Victory Starts Here is the history of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command's (TRADOC's) 35 years as the architect of the Army's future. During the first years of the 21st century, "Transformation" became a new buzzword for the Army changing from the Cold War era to a new conti¬nental United States (CONUS) based rapidly deployable Army. TRADOC, however, has been transforming the Army and itself since its establishment in July 1973. Created to solve the cumbersome command and control prob¬lems of the Continental Army Command (CONARC), TRADOC's mis¬sion charter was to oversee Army schools, training, doctrine, and combat developments. Through time those missions evolved and TRADOC also became responsible for preparing the Army for war and being the Army's "architect of the future." TRADOC's first commander, General William E. DePuy, understood that the Army required sound training, coherent orga¬nization, modern weapons systems, and relevant doctrine. His successors built on that foundation and addressed the need for future planning. This brief history provides an overview of the first 35 years of TRADOC's service to the Army and to the nation. Combat Studies Institute.
About the Author: Benjamin King was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1944. He graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in Liberal Arts (History) in 1965. From the time of his graduation until 1977, he was on Active Duty with the Army serving in Germany and Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star with "V," the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart. After his release from Active Duty, he served as a contract historian to the Casemate Museum from 1978 to 1979. In 1984 he was selected Chief of Simulations at the US Army Transportation School. During his tenure he designed the simulations TRASWAR III, Transportation Movement Control in the Theater of Operations, and TRANSWAR IV, Truck Company Operations in the AirLand Battle. In 1992, Mr. King became the Command Historian of the US Army Transportation Corps. From 1992 to 1994 he headed the team that wrote Spearhead of Logistics, A History of the US Army Transportation Corps, the second branch history completed in the Army. He also appeared in the Discovery Channel production of Machines that Won the War. In 2000, King accepted his current position as Research Historian in the TRADOC Military History Office. Since arriving, he completed five multiyear command histories bringing the headquarters up-to-date. His research on US Army doctrine and the history of TRADOC and its organization has been widely used, and parts of his monographs on soldiers and warriors were used in the Warrior Code. In addition, he designed 15 historical decision-training exercises (HDTE) that were used by the Army. Mr. King is also the co-author of Impact, the History of Germany's V-weapons, the definitive history of German surface-to-surface guided missiles published in 1998. He contributed to Coalition Air Warfare in the Korean War published by the US Air Force History and Museums Program and has articles published in Field Artillery Journal, Transportation Professional Bulletin, and Vietnam magazine. His book-length works of fiction include A Bullet for Stonewall, 1990; A Bullet for Lincoln, 1993; and The Loki Project, 2000. He lives in Isle of Wight, Virginia, with his wife, Loretta, and Bismark the cat.