The Will to Win: American Military Advisors in Korea, 1946-1953


Product Description
The Will to Win focuses on the substantial role of US military advisors to the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) from 1946 until 1953 in one of America� s early attempts at nation building.
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Gibby describes ROKA� s structure, mission, challenges, and successes, thereby linking the South Korean army and their US advisors to the traditional narrative of this � forgotten war.” The work also demonstrates the difficulties inherent in national reconstruction, focusing on barriers in culture and society, and the effects of rapid decolonization combined with intense nationalism and the appeal of communism to East Asia following the destruction of the Japanese empire. Key conclusions include the importance of individual advisors, the significance of the prewar advisory effort, and the depth of the impact these men had on individual Korean units and in a few cases on the entire South Korean army.
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The success or failure of South Korean government in the decade following the end of World War II hinged on the loyalty, strength, and fighting capability of its army, which in turn relied on its American advisors. Gibby argues that without a proficient ROKA, the 1953 armistice, still in effect today, would not have been possible. He reexamines the Korean conflict from its beginning in 1945 ��particularly Korean politics, military operations, and armed forces ��and demonstrates the crucial role the American military advisory program and personnel played to develop a more competent and reliable Korean army.
The Will to Win: American Military Advisors in Korea, 1946-1953 Review
A summary from the review on StrategyPage.Com"'An account of the evolution of the Army of the Republic of Korea from its creation in the early years of the Cold War through to the end of the Korean War, and of the American advisors who helped to shape it. Military historian Gibbs, who has also contributed to Their War for Korea: American, Asian, and European Combatants and Civilians, 1945-1953, does a good job of sorting through the complex issues affecting the new army, ignorant American military leaders, poor financing, numerous errors and false starts, and a willingness to blame the "ROKs" for reverses and ignore their successes. As Gibbs follows the ups and downs of this new army, he notes that even early in the war many units performed with considerable effectiveness, and that well before the 1953 armistice the ROKs were doing some of the heaviest in the war. Yet histories hardly ever mention their role, while often inflating that of some of the smaller U.N. contingents. There is much detail in this work on the "how" and the "how not" to build an army. Although The Will to Win deals with events now more than a half century in the past, is a very relevant work, given recent efforts to create new armies in both Afghanistan and Iraq more or less from scratch, reminding us of the importance of the past to the present.'
For the full review, see StrategyPage.Com
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