Military Review English Edition July-August 2014 | Page 104

encompassing all areas of the PLA from the macro- to
the micro-level. As an ex-military attaché to Beijing, he
is familiar with China’s military and the various aspects
of their culture. He has access to information found
mainly in Chinese-language sources, attainable because
of his fluency in the Chinese language. For example, he
notes that A Guide to the Study of Campaign Theory is
an unclassified “study guide” for PLA officers on how to
understand and apply the campaign doctrine presented
in the PLA book, The Science of Campaigns. Any Chinese
military analyst would consider such a document vital
to his understanding of the PLA’s conduct of military
operations, but it is only accessible to those who can
read Mandarin.
The Dragon Extends Its Reach examines a number
of areas, each of which is usually covered individually by a single U.S. specialist (C4ISR, ground forces,
nuclear doctrine, etc.). Wortzel exceeds this parameter
of singularity and offers readers a comprehensive look
at the PLA in a single source. His analysis encompasses
not only the traditional areas of the military services
and their equipment, but also the PLA’s thoughts on
deterrence and its use, the integration of information
operations into political departments, the PLA’s role in
foreign policy, and the integration of current thought
with past legacies, among other issues.
The book rarely misses a topic area. For example,
there are detailed discussions of the Chinese general staff system; military regions, theaters of war, and
military districts; the decision-making process of the
military; and legal issues affecting space and ocean
activities. Wortzel descends into the depths of the services, to include an examination of topics such as how
network-centric operations affect their activities. More
importantly, he touches on topics that are seldom, if
ever, seen in the open press, such as the Chinese Qu
Dian theater-level, automated system of command and
control.
The information in this book serves as an excellent
introduction to the PLA for those just starting to study
the Chinese military, and as a well-rounded compendium for those senior Chinese analysts who may have set
their focus on one area of military research.
Tim Thomas, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

102

BREACH OF TRUST: How Americans Failed Their
Soldiers and Their Country
Andrew J. Bacevich, Metropolitan Books, New York,
2013, 238 pages, $26.00

A

ndrew Bacevich’s Breach of Trust is a must
read for policymakers, military professionals, and the citizens on whose behalf those
groups serve. The only critique is that the book’s title
does not capture the richness of Bacevich’s argument.
His foundational argument is that the all-volunteer
force has allowed 99 percent of the population to shirk
the shared responsibility of national defense. Although
this accusation has become trite over the last 11 years,
Bacevich moves beyond the simple military versus
civilian argument, identifying how the all-volunteer
force is eroding the checks-and-balances construct
upon which American democracy is based and creating
perverse incentives that enable global adventurism.
Bacevich argues that initially, the all-volunteer force
seemed like a “bargain” for both citizen and soldier.
Citizens received a professionally trained military
capable of protecting the nation, while remaining
unburdened by the requirements of common defense.
Soldiers received the approbation of 99 percent of the
population who were not only grateful for their service,
but more than willing to pay the costs of contracting
common defense to the other one percent. Overtime,
the population became unconcerned with how the professional Army was employed, as long as the costs were
not immediate and life continued seemingly uninterrupted. I