A Historical Perspective on Evolutions and Revolutions in Small Arms

The initial round of the Small Arms Seminar Series was convened at the United States Military Academy at West Point from September 11-13, 2012. The first gathering drew together a combination of technological consultants, subject matter experts, US Army officers, historians, and other interested parties to set the boundaries that would be in play in the future explorations in the long term development of small arms. The heart of the discussion was the examination of historical processes which had resulted in large-scale changes to the military art, discussions of the history of science, and several case studies of recent issues involving doctrine and development that might offer clues to the central tensions of the seminar. Specifically the seminar was seeking to define three areas of understanding what is a revolution in small arms as opposed to an evolution what systemic factors must be considered in the pursuit of a revolution and finally, given such a definition and variables, is it feasible to pursue such a revolution This report answers these questions and summarizes the results of the seminar.