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THE SOLDIER AND THE STATE. By Samuel P. Huntington. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 534 pages, index. $7.50.
Reviewed by Vice Admiral George L. Russell, U. S. Navy
(Admiral Russell is Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Administration.)
The Soldier and The State is a thoroughly objective analysis of a subject to which few writers have addressed themselves, of particular interest to those authorities charged with the responsibility of educating and training our commissioned officers. The question of exactly what should be the functions of those officers when they reach the so-called policy level is not answered, but the book certainly provides much food for thought. Too much, perhaps. Mr. Huntington undertakes to cover and document a large slice of history in one volume.
While the book is loaded with “conclusions of the pleader,” many of which are debatable far into the night, much of what he has to say is free from unproved assertions of that sort, and the reader can decide for himself what lessons should be drawn from past events, t ombat is undeniably combat, but what an officer did or said several generations ago 'Ray or may not have a present day application. In this connection, the background of the military receives a superb treatment.
There are some noticeable omissions in this book, and a few inaccuracies. For example, the merits and demerits (mostly the latter) of the National Guard are discussed at some length, but no mention is made of the Naval Reserve, currently a potent national asset. “Civilian control” needs to be defined, or at least, clarified. There is no reference to the apportionment procedures in the coverage of money matters. We did not emerge from World War II with the same Navy Department organization that existed in 1941—a significant change was made in March, 1942, by Executive Order 9096, whereby the Chief of Naval Operations, for the first time in history, was given some real authority over bureau chiefs, namely, the power to coordinate and direct their efforts in logistic support of the forces afloat.
On the whole, The Soldier and The State appears to deal a bit more with the Army than with the Navy, and the reader may feel that the professional soldier is sold a bit short on intellectual courage, honesty, and brain power. Actually, we tell ourselves, most career naval officers will weather almost any degree of civilian maladministration and rise above occasional political contamination. Mr. Huntington’s premise that all senior military officers are subject to comparison, attribute by attribute, because they deal in the application of violence, is also open to challenge. Army thinking differs from Navy thinking, partly because of differences in development over the years, partly because of different missions. Our promotion systems are not the same, we are organized on en-
tirely different lines, and, to a degree, we even live differently.
There can be no doubt that the contents of this writing are stimulating and provocative in spots. If I were advising my son how to discharge his duty in any one of the armed services, I would feel fortunate to be able to hand him this book and say, “Here’s some pretty good dope on what to do and what not to do. It points out a lot of pitfalls, and it gives you a good idea'of the tightrope you may have to walk, assuming that you become senior enough.” It is beautifully written, it contains a wealth of astute observations, and it can not fail to be of real educational and professional value to every officer who has reason to think he may some day become “senior.” As a matter of fact, it may well help him to get there.
OPERATION DEEPFREEZE. By Rear
Admiral George J. Dufek, usn (Ret.).
New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1957. 245
pages, photographs, charts, and index. $5.00.
Reviewed by Rear Admiral Robert A. J.
English, U. S. Navy (Ret.)
(Currently President of the American Polar Society> Admiral English commanded the Bear of Oakland, 193335, and authored Sailing Directions for Antarctica.)
Operation Deepfreeze is first-rate entertainment. It is a rapid-running account of personal experience and observations told in a breezy style which makes it most readable.
The author is a veteran of danger, and his competent narrative of his extraordinary personal history should find wide audience among naval officers and all men of action.
The magnitude of the sea, air, and land operations described are comparable to overseas combat operations. Long oversea group flights guarded by station ships is a familiar naval maneuver, but their skillful execution in dangerous Antarctic waters was first attempted by the distinguished author.
Admiral Dufek has made practical use of the technique developed by the Soviets in the Northeast Passage. The forcing of the Ross Sea belt of 850 miles of pack ice in eight days by the Glacier in late October, 1956, is noteworthy. Heretofore, ships have had to wait for the dissolution or diminution of the pack in the spring break-up to reach the Ross Sea. The powerful icebreaker Glacier has
proved that thin-hulled cargo ships can operate for six months in high southern latitudes if escorted by a modern icebreaker.
With characteristic modesty the author makes only passing reference to having participated in a flight from the Bear in February, 1940, which discovered the continental land feature now known as Thurston Peninsula. Other topographical features were reported in 1940 as discoveries by coastal flights made by others from the Bear. According to the reports of Operation High- jump, it was Admiral Dufek’s task group which, in 1947, disproved the existence of many features reportedly discovered by flights from the Bear.
It is regrettable that the account (page 110) of the transcontinental flight which Admiral Dufek assessed as “undoubtedly the most productive and spectacular flight in Antarctic history” was limited to a single brief paragraph. Such an evaluation by the author would indicate the desirability of some cartographical portrayal of the new discoveries with relation to known topographical features.
The courageous landing at the South Pole on October 31, 1956, pioneered those to follow in moving men, animals, and essential supplies to that base site. It is not clear why the aircraft support base was established near the Duncan Mountains in longitude 166° West when the line of flight to the pole was along the meridian 166° East. Fortunately, no accidents occurred which tested the utility of this displaced base for rescue operations on the polar route from McMurdo Sound.
The establishment of the South Pole Station under Dr. Paul Siple was an outstanding accomplishment made possible by the utilization of suitable aerial transport coupled with the concentrated skillful labor of the Navy’s Construction Battalions of the Civil Engineering Corps.
But the sophisticated reader attempting to follow the operations of the planned base sites is left bewildered. Perhaps the greatest deficiency in the book is the inadequate coverage of operations in which the author did not participate personally. It is not made clear why the plan to use the excellent exposed site at Cape Adare was discarded in favor of Cape Hallett where the dominating
massifs of the Admiralty Range might introduce radar interferences. Neither the baselaying operations at Cape Hallett, nor those at the Wilkes Station under the polar veteran Carl Eklund, are given any depiction.
Another shortcoming is the absence of an account of the Weddell Sea operations. The first deep penetration by American ships in the western reaches of the Weddell Sea is historically important. Also the field operations of the veteran Antarctic explorer Captain Finn Ronne are deserving of detailed narration. The reader is left to assume that the Ellsworth Station has been established at the geographical position stated in the preface of the book.
This interesting contribution to polar literature is worthy of a sequel by the same author. Having attained a favorably located base at the head of the Weddell Sea, Admiral Dufek undoubtedly will pursue with his usual vigor aerial and surface operations on a large scale in that sector of Antarctica which has such deepseated American interest.
Whatever slight defects may be found in Operation Deepfreeze, its merit as a personal account is so great as to recommend it highly to both young and old. This thrilling narrative brings accolades to the author’s many illustrious achievements.
SOLDIERS AND SCHOLARS. Military
Education and National Policy. By John
W. Masland and Lawrence I. Radway.
Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1957. 519 Pages. S7.50.
Reviewed by Vice Admiral George C.
Dyer, U. S. Navy (Retired)
(Vice Admiral Dyer is a farmer Secretary to the Board °f Visitors at the Naval Academy and Deputy for Education at the National War College.)
I he authors deserve an accolade for gath- ertng together in a very readable book the extensive facts about military education. Ihey have presented these facts plainly and objectively.
They trace the growth of undergraduate, graduate, and advanced education on a Serv- lce (and, since 1943), on an inter-Service basis.
I'he purposes of the educational institu- l|ons as currently assigned by law or military authority, and the curriculum by which each seeks to accomplish its purposes are clearly and succinctly described.
The authors then evaluate the curriculum of each institution (from the point of view of the liberal arts tradition) as to how much each lays the groundwork for, or contributes to, preparing career officers of the military generalist variety for participation in the formulation of national policy.
They then evaluate the whole spectrum of military education from the same points of view, and make seasoned recommendations for improvement in regard to the parts and the whole.
The statement is made that in recent years American military schools “have not furnished intellectual leadership in the investigation of military subjects.” It is urged that the Senior Colleges should “give more attention to critical analytical thought,” move closer to the “frontiers of knowledge,” challenge “accepted military thought or doctrine,” and “seek out new ideas in the formulation of national security policy.”
The book is a marked contribution—a once in a decade milestone—to the field of military education, despite a major omission.
The authors would find a more ready acceptance of their evaluations, if they had met head on the solid military belief that a more basic educational responsibility, rather than to educate the military leaders of the future for a growing policy role, is to educate them to win battles and campaigns. Other leadership in the country can contribute mightily to winning battles and campaigns, but only a thoroughly educated fighting military leadership can actually win them. This fighting leadership is the primary reason for the existence of the generalist career officer. It is not something he can learn in his twenties and thirties and then shove aside with policy role education in his forties. It is to everyone’s advantage that in the military scheme of educational affairs, a DSO or Navy Cross greatly out-beckons a I’hD, and that these military symbols remain the “natural ideal” for all generalist career officers undergoing military education, at all ages.
Authors Masland and Rad way have based their evaluations on several years of firsthand inspection of this nation’s principal Service schools. Both authors are members of Dartmouth College’s Department of Political Science.
FEAR GOD AND DREADNOUGHT. The
Correspondence of Admiral of the Fleet
Lord Fisher of Kilverstone, Volume II.
Selected and edited by Arthur J. Mardcr.
London: Cassel, 1956. 35 shillings.
Reviewed by Admiral Sir Gerald Dickens, RN (Ret.)
(.4 grandson of Charles Dickens, Admiral Dickens commanded IIMS Repulse, 1929-31; was Naval Aide- de-Camp to King George V, 1931-32; and- was Director of the Naval Intelligence Division, 1932-1935. lie is the author of Bombing and Strategy: The Fallacy of Total War.)
The volume starts with the appointment of Admiral Sir John Fisher (as he then was) to the Admiralty as First Sea Lord—“the best beloved, best hated, most vital and most contentious figure in public life” as Professor Marder quotes in his preface. Fisher was quite clear about the tasks that lay before him. The Navy had to be modernized in thought and material, re-grouped and strengthened to meet the growing menace of the German Navy.
Of Fisher’s many revolutionary achievements, the following must be of particular interest to naval enthusiasts: the rapid design and building of the first all-big-gun battleship, HMS Dreadnought; the transfer of Britain’s main naval strength from the Mediterranean to home waters; and the supersession of coal in warships by fuel oil.
Fisher needed all his great vitality and strength of character to achieve his ends. The opposition which he had to face was not altogether unnatural. Britain had not fought a major war for a century; changes had been gradual, and the minds of less imaginative people were not prepared for such violent upheavals. That opposition became bitter in certain quarters was due to Fisher’s methods. He fed confidential information to journalists and declared that favoritism in the promotion of officers was essential. Such things came as a shock to a loyal and disciplined Navy. But we must not think—the book rather gives this impression—that all those who could not see eye to eye with Fisher were fools or knaves; indeed, some of them were fine and distinguished officers. Professor Marder says the Navy was somnolent. That, as I can testify, was not the case. The Navy was energetic enough even if much of its energy was misplaced.
Fisher’s life story is put before the reader partly by his letters and partly by explanatory chapters and numerous foot-notes. The result is entirely satisfactory to the reader. Fisher’s correspondence was immense and wide in its range, and nearly always amusing. What does stand out in his writings is his passionate wish to serve the Navy and the Country. There was no self-glorification. Professor Marder sees and emphasizes this. He makes the reader feel that Fisher was indeed a great man and a genius and, that, had it not been for “Jacky,” Britain would have been far less ready to meet the clash of war. The Royal Navy has long recognized this.
The book cannot fail to interest and inspire naval officers in all countries, more especially those of our sister Navy—the U. S. Navy.
THE LAST PARALLEL; A Marine’s War Journal. By Martin Russ. New York: Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1957.
Reviewed by Captain Benjamin H. Murray, U. S. Marine Corps Reserve
{Presently a law student at the University of Pennsylvania, Captain Murray served as a rifle platoon leader in Item Company of the First Marines during most of the period covered in the hook he reviews.)
Martin Russ, sometime squad leader in Able Company of the 1st Marines, is now a writer of considerable critical acclaim. The vehicle of his success is a journal in which he recorded his experiences as an infantryman in the stalemate era of the Korean War. Published, apparently without editing, as The Last Parallel, this personal saga is certainly a very readable sea story. For those interested in more subtle themes it is a remarkably vivid and perceptive word picture of Marines as they ply their savage trade.
A slightly self-conscious and artistic thrust is obvious behind the writing, and the book is much the better for it. Russ did not succumb to any of the trite rationalizations which often help men to meet the strain of combat. Instead, his journal was the outlet which absorbed the tremendous tensions of his existence and thereby gave him a sense of personal meaning through self-expression. The result throbs with realism. The reader can trace the progress of the author from green kid to resilient, confident, Marine warrior. Through it all there are flashes of his superb sense of humor.
For those whose professional interest leads to reflection upon individual performance in combat and upon small unit tactics profitable inquiries are suggested. Russ did not approve of some of the tactical decisions which it was his business to execute, and he made his reasons for disapproval clear. Obviously his views were widespread in the lower echelons of the First Marine Division at the time. Two interesting questions emerge. Were there better alternatives to the tactics by which the stalemate line was defended? If there were not, what failure of discipline or communication resulted in the conviction among many in the fighting echelons that they were badly led from on high?
In the stalemate war infantry combat was refined to its savage personal essence. Russ’s descriptions are masterpieces of graphic reporting. His book will hit the veterans of that fighting with a nostalgic wallop. Others will enjoy a fine piece of combat literature and will find in it further evidence of the greatness of America’s combat soldiers.
WORLD SEA FISHERIES. By Robert
Morgan. New York: Pitman Publishing
Corporation, 1957. 307 pages. $6.95. Reviewed by Lieutenant Commander James Baylor Blackford, U. S.
Naval Reserve
Commander Blackford served daring World War II and the Korean conflict, and during the tatter he commanded the MSTS unit at Moji, Japan.
The foreword in one sentence tells the reader, “At the time of writing, no book has been published aiming to give a general survey of the sea fisheries of the world as a whole.” After reading this 307-page book with its very complete index the author is to be congratulated in putting so much meat in such an interesting fashion and illustrated with a multitude of magnificent maps, drawls, and photographs.
During stretches of sea duty, one’s liveliest rnemories are those connected with small fishing vessels to large whalers scattered around the four corners of the world. One remembers the British steam drifters in the North Sea, the southern Chinese fishing Junk, the Pacific Coast steam trawler, the fiorys off the Grand Banks, the Japanese WUTOlers out of Shimoneseki, or the Breton tunnyman with all sails aloft heading out into the Bay of Biscay. As these mysterious ships pass our vessels at sea, one wonders what methods they use in catching their fish, how long they are at sea, what fish do they catch, and where are they marketed. These rather obvious questions are fully answered, but our author considers this only scratching the surface. His opening chapter, entitled “The Plankton Pasturage,” starts with the basic food, the mass of small, microscopic living organisms which inhabit the sea. He shows where they grow in abundance and why, and from this where fish can be caught in abundance. He then breaks down the economically important types of fish and those who live on the bottom and those who travel about in schools. Fishing methods are discussed, and all types of fishing craft, from the outrigger dugout canoe of East Africa to the whaling factory in ships in the Antartic, are described. Once the fish are landed we learn of processing and transport methods and from there read of fishing communities and ports. The book divides the world into the five continents and discusses the fisheries in each area. Dr. Morgan not only covers all the oceans but goes into the problems of fresh water fishing as well.
The fascination of this book is derived from its ability to answer clearly the questions which arise when one is made aware of fisheries, either by dropping anchor in a fisheries port or passing through the various craft while at sea. This is indeed a rewarding book and one which would be an addition to any library shelf of books pertaining to the sea. One cannot help but remember the ragged sails on the fishing vessels that passed off the coast of Spain and how much thirsty curiosity would have been assuaged by referring to this book which would have identified the vessels and catch. We might discover they were Spanish Pareja vessels trawling in pairs drawing a net with an opening of 300 feet over the bottom. We see outlines of the ships compartments; we are told the speed and how the trawl is pulled up, the hake and other fish caught, where the ship puts in, how the fish are prepared and sold. No matter in what part of the globe might fishing vessels be seen, the chances are that World Sea Fisheries would have the answers.