Lessons Unlearned cover art

Lessons Unlearned

The U.S. Army's Role in Creating the Forever Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (American Military Experience)

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Lessons Unlearned

By: Pat Proctor
Narrated by: Douglas R Pratt
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $33.99

Buy Now for $33.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

Colonel Pat Proctor’s long overdue critique of the army’s preparation and outlook in the all-volunteer era focuses on a national security issue that continues to vex in the 21st century: Has the army lost its ability to win strategically by focusing on fighting conventional battles against peer enemies? Or can it adapt to deal with the greater complexity of counterinsurgent and information-age warfare?

In this blunt critique of the senior leadership of the US Army, Proctor contends that after the fall of the Soviet Union, the US Army stubbornly refused to reshape itself in response to the new strategic reality, a decision that saw it struggle through one low-intensity conflict after another—some inconclusive, some tragic—in the 1980s and 1990s, and leaving it largely unprepared when it found itself engaged—seemingly forever—in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The first book-length study to connect the failures of these wars to America’s disastrous performance in the war on terror, Proctor’s work serves as an attempt to convince army leaders to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

The book is published by the Curators of the University of Missouri Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2020 The Curators of the University of Missouri (P)2022 Redwood Audiobooks
Military War US Army

Critic Reviews

“A brutally honest, thought-provoking, and brilliant examination of the American military’s failure to adapt to post-Cold War realities and understand the challenges of the post-9/11 world.” (David Petraeus, general, US Army, ret.)

“Proctor has the courage and intellectual firepower to challenge the status quo and to prescribe deep, real changes.” (Bing West, coauthor with Jim Mattis of Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead)

"A seminal work of military/political analysis." (Midwest Book Review)

What listeners say about Lessons Unlearned

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.