The Pentagon Labyrinth

This short pamphlet of less than 150 pages is available at no cost in E-Book PDF format, as well as in hard copy. The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) maintains and extensive web page here, and this page is adapted from it.

Included in the menu below are links supplemental/supporting information (much previously unavailable on the web) describing how notions of combat effectiveness relate to the basic building blocks of people, ideas, and hardware/technology; the nature of strategy; and the dysfunctional character of the Pentagon’s decision making procedures and the supporting role of its  accounting shambles.


This pamphlet aims to help newcomers and seasoned observers grapple with the problems of national defense.  Intended especially for readers who are concerned about the superficial nature of the political debate on national security, this handbook assembles the insights of ten professionals, each with decades of experience in the armed services, the Pentagon bureaucracy, Congress, the intelligence community, military history, journalism and other disciplines.  
Download the whole book in .pdf format, or find individual essays and supplemental materials below.
  1. Why is this Handbook Necessary? Franklin C. Spinney (this essay is a variation of the Domestic Roots of Perpetual War)
  2. Penetrating the Pentagon. George Wilson
  3. Learning about Defense. Bruce I. Gudmundsson
  4. Congressional Oversight. Willing and Able or Willing to Enable? Winslow T. Wheeler
  5. Careerism. Col. GI Wilson, USMC, ret.
  6. Confused Alarms of Struggle and Flight: A Primer for Assessing Defense Strategy in the post-Iraq World. Col. Chet Richards, USAF, ret.
  7. Follow the Money. Andrew Cockburn
  8. Decoding the Defense Budget. Winslow T. Wheeler
  9. Evaluating Weapons: Sorting the Good from the Bad. Pierre M. Sprey
  10. Developing, Buying and Fielding Superior Weapon Systems. Thomas Christie
Materials Cited in Each Essay:
Essay #1: Why is this Handbook Necessary? Franklin C. Spinney
  1. “Genghis John.”  Proceedings of the U. S. Naval Institute. July 1997, pp. 42-47.
  2. Statement before the Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, US House or Representatives. June 4, 2002.
  3. The New QDR: The Pentagon Goes Intellectually AWOL. CounterPunch. February 2010.
  4. The JSF: One More Card in the House. Proceedings of the Naval Institute. August 2000.
  5. Defense Death Spiral, September 1998.
  6. Porkbarrels & Budgeteers: What Went Wrong with the Defense Review. September, 1997.
  7. Defense Time Bomb; Background: F-22/JSF Case Study Hypothetical Escape Option. March 1996.
  8. Three Reasons Why the ATF Should Not Be Approved for Engineering and Manufacturing Development. July 23, 1991.
  9. Defense Power Games. October 1990.

Essay #4: Congressional Oversight. Willing and Able or Willing to Enable? Winslow T. Wheeler
  1. The Week of Shame: Congress Wilts as the President Demands an Unclogged Path to War

Essay #6: Confused Alarms of Struggle and Flight: A Primer for Assessing Defense Strategy in the post-Iraq World. Col. Chet Richards (USAF, ret.)
  1. If We Can Keep It: A National Security Manifesto for the Next Administration
  2. Shattering Illusions: A National Security Strategy for 2009-2017

Essay #9: Evaluating Weapons: Sorting the Good from the Bad . Pierre M. Sprey
  1. Systems Analysis Problems of Limited War
  2. M-16 Rifle Case Study
  3. Notes on Close Air Support
  4. Combat Effectiveness Considerations in Designing Close Support Fighters
  5. Coming to Grips with Effectiveness in Rifles
  6. Promise and Reality: Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air-To-Air Combat
  7. “Nothing’s too good for our boys!” — Why Can’t DOD give us Quality and Quantity?
  8. Comparing the Effectiveness of Air-to-Air Fighters: F-86 to F-18
  9. Small Arms Weapons Systems Analysis: A Review and Evaluation
  10. Comparing the Effectiveness of Current Tanks
  11. The Terrible Cost of Not Testing with Real Weapons, Shooting at Real Targets
  12. Today’s OT&E: Abuses and Remedies
  13. The Evaluation of Small Arms Effectiveness Criteria: Volume 1

Essay #10: Developing, Buying and Fielding Superior Weapon Systems. Thomas Christie
  1. Paper on Oversight from DSB Task Force on Acquisition Streamlining
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