Posted on 09/10/2007 9:20:51 AM PDT by blitzgig
CARLISLE BARRACKS, Pa. -- Officers studying at the Army War College walk the ground at nearby Gettysburg where Pickett's men walked across an open field under fire. They wonder: How did Confederate officers get men to do that? The lesson: Men can be led to places they cannot be sent.
Today's officers lead an Army that was sent into Iraq in 2003, and by 2004 the operation became, as an officer here says, "a deployment in search of a mission." Since then, missions have multiplied. Today's is to make possible an exit strategy. Gen. David Petraeus's Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual says counterinsurgency's primary objective is to secure the civilian population rather than destroy the enemy. This inevitably involves the military in organizing civil society, a task that demands skill sets that are scarce throughout the government and have not hitherto been, and perhaps should not be, central to military training and doctrine. Nevertheless, the War College is coming to grips with the fact that what soldiers call "nonkinetic" -- meaning nonviolent -- facets of their profession are, in Iraq, perhaps 80 percent of their profession.
-snip-
Some officers here recently visited Appomattox to help them think about "war termination." Fortunately, thanks to the services' institutions such as the War College, America's remarkably reflective military services, their burdens promiscuously multiplied by civilians down the road in Washington, are up to another challenge that civilians have devolved to them: thinking.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
But troops are now commanded from Washington, rather than being led.
Bonus questions: who was the last General killed in combat? Who was the last General killed in a war zone?
General killed in battle? Buckner was one... on Okinawa.
These are not stupid people, and they think about what they do. Most servicepeople do. The challenge is to structure the organization in such a way as to let that information proliferate instead of being suppressed. That is one difference between management and leadership.
“Don’t think about it! A good soldier never thinks! Why, do you suppose a man would risk his life for Queen and Country if he thought about it for one minute? Not bloody likely! Now looking at your faces, I can see you are all going to be top notch soldiers! You over there with the six hat size—you’ve got the makings of a bloody hero!” -—Sean Connery, The Man Who Would Be King
Things have changed a bit since then.
The entire Civil War was an object lesson is utter stupidity on the part of civilian and military "leaders" in the Union and the Confederacy, and Pickett's charge at Gettysburg was a perfect case in point.
For the most part, the Civil War was fought using combat methods that had been exposed as completely ineffective 100 years earlier in the French & Indian Wars and in the American Revolution.
The Civil War marked a very bad historical turn for the United States -- because it was the first time we had large numbers of uniformed military personnel doing downright stupid things on the battlefield just because some @sshole in the White House and/or some @sshole with a couple of stripes on his shoulder thought it was a good idea.
MG George Casey, CG 1st Cavalry Division, died on 7 July 1970 when the helicopter he was co-piloting crashed during combat operations. He was the father of GEN George Casey, the current Chief of Staff of the Army.
11 General and Flag Officers died in Vietnam, 6 were killed in action and 5 died in accidents.
The absence of general officers from current casualty lists is, IMHO, a reflection of the low (in comparison with WWII, Korea, and Vietnam) casualty rates and the nature of the conflict - fleeting engagements centered around detonations of IED's because they lack the capability to do anything else.
And the point you were trying to make was???
General Walton “Bulldog” Walker was killed in a traffic accident as he tried to pass a column of stalled South Korean vehicles in December 1950.
I thought he was saying that the military is being overburdened by mission creep, doing jobs best left to civilians.
The linear tactics used in the French and Indian War and the Revolution were perfectly suited to the smooth-bore musket of the day. You are getting ahead of history.
The tactics of the ‘War Between the States’ were behind the killing range of the rifled musket of the day, and the few repeating rifles that eventually made their way into combat. Of course, the infantry tactics of the Spanish-American War and WWI did not do much better against the bolt-action rifle of the day. In the Civil War the tactical command and control was a problem for the leadership which ran and instructed volunteer officer of the Civil War on both sides. They finally figured it out in the trenches of Petersburg - but the lessons were lost to those who fought later.
Pickett’s Charge was a problem because it took place on the afternoon of the third day at Gettysburg - when it should have occurred at around 7:30pm on the second day of battle when it could have been decisive.
dvwjr
Among all of the storied fighting forces this country had in its history up to that point -- and I would include the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont, Marion's Men (Francis Marion's irregulars in South Carolina), and later the Texas Rangers -- you'll find that they had a couple of things in common: 1) they didn't form ranks and exchange gunfire in the open with their adversaries, and 2) they were not full-time militias (which may have had a lot to do with #1).
One was killed in Nam when his helo was shot down. He was a BG, Army, I believe.
Men can be led to places they cannot be sent.
But troops are now commanded from Washington, rather than being led.
Bonus questions: who was the last General killed in combat? Who was the last General killed in a war zone?
I think you are too obscure...
Our Senior Officers are not leading anything. There are but a rare few that are even marginally at hazard. Therein lies the rub.. the reason this fight has been run so poorly.
W
dvwjr:
I second your remarks re: the match between tactics and technology (i.e. massed formations and muskets, etc.) It's very easy to level criticism at the "foolhardiness" of Pickett, especially with the advantages of 20/20 hindsight. Having attended Gettysburg College for four years, and having walked or ran the battlefield with regularity, I can attest to an optical illusion presented by the terrain. From what is now Confederate Ave. viewing east towards Union Ave, the terrain appears to be deceptively level with the copse of trees appearing much closer than it actually is. Only when one goes to the Union lines viewing back to the west, does it become apparent how much elevation and distance the Union had to their advantage.
I believe it was General Ware who led the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam, circa 1968.
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