Time Schedule:
Clay Mountcastle
HSTAA 212
Seattle Campus
Development of American military policies, organizational patterns, tactics, and weaponry, from beginnings as a seventeenth-century frontier defense force to the global conflicts and military commitments of the twentieth century. Interaction and tension between need for an effective military force and concept of civilian control of that force.
Class description
This course will cover American Military History from the Colonial Period to the present. Discussions will focus on how American wars were fought and what determined their outcome. Central to this course is the study of military decision making, the nature of combat, and how time and technology has influenced both.
Student learning goals
Differentiate between the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war.
Be able to identify the key reasons for victory or defeat in America's wars.
Understand how the outcome of each of America's wars has shaped military and political thinking about the next conflict.
Better understand the motivations that have driven participants in America's wars.
Understand the link between technology and warfare and how developments in one have shaped the other.
Become familiar with the personal experiences and thinking of Americans that have fought in the nation's wars.
General method of instruction
Instruction will be a mixture of class discussion (seminar) and lecture based on the core text, in-class videos, and current events. Group discussion will be key to success of the course.
Recommended preparation
A basic understanding of US History from colonial period through the 20th Century
Class assignments and grading
In addition to daily reading assignments, students will have a mid-term exam, a graded group project, a memoir book review and a comprehensive final exam.
Grades will be based on a points system. Students final grades will be determined by how many points they earn from all assignments out of the total possible.
