The increasing interest in utilizing carbonaceous-fiber-reinforced carbon matrix materials in high temperature structural applications has resulted in the generation of an increasing amount of experimental data, primarily for unidirectionally reinforced systems. While the longitudinal tensile strength and stiffness properties presently being achieved are attractive relative to those of unreinforced carbonaceous materials such as bulk graphite, they remain well below their apparent potential. Utilizing micromechanical analyses and taking into consideration the highly anistropic crystallo graphic structure of graphite, possible explanations for the observed properties degradation have been formulated. Suggestions for modifying the fabrication and thermal processing as a means of improving axial properties, and tensile strength in particular, are presented.