RWE,

You state:

In my 25 years of service I found that innovation at the field level was both actively discouraged and relied on very heavily in the end. And official attempts to promote innovation were much ballyhooed but almost always came to nought.

My observation:

Yep! It was very frustrating at times for some of the guys I worked with. I always encouraged using the official channels for submitting improvements, etc., for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was ongoing support through normal ordnance channels after approval.

However, it is one thing to sit down with soldering iron and circuit board in hand (in a bunker, no less) to whip out a new board to replace old tube technology and another to write up the specifications required for the exhaustive forms in the “suggested improvement” submission process. I wonder if it has changed at all in the ensuing years?

IMHO one of the great strengths of the US citizen military is a strong innovative spirit on the part of the average soldier. As far as I can tell, no other army can compare. It is never smart to underestimate the enemy, but I believe that in the realm of using innovation and technology to improve battle field results, our military has no peer, even with one or both hands tied behind their backs. They will still use their teeth. Hmmm…., pardon the foam flecks. I’ll stop now.