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Yellow Smoke: The Future of Land Warfare for America's Military. Robert H. Scales. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003. 179 pages. $24.95.
General Bob Scales' Yellow Smoke is a timely review of the current condition of warfare and a projection of a possible future condition associated with the conduct of war. Scales advances his argument from solid ground as an experienced military historian, theorist, and soldier. he defines his tasks and vantage point clearly in the preface, noting that much of what he believes about the future of land war stems from his experience, study, and efforts leading the Army After Next Wargame series at the Army War College. Scales sets out to define the environment of limited warfare, identify some lessons and insights, and draw on these to suggest how the United States may fight land warfare in the future. Simply put, General Scales' thesis is that the United States is developing a style of warfare based on substituting firepower for manpower and then he stipulates how that development will continue in the future. Finally, he seeks to accomplish this in the context of what he perceives are the most likely wars for the United States-wars of limited objectives and means.
The author's argument that the substitution of firepower for manpower is new or relatively new is not necessarily consistent with the historiography of the American military experience. Certainly Russell Weigley, Maurice Matloff, and others argue that the American way of war,...