1. Cold War and Korea Atomic Bomb and National Security –War Plans, weapons, delivery systems –National Security Act, 1947 Independent Air Force –Towards a National Security Policy NSC-68 (1950) Korean War, 1950-53 –Retreat back to Pusan Perimeter –Inchon Landing and Chinese Intervention –Limited War vs No Substitute for Victory

2. Nuclear Strategy Dwight D. Eisenhower and New Look –Strategic Priorities –Massive Retaliation –Implementing the Vision: Nuclear Arsenal Critics of the New Look –US Navy Missions and Weaponry –US Army Limited atomic warfare, weapons

3. John F. Kennedy and Vietnam Maxwell D. Taylor and Flexible Response Robert McNamara and Defense Reform –Whiz Kids and systems analysis –Strategic Triad and Mutually Assured Destruction –Build up of conventional forces Counterinsurgency (COIN) and 3rd Challenge –JFK and American COIN Theory US Army Special Forces US commitment to South Vietnam –Background –Decision to commit US ground forces –William C. Westmoreland and the US Ground War

4. Vietnam Problems with Search and Destroy Tet, 1968 –Buildup to the Offensive Revolutionary Situation and Success Offensive –Impact of Tet and My Lai Richard Nixon and Vietnamization –ARVN Buildup and CORDS Air War –Rolling Thunder and frustration Legacy of Vietnam

5. Military Renaissance, 1975-90 Reagan Military Buildup –Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI or Star Wars) –US Navy and Maritime Strategy –Budget and procurement issues –Beirut and the challenge to civilian control Iran-Contra (1986) Military Reform Movement –US Air Force: John Boyd and John Warden –Maneuver Warfare Gulf War, 1990-91 –Planning and operations

6. Path to Iraq The American Way of War Debate Approaches to understanding the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts Background –The Lessons of Vietnam and their impact on the US Army William DePuy and FM 100-5: Operations –Implementing the Vision –Vindication in the Gulf War? –The post-Cold War Army and its vision of warfare Gulf War Drawdown The Army Transformation initiative, 1999-2002 The invasion of Iraq and the illusion of victory The outbreak of the insurgency/civil war