An Army of Never-Ending Strength

An Army of Never-Ending Strength
Author: Arthur W. Gullachsen
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2021-02-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0774864842

An army may march on its stomach, but it needs more than hot dinners to fight. As Canadians battled through Northwest Europe in the Second World War, how did they reinforce their front lines? An Army of Never-Ending Strength provides detailed insight into the administration, structure, and troop and equipment levels of the First Canadian Army during 1944–45. Captain Arthur W. Gullachsen demonstrates the army’s effectiveness at reinforcing its combat units and draws a powerful conclusion. The administrative and logistical capability of the Canadian Army created a constant state of offensive strength, which made a marked contribution to eventual Allied victory.

On War

On War
Author: Carl von Clausewitz
Publisher:
Total Pages: 388
Release: 1908
Genre: Military art and science
ISBN:

The Other End of the Spear

The Other End of the Spear
Author: John J. Mcgrath
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 121
Release: 2011-09-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1105056155

This book looks at several troop categories based on primary function and analyzes the ratio between these categories to develop a general historical ratio. This ratio is called the Tooth-to-Tail Ratio. McGrath's study finds that this ratio, among types of deployed US forces, has steadily declined since World War II, just as the nature of warfare itself has changed. At the same time, the percentage of deployed forces devoted to logistics functions and to base and life support functions have increased, especially with the advent of the large-scale of use of civilian contractors. This work provides a unique analysis of the size and composition of military forces as found in historical patterns. Extensively illustrated with charts, diagrams, and tables. (Originally published by the Combat Studies Institute Press)

Infantry in Battle

Infantry in Battle
Author: Infantry School (U.S.)
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 428
Release: 1934
Genre: Infantry drill and tactics
ISBN: 1428916911

Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War

Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War
Author: Paul Scharre
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2018-04-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 0393608999

Winner of the 2019 William E. Colby Award "The book I had been waiting for. I can't recommend it highly enough." —Bill Gates The era of autonomous weapons has arrived. Today around the globe, at least thirty nations have weapons that can search for and destroy enemy targets all on their own. Paul Scharre, a leading expert in next-generation warfare, describes these and other high tech weapons systems—from Israel’s Harpy drone to the American submarine-hunting robot ship Sea Hunter—and examines the legal and ethical issues surrounding their use. “A smart primer to what’s to come in warfare” (Bruce Schneier), Army of None engages military history, global policy, and cutting-edge science to explore the implications of giving weapons the freedom to make life and death decisions. A former soldier himself, Scharre argues that we must embrace technology where it can make war more precise and humane, but when the choice is life or death, there is no replacement for the human heart.

Canada's Mechanized Infantry

Canada's Mechanized Infantry
Author: Peter Kasurak
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2020-02-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0774862750

Canada’s Mechanized Infantry explores the largely ignored development of the infantry in the Canadian Army after the First World War. Although many modern studies of technology and war focus on tanks and armour, soldiers from the Second World War onward have discovered that success really depends on a combination of infantry, armour, and artillery to form combat teams. Peter Kasurak demonstrates how the army implemented successful infantry vehicles and doctrine to ultimately further its military goals during the Second World War. In the postwar period, however, progress was slowed by a top-down culture and an unwillingness to abandon conventional thinking on the primacy of foot infantry and regimental organization. This insightful book is the first to examine the challenges that have confronted the Canadian Army in transforming its infantry from First World War foot soldiers into a twenty-first-century combat force integrating soldiers, vehicles, weapons, and electronics.

Major General James A. Ulio

Major General James A. Ulio
Author: Alan E. Mesches
Publisher: Casemate
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2020-08-31
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1612008275

The first biography of the man who served as the U.S. Army’s chief administrative officer from 1942 to 1946 and helped the Allies win World War II. Major General James A. Ulio helped win World War II, though his war was fought from the desk. As adjutant-general throughout the war years, many American families would have recognized his name from one of nearly 900,000 telegrams he signed—all of which began with the words: “. . . regret to inform you . . .” However, his role was far wider than overseeing these sad communications. Ulio faced the task of building an Army large enough to fight wars in Europe, North Africa and the Pacific. Through his efforts, the Army increased in size from around 200,000 soldiers to eight million—in less than five years. He advocated and navigated around lowering the draft age to eighteen. He led and oversaw training efforts that quickly and efficiently prepared soldiers. The general correctly projected that those methods would be a positive outcome of the war. His team identified the appropriate allocation for incoming troops. In order to field sufficient troops to ensure an Allied victory, Ulio had to address and challenge commonly held beliefs on race and gender. It was his order in 1944 that ended segregation on military transportation and in recreational facilities on Army posts. Through radio addresses, newspaper interviews, and public appearances, Ulio became the face of the Army during the war. He served as troop morale booster, advocate, and cheerleader for the war effort. Finally, he led demobilization planning to bring home millions of soldiers after the war, transitioning them back into civilian life. The son of an immigrant career soldier, General Ulio grew up on Army posts and had an eleventh-grade education. A West Point alternate, Ulio enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army in 1900. In 1904, he earned his commission as a lieutenant, and served in France during World War I. Without a college degree, he graduated from the Army's Command and Staff School and the Army War College and five colleges would eventually award him honorary doctorates. Ulio’s military career spanned 45 years and he served as military aide to two presidents. This biography sets Ulio’s achievements in context and explores the magnitude of his part in facilitating an Allied victory World War II. Praise for Major General James A. Ulio “Mesches’ research overwhelmingly demonstrates that the general was a transformational leader, that he significantly reinterpreted and expanded the roles and responsibilities of the Army’s Adjutant General Corps, and in many ways, was a secret weapon in the success of the Army during World War II as well as today.” —Military Review

Canada's Army

Canada's Army
Author: J.L. Granatstein
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 677
Release: 2021-08-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1487509502

Written by J.L. Granatstein, one of the country's leading political and military historians, Canada's Army traces the full three-hundred-year history of the Canadian military. This thoroughly revised third edition brings Granatstein’s work up to date with fresh material and new scholarship on the evolving role of the military in Canadian society. It includes new coverage of the War in Afghanistan; NATO deployments to Poland, Latvia, and Iraq; aid to the civil power deployments; and the role of the army reserve. Masterfully written and passionately argued, Canada's Army offers a rich analysis of the political context for the battles and events that shape our understanding of the Canadian military.

Building the Army’s Backbone

Building the Army’s Backbone
Author: Andrew L. Brown
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2021-12-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0774866993

In September 1939, Canada’s tiny army began its remarkable expansion into a wartime force of almost half a million soldiers. No army can function without a backbone of skilled non-commissioned officers (NCOs) – corporals, sergeants, and warrant officers – and the army needed to create one out of raw civilian material. Building the Army’s Backbone tells the story of how senior leadership created a corps of NCOs that helped the burgeoning force train, fight, and win. This innovative book uncovers the army’s two-track NCO-production system: locally organized training programs were run by units and formations, while centralized training and talent-distribution programs were overseen by the army. Meanwhile, to bring coherence to the two-track approach, the army circulated its best-trained NCOs between operational forces, the reinforcement pool, and the training system. The result was a corps of NCOs that collectively possessed the necessary skills in leadership, tactics, and instruction to help the army succeed in battle.