The Culture of Military Organizations

Returning

This book was excellent. It has gems of information you won't see in any book anywhere else. Nowadays you can't say that about to many books. The book is a must for any aspiring Bde. or Division commander in any military force anywhere. The book has information that can be helpful for any leader of a large organization. There are secrets in the book which will enlighten you on how to shape your organization towards success. It will tell you how the culture will work for you or against you.This book is about military culture. Culture is one of those words that consultants use frequently because it sounds warm and inviting but few really seem to grasp what it means. This is a book that will tell you the impact of culture towards military success or failure.This book reviews the cultures of various famous military organizations across history. Some of the chapters will give you gems of information you have never seen before. Other chapters really just give you a brief review of historical events and not much more than that. Overall the book shows the reader how and what shapes culture. That in turn impacts efficiency of the organization. One theme does pop up in chapter after chapter. You can see the influence of leaders. These leaders shape organizations through things like the leaders they select, standards they create, via what they enforce and how they educate the staff. These are a few things which shape organizations. Those methods would also apply to large corporations too. So no matter your background this history book has tools you can use.

the Culture of Military Organizations is an interesting topic, which this book addresses through a series of essays over the past 150 years. It is in some respects an entry to this subject and probably will be followed by my detailed studies.

I enjoyed this book. It is comprised of 17 chapters, of which 15 are on the military cultures of 15 different military's. It is very Anglo-Saxon heavy, there are six on US military (Confederate Army, Union Army, modern US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines), four on the British military (British Indian Army, Victorian British Army, Royal Navy 1900-1945, and RAF 1918-1945), the remaining countries covered are the Soviet Army, Israeli Army, Iraqi Army, and the Japanese Army from 1918-1945.It's must read for military professionals or those who understand and appreciate organizational cultures. Like all things, it has it's good and bad. Unfortunately, the chapters on the modern US Air Force and US Marine Corps are by far the weakest. The US Air Force chapter doesn't discuss the nuclear missile mission at all, much less its impact on the force. The US Marine Corps chapter is more of a pamphlet or cheer leading guide to what the Marines are and where they come from. There was hardly any discussion of the impact of Iraq or Afghanistan on shaping the Corps. It also glosses over the systemic racism post-Vietnam, vehement objection to opening combat roles to women, and the LGBT community.Still, there is much to like about this book. The chapters on both the Union and Confederate armies were illuminating and well written and documented. The same is true with the British experience in India and the founding of the Israeli Army. I'm glad I read this book and wholeheartedly recommend it to any career US military or those that study organizational cultures, how they change over time, and how those react to outside events (war and conflict).

writing style and structure of book