. McGrath, The Other End of the Spear: The Tooth-to-Tail Ratio (T3r) in Modern Military Operations (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press 2007).

³⁶ Shelby L. Stanton, Vietnam Order of Battle (Millwood, NY: Kraus Reprint 1986), 222.

³⁷ Timothy J. Kutta, Gun Trucks (Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications 1996).

³⁸ ‘Because of the similarities in military and commercial transportation operations, the transportation corps had a good base of professional knowledge to draw upon. For the most part, transportation personnel sent to Vietnam, both officers and enlisted personnel, had been in the business before.’ Joseph M. Heiser, Logistic Support (Washington DC: Dept. of the Army 1991), <http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS51773>.

³⁹ Richard Killblane, ‘US Army Transportation Museum’ (2013), <http://www.transchool.lee.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/OB.htm>.

⁴⁰ Kutta, Gun Trucks, 34.

⁴¹ Adjutant General’s Office, ‘Lessons Learned, Headquarters, 36th Transportation Battalion (Truck)’ (Washington DC: US Army 1970), 7.

⁴² Adjutant General’s Office, ‘Operational Report – Lessons Learned, Headquarters, 937th Engineer Group, Period Ending 30 January 1970’ (Washington DC: US Army 1970), 16.

⁴³ James Lyles, The Hard Ride: Vietnam Gun Trucks (New York: Planet Art 2009).

⁴⁴ Ralph Grambo, ‘Atav Guntrucks’, 40, <http://grambo.us/atav/gunpictures.htm>.

⁴⁵ Historians Killblane and Lyles both agree that strong friendships and mutual respect developed between truckers and helicopter pilots. Lyles, The Hard Ride: Vietnam Gun Trucks.

⁴⁶ James Lyles, The Hard Ride; Vietnam Gun Trucks Part II (2003), 57.

⁴⁷ Pat Costello, ‘The Thunder Truckers of Mr2’, Typhoon– V/3 (1971), 8–9, <http://www.landscaper.net/namstory.htm>.

⁴⁸ See the personal history and chronology of the 8th Battalion 4thArtillery: Charles Adams, ‘8th Battalion 4th Artillery Vietnam Chronology’ (2012), <http://www.8th-4th-arty.com/chronology>.

⁴⁹ Jim Rose, ‘172 Transportation Company Unit History’ (2012), <http://sites.google.com/site/172ndtransportationcompany/home>.

⁵⁰ Author interview with Richard Killblane.

⁵¹ Lyles, The Hard Ride Vietnam Gun Trucks.

⁵² Bellino, ‘The Bellino Report’.

⁵³ Author interview with Richard Killblane.

⁵⁴ Paul S. Gardiner, ‘Gun Trucks: Genuine Examples of American Ingenuity’, Army Logistician (Aug. 2003), 34–36.

⁵⁵ Dean Dominique, ‘Gun Trucks: A Vietnam Innovation Returns’, Army Logistician 38/1 (2006), 45–47.

⁵⁶ Sgt Master Maurice A. Rambert, ‘Heading into the Unknown Fire’ (Fort Bliss, TX: USASMA 2011), <http://server16040.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/p15040coll2,6990>.

⁵⁷ Carl Schulze and Ralph Zwilling, Armored/Gun Trucks of the Army in Iraq (Erlangen, Germany: Tankograd Publishing 2005), 55.

⁵⁸ Schulze and Zwilling, Armored/Gun Trucks, 52.

⁵⁹ CSM Joseph C. Paccioretti, ‘The Pioneers: Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIf-1, Fob Speicher, Tikrit, Iraq 18 Apr 03–19 Apr 04’ (Fort Bliss, TX: USASMA 2008), 9. <http://cdm15040.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15040coll2/id/4882>.

⁶⁰ Capt. Daniel T. Rossi, ‘The Logistics Convoy: A Combat Operation’, Army Logistician 37/1 (2005), 38–40.

⁶¹ Damian A. Green, ‘Gun Trucks in Brigade Support Battalions–How Much Longer?’, Army (May 2011), 2.

⁶² Rossi, ‘The Logistics Convoy: A Combat Operation’.

⁶³ Lt. Col. Dan Kenda, ‘Interview with Maj. Mary Beth Taylor’ (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Center for Army Lessons Learned 2005), 8, <http://cdm15040.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p4013coll13/id/8>.

⁶⁴ Maj. Marty Deckard, ‘Interview with Major Heidi Baird’ (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Center for Army Lessons Learned 2008), <http://cdm15040.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p4013coll13/id/1125>.

⁶⁵ John McCool, ‘Interview with Capt. Jennifer Mlocek’ (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Center for Army Lessons Learned 2006), <http://cdm15040.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p4013coll13/id/355>.

⁶⁶ Richard Killblane, ‘Road Warriors’ (Fort Eustis, VA: Army Transportation Museum 2012), 4.

⁶⁷ Jim Timmerman, ‘Interview with Cpt. Pamela Alexander’ (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute 2005), <http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p4013coll13/id/882>.

⁶⁸ John Pike, ‘181st Transportation Battalion: The Road Warriors’, Global Security (18 April 2012), <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/181trans.htm>.

⁶⁹ Killblane, ‘Road Warriors’, 129.

⁷⁰ SPC Andrew Orillion, ‘Skunk Werks’, Sustainer (2006), 8–14.

⁷¹ SPC Mary E. Ferguson, ‘Monster Garage’, Sustainer (2006), 23.

⁷² Author interview with Richard Killblane.

⁷³ Ibid.

⁷⁴ Staff, ‘Gun-Truck Alley Provides Convoy Security Training’, Army Reserve Magazine (2003), 40–41.

⁷⁵ Dennis Steele, ‘Last Stop before Iraq’, Army (May 2004), 54–7.

⁷⁶ Katherine McIntire Peters, ‘Hard Lessons’, Government Executive (1 April 2004), <http://www.govexec.com/magazine/2004/04/hard-lessons/16406/>.

⁷⁷ Department of the Army, Field Manual 55-30 Army Motor Transportation Units and Operations (Washington DC: Department of Defense 1997).

⁷⁸ Center for Army Lessons Learned, Convoy Leader Training (Fort Leavenworth, KS: TRADOC 2003), <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/other/call-03-33_convoy-handbook_nov03.pdf>.

⁷⁹ 32nd Transportation Group, Convoy Leader Training Handbook (Kuwait: MPRI 2003), <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/other/convoy-leader-training-handbook_8aug03.pdf> 22 May 2014; Dean Dominique, Tactical Convoy Handbook (Fort Eustis, VA: US Army Transportation School 2006); Air Land Sea Application Center, Tactical Convoy Ops (Washington DC: US Air Force Publishing 2005).

⁸⁰ Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean, ‘The Evacuation’, in Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 Volume II: The Story of Anzac from 4 May 1915, to the Evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula (Canberra: Australian War Memorial 1941), 853–86.

⁸¹ Michael D. Doubler, Busting the Bocage (US Army Command and General Staff College, Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth: Library of Congress 1955).

⁸² Tommy Franks, American Soldier, 1st ed. (New York: Regan Books 2004), 143.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nina A. Kollars

Dr Nina A. Kollars, Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA.