IKS Lecture: Steve Taaffe, "Failure in Command: The Korean War and American Military Leadership"

October 21, 2019

1:00PM - 2:30PM

Mendenhall Lab Room 115 (125 S Oval Mall)

Add to Calendar 2019-10-21 12:00:00 2019-10-21 13:30:00 IKS Lecture: Steve Taaffe, "Failure in Command: The Korean War and American Military Leadership" The Institute for Korean Studies presents:Steve TaaffeProfessor of HistoryStephen F. Austin State UniversityTitle: Failure in Command: The Korean War and American Military LeadershipFlyer: Taaffe Flyer Abstract: The US army did not fight well during the first months of the Korean War. In engagement after engagement, North Korean forces pushed the American army southward and inflicted heavy casualties. There were plenty of reasons for this, but one important one was the mediocre quality of the army’s high-ranking combat commanders. This was surprising because the army had plenty of capable generals who proven themselves leading divisions and corps during World War Two. However, a combination of army personnel policy and interpersonal conflict initially interfered with the army’s efforts to find the best men to lead its combat units. These failures would have serious ramifications for the early months of the war in Korea. Although the army eventually overcame these problems and transferred better generals to Korea, it did so only after the North Koreans, and later the Chinese, almost drove it off the Korean peninsula. This talk will examine the failures of leadership and strategy that hindered the early prosecution of the Korean War, and the consequences of those failures for this critical battlefield in East Asia. Bio: Steve Taaffe is the author of seven books, including MacArthur’s Korean War Generals. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from Grove City College, his master’s degrees in international affairs (Latin American emphasis) and political science from Ohio University, and his doctorate in history from Ohio University. He is currently a professor of history at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he teaches American history. He lives with his wife, Cynthia, and their four children. He is currently working on a manuscript on US Marine Corps generals in World War Two. Free and Open to the PublicThis event is co-sponsored by OSU's Department of History and is supported by a U.S. Department of Education title VI grant to The Ohio State University East Asian Studies Center. Mendenhall Lab Room 115 (125 S Oval Mall) OSU ASC Drupal 8 ascwebservices@osu.edu America/New_York public

2019-10-21 13:00:00 2019-10-21 14:30:00 IKS Lecture: Steve Taaffe, "Failure in Command: The Korean War and American Military Leadership" The Institute for Korean Studies presents:Steve TaaffeProfessor of HistoryStephen F. Austin State UniversityTitle: Failure in Command: The Korean War and American Military LeadershipFlyer: Taaffe Flyer Abstract: The US army did not fight well during the first months of the Korean War. In engagement after engagement, North Korean forces pushed the American army southward and inflicted heavy casualties. There were plenty of reasons for this, but one important one was the mediocre quality of the army’s high-ranking combat commanders. This was surprising because the army had plenty of capable generals who proven themselves leading divisions and corps during World War Two. However, a combination of army personnel policy and interpersonal conflict initially interfered with the army’s efforts to find the best men to lead its combat units. These failures would have serious ramifications for the early months of the war in Korea. Although the army eventually overcame these problems and transferred better generals to Korea, it did so only after the North Koreans, and later the Chinese, almost drove it off the Korean peninsula. This talk will examine the failures of leadership and strategy that hindered the early prosecution of the Korean War, and the consequences of those failures for this critical battlefield in East Asia. Bio: Steve Taaffe is the author of seven books, including MacArthur’s Korean War Generals.  He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from Grove City College, his master’s degrees in international affairs (Latin American emphasis) and political science from Ohio University, and his doctorate in history from Ohio University.  He is currently a professor of history at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he teaches American history.  He lives with his wife, Cynthia, and their four children.  He is currently working on a manuscript on US Marine Corps generals in World War Two. Free and Open to the PublicThis event is co-sponsored by OSU's Department of History and is supported by a U.S. Department of Education title VI grant to The Ohio State University East Asian Studies Center.  Mendenhall Lab Room 115 (125 S Oval Mall) America/New_York public

The Institute for Korean Studies presents:

Steve Taaffe
Professor of History
Stephen F. Austin State University

Title: Failure in Command: The Korean War and American Military Leadership

Flyer: Taaffe Flyer

Abstract: The US army did not fight well during the first months of the Korean War. In engagement after engagement, North Korean forces pushed the American army southward and inflicted heavy casualties. There were plenty of reasons for this, but one important one was the mediocre quality of the army’s high-ranking combat commanders. This was surprising because the army had plenty of capable generals who proven themselves leading divisions and corps during World War Two. However, a combination of army personnel policy and interpersonal conflict initially interfered with the army’s efforts to find the best men to lead its combat units. These failures would have serious ramifications for the early months of the war in Korea. Although the army eventually overcame these problems and transferred better generals to Korea, it did so only after the North Koreans, and later the Chinese, almost drove it off the Korean peninsula. This talk will examine the failures of leadership and strategy that hindered the early prosecution of the Korean War, and the consequences of those failures for this critical battlefield in East Asia.

Bio: Steve Taaffe is the author of seven books, including MacArthur’s Korean War Generals. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from Grove City College, his master’s degrees in international affairs (Latin American emphasis) and political science from Ohio University, and his doctorate in history from Ohio University. He is currently a professor of history at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he teaches American history. He lives with his wife, Cynthia, and their four children. He is currently working on a manuscript on US Marine Corps generals in World War Two.

Free and Open to the Public

This event is co-sponsored by OSU's Department of History and is supported by a U.S. Department of Education title VI grant to The Ohio State University East Asian Studies Center.