About the Author:
Roger Thompson is an internationally recognized authority on combat motivation, military sociology, and military bureaucratic politics whose work has drawn praise worldwide, including an Admiral s Medallion from the chief of staff of the Italian navy. His book Brown Shoes, Black Shoes and Felt Slippers: Parochialism and the Evolution of the Post-War U.S. Navy was called "essential reading" by Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. and is now considered a classic. Many of his essays have been published in leading journals and his papers presented at international conferences. Currently Thompson lectures at Kyung Hee University in South Korea.
Review:
"The US Navy is among the most powerful fighting forces in the world, yet it has repeatedly been embarrassed in exercises with smaller and less technologically equipped forces. In Lessons Not Learned, respected military scholar Roger Thompson discusses the institutional biases, the outmoded strategic thinking, the use of the wrong technology at the wrong times, and much more. This book is a scholarly and perceptive study that delves into all of this, and more, and helps the reader understand why such a formidable force is not living up to its potential. This is a must-read for naval scholars, strategists, or anyone who really cares about the Navy and its sailors." --Dr. Andrew Karam, author of Rig Ship For Ultra Quiet
"Lessons Not Learned is more than a brilliant book. It's an irrefutable case for reform and change in the United States Navy, a service that maintains itself almost exclusively to fight. In the aftermath of America's misguided occupation of Iraq, the United States will rely more than ever on the reach and effectiveness of its naval power. Thompson points the way ahead. The question is will anyone in the Navy Staff listen?" --Douglas Macgregor, PhD, Colonel (Ret.) US Army, author of Transformation Under Fire and Breaking the Phalanx
For nearly a century, the U.S. Navy has been plagued by a self-imposed albatross, an approach to personnel management known as the individual replacement system and the up or out promotion system, also hampered by a force structure developed for warfare of the past and an out-of-date doctrine of mobilization. This has created a culture where only the positive is seen, thus no learning takes place. It encourages a culture of corruption, where only yes-men survive, and adaptation only exists on power point slides. Roger Thompson has conducted a masterpiece of research. Lessons Not Learned tells the story of this self-inflicted wound how it prevents the Navy as well as the entire U.S. military from evolving and being prepared to fight in the 21st Century. True leaders of our Republic, if there are any, need to take this as the beginning blue print toward revolutionary reform. --Donald E. Vandergriff, author of Raising the Bar: Creating and Nurturing Adaptability to Deal with the Changing Face of War
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