The Once and Future Army examines the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) from 1947 to 1974, after which time it continued to function under the new title of the Army Reserve (ARES). The CMF was once the central component in defence planning and, tasked with providing expeditionary forces to the Middle East, it continued a century-old tradition of relying on part time soldiers.

The Regular Army, by contrast, was a junior player in the wider history of the Army, but rose in prominence and importance during this period. Although much has been written on the exploits of the Regular Army, the CMF has been largely ignored despite the important role it once played.

This book seeks to bring the role of the CMF and the story of its post-war citzen soldiers into the public domain.

In this book, Dayton McCarthy examines the role and place of the CMF in post-war defence plans. He demonstrates that chages in the prevailing military policy - with its emphasis on the role of smaller, professional, readily available armies - favoured the newly created Regular Army to the detriment of the CMF. At the same time, both the pentropic reorganisation and exclusion from operational service in Vietnam adversely affected the CMF.

Combined, these factors ensured that by the mid-1970s the CMF, with its membership and morale falling, was struggling to define a role for itself, and the future of its cherished ideal, the "brilliant amateur", seemed to be in jeopardy.

Indications suggest that today the ARES is playing a far more substantial role in deploying troops overseas than at any time in its recent past, and this has refocused attention on its primary function within the Army. If the part-time soldier is to play a greater role, the peculiar problems the CMF faced in the past must be avoided. Replete with such bitter lessons, this is the story of the post-war citizen-soldier experience. With greater attention being paid to ARES, this book is now more relevant than ever

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The Once and Future Army - Dayton McCarthy for sale since 2009-05-23 06:11:58