Understanding Military Culture : A Canadian Perspective

by English, Allan D.

• ISBN13: 9780773526648
• ISBN10: 0773526641
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-05-01
• Publisher: McGill Queens Univ

Summary

Culture has been described as the "bedrock of military" effectiveness because it influences everything an armed service does. The recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have highlighted the importance of culture as a concept in analyzing the ability of military organizations to perform certain tasks. In fact, a military's culture may determine its preferred way of fighting and dealing with other challenges, like incorporating new technologies, more than its doctrine or organizational structure. This book examines military culture from a theoretical and a practical point of view. It focuses on the Canadian and American military cultures, and it provides the first detailed examination of the culture of the Canadian Forces. It also compares their culture to that of the US armed forces. The book concludes that while the culture of the Canadian Forces has been "Americanized" to a certain extent, the culture of the US armed forces, due to changes in their personnel and roles, has experienced a certain degree of "Canadianization" at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries.

Author Biography

Allan D. English served in the Canadian Armed Forces for twenty-five years. He is a senior research fellow, Canadian Forces Leadership Institute, and assistant adjunct professor of history, Queen's University

Table of Contents

Foreword - Rear Admiral David Morse	ix
Foreword - Capt (N) A.C. Okros	xi
Preface	xiii
Abbreviations	xv
1 Introduction	3	(7)
2 Culture - "The Bedrock of Military Effectiveness"	10	(29)
3 Influences on Military Culture	39	(32)
4 American Military Culture	71	(16)
5 Canadian Military Culture	87	(24)
6 Comparing Military Culture in Canada and the United States	111	(19)
7 The Future	130	(22)
8 Conclusions	152	(9)
Notes	161	(18)
Bibliography	179	(16)
Index	195