INTA 4803TP / 8803TP

©

Tom PilschHabersham 141 pilsch@gatech.edu

"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2010

INTA 4803TP / 8803TP

©

A study of armed conflict in the 20th Century with emphasis on the impact of technology and geopolitics on society and military science.

"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2012

www.cc.gatech.edu/~tpilsch/INTA4803TP

Today’s Session

• Introductions

• Background

• Course overview

• Rules of Engagement

• Lesson 1: Character of War

The successful student will gain the historical foundation and framework to support informed discussion and analysis of modern warfare, its causes, conduct, and consequences.

Course Objective

• Teach social scientists and humanists some technology

Secondary Objectives

• Teach technologists some history

Why Do We Study History?

Those who cannot remember the past are doomed

George Santyana (1863-1952)The Age of Reason, Vol. I, Reason in Common Sense, 1905

to repeat it

Why Do We Study History?

Those who cannot remember the past are doomed

George Santyana (1863-1952)The Age of Reason, Vol. I, Reason in Common Sense, 1905

to repeat it

Pilsch’s Corollary

The One Commandment

Non Sequitur, February 3, 2007© Wiley Miller 2007

Why Do We Study History?

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.

Attributed to Samuel Clements (1835-1910)

Why Do We Study War?

“I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Painting and Poetry Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.”

John Adams, in a letter to his wife AbigailMay 12, 1780

Full Document

Why Do We Study War?

"The student who reads history will unconsciously develop what is the highest value of history: judgment in worldly affairs. This is a permanent good, not because "history repeats" - we can never exactly match past and present situations - but because the "tendency of things" shows an amazing uniformity within any given civilization. As the great historian Burckhardt said of historical knowledge, it is not 'to make us more clever the next time, but wiser for all time.'"

-Jacques Barzun, Begin Here: The Forgotten Conditions of Teaching and Learning

While you may not be interested in war, war is interested in you.

Why Are You Here?

Attributed to Leon Trotsky

“We never seem to learn the lessons of war, do we?”

Why Am I Here?

Student, Fall 2007

One of you might become president someday …

Why Am I Here?

The Generation GapMy Biggest Challenge

I experienced the second half of the 20th century …

My Background

… and want to pass along to others some of the lessons (un)learned.

I experienced the second half of the 20th century …

My Background

Interesting Events

Interesting Places

Interesting People

Interesting Work

My Background

US Air Force Academy

My BackgroundCollege Summer Orientation

Interesting Events

JFK Funeral – November 1963

Interesting WorkPilot Training

Williams AFB, AZ

T-41

T-37

T-38

Interesting Places

CFB Goose Bay, Newfoundland - February 1967

Interesting Places

Hué Vietnam 1968-1969

Interesting Work

Grad SchoolAssistant Professor

Aeronautics

Interesting WorkFlying

My Airplanes

Interesting WorkAircraft Requirements & Acquisition

C-17 Globemaster III

Interesting People

Fort McPherson, GA - 1989

Interesting WorkOperations & Diplomacy

Azores Islands

Lajes Field

Interesting Work

Looking Glass

EC-135 – Offutt AFB NE - 1994

Current Interests

History & International Affairs

Rise & Fall of Empires

Technology & War

Geopolitics

The Role of China in all of this

About the Course

War is the ultimate international affair

“Applied International Affairs”

About the Course

History of War

Military History

vs.

evolution of the character of armed conflict

a study of military science and the detailed conduct of war

A

Course Overview

• Lesson plans available at

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~tpilsch/INTA4803TP

Let’s Tour the Web site

• 30 meetings => 1:20 each

• No textbook => all readings online

Course Overview

• Lesson plans available at

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~tpilsch/INTA4803TP

• 30 meetings => 1:20 each

• No textbook => all readings online

• Reference resources available at

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~tpilsch/resources.html

• Circle of Modern War©

Themes & Threads

• Match/Mismatch between national objectives & national strategy

• Core technologies: metallurgy, chemistry, physics, mechanics, electronics

• Core Weapons: infantry weapons, artillery, naval armament, aircraft

• Logistics as the lynchpin of modern war

• Offense vs. defense

• Revolutions in Military Affairs (RMA)

Course Schedule

Lessons will be chronological

there will be occasional diversions for emphasis

Desert Storm

War at the Dawn of the 20th Century

World War I

World War II

Cold War Vietnam

, but …

A

Lessons

• Maxims of Moment

Maxims of Moment

“Nothing so comforts the military mind as the maxim of a great but dead general.”

Barbara TuchmanThe Guns of August (1962)

Lessons

• Maxims of Moment

• Lesson Objectives

Lessons

• Maxims of Moment

• Lesson Objectives

Significant source of quiz and exam questions.

• Study Guides

Buzz Words alert(important stuff!!)

Lessons

• Maxims of Moment

• Lesson Objectives

• Study Guides

• Assignments

Readings

Variety of Assignment Sources

• e-books

NetLibrary: http://www.netlibrary.com/Gateway.aspx

• Journal articles

JSTOR: http://www.library.gatech.edu/

Databases => Social Sciences => History => JSTOR

• Others

Organizational & Individual Web sites, War Gamers,

Re-enactors, NPS, Wikipedia, etc.

Syllabus

Rules of Engagement (ROE):   Directives issued by competent military authority which delineate the circumstances and limitations under which ... forces will initiate and/or continue combat engagement with other forces encountered.  

(Joint Publication 1-02)

Rules of Engagement

• Course overview

• Readings

• Grading

• Attendance

• Class Decorum

• Office Hours

A

Grading

Standard distribution:90-100 A80-89 B70-79 C60-69 D< 60 F

Graded Factors & Value:Quizzes 10 %In-class Exams 30 %Papers 30 %

Final Exam 30 % (inclusive)

(undergraduates)

Graduate Students

Let’s meet after this class

Attendance

Mandatory

Arrive on time!

Class Decorum

Office Hours

What time is best for most of you?

Suggest: Just about any time by appointment

(Just let me know you are coming)

Other Thoughts

Academic Integrity

• Work submitted for grade needs to be your own

• OK to discuss ideas for inclusion in a paper

• Actual writing must be your own

• Ideas of others must be documented

If you study together … don’t sit together during tests

Other Thoughts

Academic Integrity

Special Needs?

• Talk to me outside of class

Comments From Past Years

Comments from Past Years

“I really need the A in this class to balance out with

some of my harder [major] classes this semester … “

Comments from Past Years

“In one lesson you gave us three readings that each

came to a different conclusion. That’s not fair. Just

tell us what we need to know!”

Comments from Past Years

“There is a lot of material. I wish I had kept up.”

Questions?

INTA 4803TP / 8803TP

©

Tom PilschCoC 112 tpilsch@cc.gatech.edu

"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2012

End

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Why Do We Study War?

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”

Attributed to Samuel Clements, 1835-1910

"It is not worth while to try to keep history from repeating itself, for man's character will always make the preventing of the repetitions impossible."

Mark Twain, Eruption: Hitherto Unpublished Pages About Men and Events, published 1940