ABSTRACT
Introduction Constitutionally the U.S. Army’s purpose derives from the simple phrase in the preamble to ‘‘provide for the common defense.’’ Yet the U.S. Army, twelve years older than the Constitution itself, has lived through many iterations of guidance as to what providing for the common defense actually entails. Just as the rest of the federal government has burgeoned over time in response to external and internal needs not covered by that rather sparse document, so has the organization charged with maintaining the nation’s land forces.
