Adaptation under Fire

Lt. General David Barno, USA (Ret.) is a Visiting Professor of Strategic Studies and Senior Fellow at the Philip Merrill Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is also a Contributing Editor and Columnist for War on the Rocks. General Barno completed a thirty-year active duty Army career where he commanded at every level. He served with Army Ranger battalions in combat during both the Panama and Grenada invasions. General Barno was the overall commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005.Dr. Nora Bensahel is a Visiting Professor of Strategic Studies and Senior Fellow of the Merrill Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She is also a Contributing Editor and Columnist for War on the Rocks. She has held senior positions at the Center for a New American Security and the RAND Corporation, and previously taught at American University and Georgetown University. She holds a Ph.D. inpolitical science from Stanford University.

Militaries that can rapidly adapt to unexpected battlefield challenges are more likely to win wars, and those that cannot are more likely to lose. In Adaptation under Fire, David Barno and Nora Bensahel identify the characteristics that make militaries more adaptable, illustrated through historical and contemporary examples. The authors argue that the U.S. military often adapted well in Iraq and Afghanistan at the tactical level, but also displayed disturbing failures by some of its senior leaders. They conclude that the U.S. military must become far more adaptable in order to address future security challenges effectively, and recommend ways to do so before it is too late.

Introduction: Why Military Adaptation?