Essay on "Advancements in Military Technology and Information Superiority"

Essay 5 pages (1641 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Advancements in Military Technology and Information Superiority So Important in the American Victory over Japan in the Pacific War?

The Importance of the Advancements in Military Technology and Information in the American Victory over Japan in the Pacific War

The war in the Pacific theatre of operations was unlike the one waged in Europe whereby conventional battlefield operations and tactics were applied in terrains that were familiar with both the Allied forces and Nazi German forces. In this arena, the facet of warfare was vastly different especially when the terrains vary from dense jungles and mountainous areas necessitating guerrilla warfare strategies to sea lanes inundated by islands and islets where sea battles utilized these land masses as hidden staging areas or hiding therein during engagements. As history has shown, the war in Pacific was won by the United States and its allies not only because of the daring and determination of the men and women who both served in and out of uniform but also with the utilization of advancements in military technology. Further, America had the advantage in information and intelligence gathering that it was know the enemy's capabilities and intentions thereby applying the best strategies to defeat Japan at its own territory.

During World War II, the United States arrived belatedly for various political and diplomatic reasons. Whilst Great Britain and other nations were falling like dominos from the might of the Axis Power, the nation sat back for two years until that unforgettable day in December 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. From thence, the United States rallied not only the armed forces but all sectors of the American society including its Allies in order to fast track the mobilization for a full-scale warfare on two fronts. In the Pacific War, advanced military technology played a vital role in undermining the capabilities of the Japanese Imperial forces. Historians generally agreed that World War II was the first 'scientific war' [and] scientists from nearly every field were mobilized for a total war effort (Grunden, 2005, p. 13)." This was especially apparent with the development of the atomic bomb. Although the atomic bomb program was endeavored to develop a weapon of mass destruction to enjoin Hitler and his Nazi forces to capitulate, the downfall of Germany following the Allied invasion of Normandy did not allow for the utilization of this modern weapon of warfare. However, the Pacific was a different story especially since the Imperial Japanese forces remained belligerent and were holding their ground to death. The political leadership of then of the United States government decided that using atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the apropos strategy to render Japan incapable of continuing its war efforts. Eventually, the atomic bombings work and saw the end not only of the Pacific war but World War II as well.

The use of atomic weapons against Japan in the closing days of World War II [not only] saw a conclusion to World War II brought science and technology into the realm of U.S. foreign policy as never before (Advameg, Inc., 2011). Accordingly, superior and advanced military technologies proved decisive in the war effort and brought about paradigm shifts not only in military strategies but international and diplomatic relations then and in the future. Although military technology played a vital role, this would never have been possible without the superiority of the American forces in information and intelligence gathering. Developments in radar and radio communications technologies including interception and decryption means and methods enable the United States to "listen in" to encrypted Japanese political and military communications. This was particularly evident when Japan used the same Enigma technology as the Germans and such technology had already been compromised during the early months of World War II in the European theatre of operations. A case in point of how the merger of technology and information / intelligence capabilities destabilized the Japanese war efforts was apparent in various sea battles. If [the Japanese] radioed for air protection they were more likely to be visited by American aircraft than Japanese, directed to the target by the regular interception and decoding of Japanese messages (Overy, 1997, p. 229).

Complementary to the synergy of advanced military technologies and information / intelligence capabilities of the United States was the human intelligence capabilities thereto. In 1941, when the United States faced the looming prospect of war with Japan, the War Department moved to develop linguists by directing the Fourth Army to open an intelligence school [and] proceeded to screen Japanese-Americans as instructors and students, develop a curriculum, and otherwise build a school from scratch (Mercado, 2009). The purpose of this effort was to have a pool of Japanese language experts that can help in the war effort by being able to understand not only the language of the enemy but the intentions also. The graduates of this intelligence school were Nisei or second-generation Japanese-Americans. They have proven invaluable in the application of their human intelligence capabilities in the use of advanced military technologies. For instance, intercepted encrypted communications are decrypted by cryptologists and cryptanalysts but since these are in the Japanese language, the Nisei were the ones responsible for the interpretation of the form and substance of each message. The results of this war effort proved that the value of advanced military technologies and improved information / intelligence gathering capabilities were only as good as the people who have been entrusted to use them. Even if the former two were the best they were during that time, they would have been for naught without those highly trained, intelligent and capable people managing and utilizing them.

Further to the importance of advanced military technologies and information superiority of the United States and those people involved therein, there is another factor that contributed to their effectiveness -- the people in the United States manufacturing and producing these technologies. Indeed, improvements in aircraft, tank, and other weapons technologies provided a plating filed advantageous to the United States especially in the war in the Pacific. These superior technologies even became potent force multipliers when at the home front, the production and manufacturing thereto were at a rapid pace. Although Japan enabled various sectors of its society to do the same and mass produced weapons of war, they did not have the luxury of having the raw materials needed to makes these weapons come to fruition. What ensued was "the effective deployment of modern technology, against an enemy forced to fight with little air cover, few tanks and dwindling quantities of trucks and guns, making the difference between victory and defeat (Overy, 1997, p. 227)." Due to the mass production and mass deployment of weapons of war by the United States in the Pacific, replenishments were readily provided that enabled American and Allied forces not to lose momentum in the war effort. This can be substantiated with the output of the United States in its military production -- "96,000 military and naval aircraft in the peak year of 1944, exceeding the combined totals for Germany, Japan, and Britain. In spite of initial confusion, disputes, and delays, American industry had achieved the 'crushing superiority of equipment in any theater of the world war'. (Harper, Jeffries, Tuttle, Lichtenstein, & Sitkoff, 2007)"

In spite of the headways made by the United States in crushing the Japanese Imperial forces in the Pacific War in World War II, the Japanese were not at a standstill in both science and technology and military weapons production. As far back as the 1930s to the early 1940s, Japan has mobilized its science and technology resources especially since it has had various problems with China, Russia, Korea and other neighboring countries for several years or even decades and centuries. The only way Japan could remain strong is by having advanced… READ MORE

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