United States Army In The Korean War

When North Korea attacked the South on June 25, 1950, United States forces in East Asia were under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, whose largest ground force was Eighth US Army. This army fought a tenacious defense of South Korea, counterattacked north to the Yalu River with the separate X Corps, before falling back in the face of massive Chinese intervention, conducted a war of movement, and settled into a bloody two-year long period of static warfare. This title examines the combat mission, organization, and evolution of the Eighth US Army in Korea and its 300,000 US ground forces through highly detailed orders of battle, tables of organization and equipment, and examinations of crucial aspects such as doctrine, training, and tactics.

Book 1

This book records an important chapter in the Korean War. It begins with the last weeks of the pell-mell rush of United Nations forces to the Chinese border and goes on to describe in great detail the test of American military leadership and resources posed by the taxing retreat of the Eighth Army and X Corps across the frozen wastes of North Korea. It also examines the special problems posed to a fighting army during the deadly months of stalemate in the summer of 1951. The part of the war described in this volume raises many questions for the military strategist and provides a treasure trove of lessons for the student of the art of war. The book emphasizes the limitations imposed by terrain and weather on the fighting capabilities of an American army facing surprise attack from a large, disciplined enemy. The operations it describes in such careful detail will help vivify the principles of war for those who would study the profession of arms. Related products: The United States Army and the Korean War (CD-ROM Set) can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00365-1?ctid=513 U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, Volume 2: National Security Policy and Strategy is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01080-3?ctid=513 Confronting Security Challenges on the Korean Peninsula -Print Paperback format can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-055-00250-8?ctid=513 Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, Volume XIX, Pt. 1, Korea, 1969-1972 can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/044-000-02610-4?ctid=513 United States Army in the Korean War: South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu--Print Paperback format can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00507-7?ctid=513 Korean War resources collection can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/korean-war

Despite American success in preventing the conquest of South Korea by communist North Korea, the Korean War of 1950-1953 did not satisfy Americans who expected the kind of total victory they had experienced in WW II. In Korea, the U.S. limited itself to conventional weapons. Even after communist China entered the war, Americans put China off-limits to conventional bombing as well as nuclear bombing. Operating within these limits, the U.S. Air Force helped to repel 2 invasions of South Korea while securing control of the skies so decisively that other U.N. forces could fight without fear of air attack.

"Historians and sliders have not been kind to either [General Douglas] MacArthur or the soldiers whom he placed in harm's way in the summer of 1950 ... This study seeks to redress the imbalance that exists between fact and interpretation. For too long historians and soldiers have roundly criticized Task Force Smith's performance, extrapolated from its fate a set of assumptions about what constitutes readiness, and then used those assumptions to condemn the entire Eighth Army. The reality is much more complex. A proper examination of the historical record reveals wide disparities in the readiness and combat effectiveness of the subordinate units of America's first forward-deployed Cold War field force ... This work will demonstrate how units achieved that readiness by means of case studies of four infantry regiments, one from each of the four infantry divisions that constituted the Eighth Army in 1950. It synthesizes contemporary training doctrine, training records generated by maneuver units, unit histories, reports of inspections by outside agencies, contemporary self-assessments, and the observations of veterans who served in Japan in the fifteen months before the outbreak of the Korean War. It challenges the long-standing reputation of the Eighth Army as flabby, dispirited, and weak"--Introduction.