Industrial Mobilization

Industrialization mobilization planning is an old idea in the history of modern warfare. In the United States, in fact, the National Defense Act of 1920 required the Federal Government to conduct such planning. Current reforms were inspired when, in 1978, a series of mobilization exercises revealed serious and dangerous deficiencies in mobilization planning. The basic premise of this historical study is that industrial mobilization lessons of the past provide answers for many of today's problems. The author contends that current industrial mobilization planners should draw lessons more from the Korean War effort than from World War II. The Korean mobilization effort supported not only the demands of that war, but also the readiness needs to counter an anticipated Soviet attack. After describing the Korean experience in detail, the author examines changes in industrial mobilization planning that evolved as the nation perceived an easing of the Soviet threat. He highlights problems that, should they remain unsolved, ultimately would preclude effective industrial mobilization planning. Finally, he recommends realistic actions to restore effective planning.