This authoritative official publication contains an historical survey of the organization and accomplishments of the United States Army from the eve of World War 1 to the war against terrorism still under way.

Designed to inculcate in young officers and soldiers an awareness of our nation's military past and to demonstrate to them that the study of military history is an essential ingredient in leadership development. Intended primarily for use in the American Military History course in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program in civilian colleges and universities.

American Military History, first published in 1956 as a one-volume textbook for ROTC courses and updated by countless historians through the years, intends to provide the United States Army with a fully comprehensive but brief account of its past in support of the military history education of young officers, NCOs, and cadets.

Just as the history of an active organization inevitably expands, so too has this new edition under the oversight of general editor Richard W. Stewart. Revised to reflect the challenging period of expanding roles and missions and of fundamental organizational change in the Army during the post-Vietnam years through the Global War on Terrorism, the resulting two volumes are highly readable and graphically handsome with many colorful maps and illustrations of period artwork and military artifacts that enhance the narrative.

The second volume continues the saga, finding the Army facing complex challenges of creating, equipping, transporting, and supplying huge citizen armies across the globe during World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Then in the post-Vietnam years the Army transformed itself into a smaller all-volunteer professional force that has deployed for dozens of contingencies throughout the world, undertaking missions as diverse as humanitarian assistance/intervention, peace operations, nation building, and reconstruction.

Now committed to prosecuting the Global War on Terrorism while fulfilling its essential homeland security responsibilities, the Army serves as an instrument of American power in the defense of freedom—a story that is still unfolding. Those with an interest in learning about the Army and its campaigns will enjoy having and reading these visually pleasing and instructive volumes.

Visit American Military History, Volume II Download Page

Read American Military History, Volume II: The United States Army in a Global Era, 1917-2003 online, or you can download American Military History, Volume II: The United States Army in a Global Era, 1917-2003 in PDF format.

Richard W. Stewart
General Editor

Center of Military History
United States Army
Washington, D.C., 2005

FORWARD
American Military History intends to provide the United States Army—in particular, its young officers, NCOs, and cadets—with a comprehensive but brief account of its past. The Center of Military History first published the book in 1956 as a textbook for senior ROTC courses. It has gone through a number of updates and revisions since, but the intent has remained the same. Support for military history education has always been a principal mission of the Center, and this new edition of an invaluable history furthers that purpose.

The history of an active organization inevitably expands. The period since the Vietnam War, at which point the previous edition ended, has been significant for the Army, a busy period of expanding roles and missions and of fundamental organizational changes. In planning an update, it became clear that wedging this additional experience into the previous single-volume format would yield a cumbersome book. Thus we are publishing this revised and expanded edition in two volumes.

The first volume covered the Army’s history from its birth in 1775 to the eve of World War I. During this time, the Army grew in skill and professionalism as it conquered much of the North American continent while also suffering the torments of a nation at war with itself as North struggled with South. As the nineteenth century ended, the Army and the nation moved outward and sent expeditionary forces beyond the American hemisphere to the Philippines and other locations. World war—global war—was still to come.

This second volume takes up the story and extends it into the twenty-first century. The American Army faced the challenges of creating huge citizen armies and then transporting them across the Globe in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Then, in a sense returning to its roots, it transformed itself into a smaller, all-volunteer professional Army that has deployed to dozens of contingencies since the unsettling end of the Vietnam War. Throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, the U.S. Army has continued to be an instrument of American power in the defense of freedom and American interests around the world. As it has evolved, the Army has undertaken missions as diverse as humanitarian assistance, nation building, occupation, reconstruction, and peacekeeping.

Today the Army, like the nation it serves, is committed to prosecuting the Global War on Terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout the World while fulfilling its essential homeland security responsibilities. This is necessarily an evolving story. This second volume ends with the war in Iraq and against terrorism still under way, and the Center intends to revise and expand this volume in future years as the Army’s story continues to unfold.

We have developed a new design to reflect the often highly visual nature of contemporary textbooks. Though our primary audience is still the young officer and NCO, by adopting a more accessible format we also hope to promote a greater awareness of the Army’s history within the American public. We remain mindful of the Center’s responsibility to publish an accurate and objective account.

We owe no less to the soldier and the veteran, to the student and the teacher, and to those pursuing a personal interest in learning more about the Army’s campaigns—and about its role in the larger history of the nation.

JOHN S. BROWN
Brigadier General, USA
Chief of Military History

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