Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Revisiting generals of the AirLand era

Brian Linn of Texas A&M, who has written some terrific books, including The Echo of Battle and the best account of the U.S. war in the Philippines, checks in to report on what he is learning in his current research. By Brian Linn Best Defense senior historian One thing that I have become aware of ...

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Brian Linn of Texas A&M, who has written some terrific books, including The Echo of Battle and the best account of the U.S. war in the Philippines, checks in to report on what he is learning in his current research.

Brian Linn of Texas A&M, who has written some terrific books, including The Echo of Battle and the best account of the U.S. war in the Philippines, checks in to report on what he is learning in his current research.

By Brian Linn
Best Defense senior historian

One thing that I have become aware of here at Carlisle is the paucity of senior officer oral histories by the Desert Storm generation, men who came in around Vietnam  and got out before the Aghanistan-Iraq operations).

Apparently there is much resistance among this generation to doing the Army oral histories they are obligated to do. My intuition is that they think their reputation is secure thanks to certain victory and James Kitfield’s prodigal soldiers and the autobios of Colin Powell, etc. I don’t think they are aware that many of us are coming to view them not as the generation that saved the Army from Vietnam and won the Gulf, but the generation whose poor guidance helped cause the fiascos in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

As I am going through the Oral Histories and Memoirs of the 1950s generation, I am more and more aware of how important it is for officers to present their version of history early and make it accessible to historians. Most of the 1950s individuals I am reading are smart, funny, opinionated, and very good at explaining how complicated the problems they faced were, and how they did their best to resolve them. They are going to get a pretty sympathetic treatment from me. On the other hand, the AirLand Battle generation seems to be one of narrow interest, to be unwilling to accept responsibility for mistakes, or to recognize the implications of their decisions. I don’t think historians are going to deal very favorably with them, and that they will be completely dumbfounded at the attacks — never realizing that by getting their version out they could have coopted the process.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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