Military Officer - March 2009 - (Page 22) rapidfire In Review The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 By Martin Dugard. Little, Brown and Co., 2008. $29.99. ISBN 978-0316-16625-6. shed — lessons they all would use again in trying to kill each other at Bull Run, Antietam, and Gettysburg. Castles, Battles, & Bombs: How Economics Explains Military History By Jurgen Brauer and Hubert van Tuyll. University of Chicago Press, 2008. $29. ISBN 978-0-22607163-3. Disney on a Budget W ith “Disney’s Armed Forces Salute,” active and retired U.S. servicemembers get complimentary, multiday admission to Disney theme parks. At Disneyland Resort in California through June 12, 2009, each servicemember gets one complimentary threeday “Disney’s Armed Forces Salute” Park Hopper ticket for free admission to Disneyland and California Adventure. At Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, through Dec. 23, 2009, servicemembers get a complimentary five-day “Disney’s Armed Forces Salute” Park Hopper ticket, valid at all four Walt Disney World theme parks. You also get up to five visits to a Disney water park, DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme Park, and other attractions. For more information, visit www.disneyworld.com/military. —Maryann Hammers TRICAREUPDATE MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS RATE INCREASE TRICARE increased mental health reimbursement rates by 5 percent for 24 mental health services. The psychiatric therapeutic procedures affected by this change range from current procedural terminology codes 90804-90829, which include: I individual psychotherapy using verbal techniques; and I individual interactive psychotherapy, using nonverbal techniques. Other TRICARE payment rates for providers stayed the same until the February 2009 semiannual review. Rates for all procedures by locality can be found at www.tricare.mil/cmac. 22 MILITARY OFFICER MARCH 2009 The Mexican War of 184648 not only was a violent extension of America’s continental Manifest Destiny, but it also was an exemplary training ground for young graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., to prepare themselves for the Civil War 13 years later. With fresh perspective, author Martin Dugard tells the dramatic story of the Mexican War as both a history of American imperialism and of the brotherhood of Army officers who would survive the crucible of the bloody Mexican War only to fight each other in the Civil War. Dugard recounts the friendships and Mexican War experiences of Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, William T. Sherman, and others who learned firsthand about wartime leadership, tactics, reconnaissance, and the horrors of battlefield blood- With original, refreshing thought, Jurgen Brauer and Hubert van Tuyll examine military history from the viewpoint of economic theory, focusing on six periods covering a thousand years, from medieval castle building to today’s war on terrorism. They apply six economic principles to military decision-making involving strategy, tactics, technology, whether to fight, how to fight, and the risks and benefits of limited versus total war. Once past the mumbo jumbo of economist jargon, this is a fascinating analysis of the military decision-making from the Middle Ages through the 21st century, with a view to “keep the costs of war reasonably proportionate to the purposes attained.” — William D. Bushnell IMAGES: ABOVE, STEVE BARRETT; LEFT, BLAINE HARRINGTON III/CORBIS http://www.disneyworld.com/military http://www.tricare.mil/cmac
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