Prodigal Soldiers of the 21st Century

In many deployments, our officers served in an environment that one-time Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey called an "era of persistent conflict," journalist Dexter Filkins deemed in his book of the same title "the forever war," and soldier-scholar Andrew Bacevich called "perpetual war." [...]the entire Defense Department had to learn how to grow the appropriate force, develop new capabilities and provide sustained capacities for military operations.