The author examines the principal characteristics and ideas associated with the American way of war, past and present. He argues that Americans do not have a way of war, but rather a way of battle. LTC Echevarria contends that moving from a way of battle to a way of war will require some fundamental thinking about the roles of the grammar and logic of war, about the nature of U.S. civil-military relations, and about the practical resources necessary to translate military victory into strategic success.