Business as Usual: An Assessment of Donald Rumsfeld’s Transformation Vision and Transformation’s Prospects for the Future

Book excerpt: Donald Rumsfeld¿s vision of a transformed U.S. military has been discussed by many and understood by few, and this lack of understanding has resulted in both significant simplifications and sweeping generalizations. If Rumsfeld¿s Transformation is indeed dead, does this mean that Transformation as a greater process is dead as well? This report discusses the answers to this question, which requires one to understand first that ¿Rumsfeld¿s Transformation Vision (RTV)¿ is the result of multiple influences that predate his time in office. Second, RTV is actually an umbrella term for 3 different things: a new way of war, a process, and a defense strategy. And third, the military services shaped, and at times limited, the effectiveness of his program. Illus.