Examining Leadership Development in the U.S. Army within the Human Resource Development Context: Implications for Security and Defense Strategies

摘要

The existing literature presents ample studies on leaders and leadership development in the United States Army. The contribution of many great military leaders of the U.S. are widely recognized both by the military community and the society at large. Reviewing the history of leadership development (LD) in the U.S. Army provides an opportunity to analyze American soldiers' development and transformation as strong leaders. Although U.S. Army training and its value systems, in many ways, have remained fundamentally the same with focus on hierarchy and structure, LD has been repeatedly refined, reframed, and redesigned based on the needs of the time and expectations of the leadership. This paper presents a review of the LD training in the U.S. Army to identify potential opportunities for the military of the Republic of Korea. It focuses on LD throughout critical periods in the history of the U.S. Army and illustrates how LD training has evolved historically. The paper also explores how Human Resource Development (HRD) as a discipline of study and its functions may be instrumental in LD by analyzing the U.S. Army's approach to LD, leadership training, organizational culture, and career development. Implications of LD for security and defense strategies are also discussed.