Restless Strategy: Alfred Gray's Philosophy of Warfighting

Overview

This essay focuses on the legacy of Alfred Gray as a practitioner of strategy. Wrapped up in this are aspects of his Marine leadership, record as a commander, and iconoclastic approach to implementing his vision, although the authors do not explore these in exhaustive detail. Nor do they cover the political battles in Washington over the mission and funding of the Marine Corps in the 1970s and 1980s or attempt a more general military history of this period. They do touch on debates surrounding the intellectual development of maneuver warfare, especially since they are intertwined with Gray's efforts to implement it in the Marine Corps, but they do not attempt to settle the history of these matters. Instead, the essay remains carefully centered on Gray himself: his life, thinking, and lasting influence on American approaches to the practice of strategy.