A NEW ROLE FOR the Army in the future? This article believes so.

So once again, the practical experience of the veterans wins out over the press-release optimism of the civilians. And the wisdom of Korean War veteran-turned-military historian T.R. Fehrenbach is vindicated.

In his 1994 book, “This Kind of War,” Fehrenbach wrote, “You may fly over a land forever, you may bomb it, atomize it, pulverize it.” But, he continued, “if you desire to defend it, protect it, and keep it for civilization, you must do this on the ground, the way the Roman legions did, by putting your young men into the mud.”...

...Ted Cormaney, former congressional staffer and continuing close student of the military, espies a new division of labor between the military branches. Noting that the Marines and Special Forces have already cleared out of Iraq, he sees those elite forces as taking the lead in future ground-fighting, while the Army will increasingly be charged with ground-based peacekeeping.