Military culture at a crossroads: A grounded theory of strategic planning within the Department of Defense

This dissertation critically examines three instances of how the military has managed strategic change in the recent past. Managing structural and functional change in the mid-1980s, controlling the gender and homosexual integration of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and defining the technological future in the mid to late 1990s provide strategic indicators about the cultural positioning of the military leadership. The methodology adopts a multidisciplinary design. Integrating the techniques of ethnography and critical oral history provides the trustworthiness necessary for the grounded theory analytical process employed. The literature review is augmented by substantial ethnographic accounts and both were tested through a series of extensive interviews with the principals involved in the instances of strategic change examined. The three ethnographically informed critical examinations lead to disquieting conclusions about the ability of the culture of military leadership to embrace change, adapt to the environment, and strategically innovate with the pride of the traditional tactical innovation that has been exploited in battle. The research concludes that strong cultural introspection has critical value as the precursor to relevant military strategic planning. The dissertation recommends that the military leadership should recraft how it thinks strategically before it begins environmentally relevant strategic planning.