Here’s a hilarious image that reminds us that flexibility is key to winning:
Via CDRSalamander.
Image of the Day: Thriving on Chaos
Previous post: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Hits Max Speed
Next post: Counterfeit Parts Found on P-8 Posiedons
Follow Us!
- Channels: Military.com | Military Benefits | Military News | Off Duty | Join the Military | Military Education | Veteran Jobs | Military Money | Military Deals | Military Family | Military Community
- Military.com Network: Military.com | CinCHouse | MilBlogging | Defense Tech | DoD Buzz | Line of Departure | SpouseBuzz | Fred's Place | Armees | HMForces
- Services: Army | Navy | Air Force | Marine Corps | Coast Guard | National Guard | Military Spouse
- About Military.com: About Us | Press | Monster Network | Advertise With Us | Affiliate Program | Help | Feedback | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Mobile | Site Map
-
{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
The Soviet quote is wrong, we follow our doctrine. We follow it right to the point that bullets start flying and then we say the immortal words "F$#@ it!" and do something that works. I think a US commander in World War 1 said it best when, after listening to a French Officer speak about the tactics of warfare on the western front, stood up and said "Now you boys thank the man for the advice he gave. But Remember they've been doing the same thing for the past 4 years and it hasn't done a lick of difference."
"The best laid plans always work, up until the point that the first round is fired." Unknown who said it, but I remember my drill instructor kept saying it.
And you, having revealed yourself as a Marine by the use of the term "drill instructor", must also know that Marines don't plan, we improvise!
Could also be a NAVY OCS Officer since they have drill instructors.
Or any other branch for that matter!
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy"
~Erwin Rommel
@ Ed! about the WW1 commander, Pershing: This is true. Immediately afterwards, the 'dough boys' attacked for the first time. And were shot, nearly all of them.
Well, we did have a learning curve to go through. The Germans would learn about us fast enough though. Belleau Wood, the Germans thought they could stay near the base of the hill and be out of range.
Von Moltke (elder) is the first one to come up with that phrase shortly after crushing France in 1871.
The US Military Services are experts at crisis management. Unfortunately, it's about the only kind of management they understand – so they create crises to remain in their management comfort zone.
As funny as this is (and it's hilarious) you are quite correct about the very serious truth it implies…
Rommel is an example of an out-of-the-box thinker in the Wehrmacht. There's a reason why he was well-respected for being clever and resourceful.
Then again, the pre-war Army probably was better served not following their initial doctrine early on in the war, and better served learning how to fight WW2 after being trained to fight WW1.
I think you will find that Rommel was only respected by his enemies. Most of his superiors and peers found him to be irresponsible and wild, the product of fortune and circumstance rather than a practitioner of warfare gifted with true skill. Whether this is true or not I cannot say, just saying that the statement isn't necessarily true.
Most of Rommel's superiors were of the old guard wehrmacht. Rommel was part of the new wehrmacht leadership that included Guderion. Remember that Guderion's superiors didn't like him either and didn't believe his plan for the Battle of France.
The difference between a great army and a good army – is the speed that poor officers get replaced in war time.
Ohh so right. The reason the US military won the war in Europe is that we where lost 90% of the time. From the words of Capt. Colver
You're an idiot, nuff said. America saved your asses.
I think that's over simplifying it. The US did some great work, but was not alone. The heaviest fighting took place on the Eastern front. Had Hitler not expended so many resources going after Russia, things would have probably played out differently.
The black and white simplification which occurs in the course of writing history makes it easy to teach in school and generate positive sentiment at home, but rarely captures the important nuances of the day.
Thinking we can go it alone does a disservice to those who came before, and will end up costing the lives of those who are there today, and those who will come tomorrow.
Yup. It's easy to forget that Germany threw ~100 divisions into Russia at the outset of Barbarossa. The Russians suffered terribly in ways that we in the West really can't imagine and have never really known, due to the secrecy of the Soviet Union and defeated Germany and the distance from Western Euro-centric historians.
Our total inability to launch a coordinated carrier strike is probably what saved us at Midway. If they had all reached the Japanese fleet at the same time, there would have been several Zeros at altitude to intercept the dive bombers that delivered their bombs.
I thought that was Spruance prioritizing speed over coordination (which could have panned out very badly for the USN).
Most sources I've read have it as inexperience. Yorktown was the only carrier experienced with launching a full deck strike. Enterprise and Hornet were not, and those two launched the first strikes. That's not to say Spruance wasn't all right with the situation. He was aware of what was going on, and he considered it a calculable risk. Nevertheless, an experienced fleet would have been able to launch a proper attack under the constraints. Either way, chaos achieved.
Blackphoenix, you do know that Midway was an ambush set up by the USA don't you? The Intel we leaked that sent the Japanese to Midway was a ruse, and it worked.
I don't know what that has to do with any of the points we're making, but your statement is somewhat misrepresenting. The Japanese were always going to attack Midway. We didn't "leak" intel that "sent" the Japanese anywhere. The ruse was in discovering what target "AF" was in the Japanese JN-25 code, and that created the Midway water desalination communique. When Navy Intel decoded a message saying "AF's" water desalination plant was down, they knew AF was Midway, and therefore could be in position to ambush the attacking force. But regardless, that has no bearing on the lack of skill of Enterprise and Hornet's crews to launch a coordinated strike which was my original statement.
I'd love to get a little more history on those quotes. I have seen 1 and 3 quoted almost word for word in other countries, with the country name suitably swapped.
They are awesome. I can see why everyone wants to claim them as their own.
We kicked ass against the Germans. An would have done a good one too if the Cold War went hot. We can now start thinckin about defeaten the Chicoms. So they can say the same thing.
Be careful what you wish for. I remember the last time you tried to defeaten asian communists.
Thinck about it.
We won. And then we left. And millions payed with their lives. As bad as it sounds, most of the countries we conquered and occupied went on to prosper. If only we had done that with Vietnam…..
Hippies and their influence politics got in the way and got soldiers killed… Plus restrictive ROE added to indescriminate bombing made soldiers near defenseless and the natives still hated them.
So basicly nothing to do w/the VC/NVA that any other group couldnt have done in that era.
If everything had gone as planned, it would have been perfect.
ATF Spokesman
Waco, TX
March 1993
Hey hot stuff
Chaos is Opportunity, Opportunity gives Power; Ignorance is the tool of Power, through it there is Control; Hatred is the flower of Passion, through it there is Compulsion; Powerful emotion is the Guide, through it there is Purpose; There is no doom in Death, eternally there is the Force.
The Force is for people with logic problems….
While I am thankful for all the Americans did to help us in the war, some of their people seem to think it was just them. It's just arrogance I see in comments almost daily. I think the worse thing is when they say "If it was not for us you would be speaking German" but I just want to point out that the Normans invaded us British and we don't speak french! Fellow Brits have in the past retorted with "If it was not for us you would all be speaking uto-aztecian or catwban or something like that but in reality: French or Spanish. Not sure what the point of this comment is just THE WAR WAS A JOINT EFFORT JUST PLEASE GET ALONG! x
Yup, they really were reckless in handling the war.
We can prepare for war all we want. When the first bullets fly, all defensive plans are out the window. The only good plan is moving forward at all times on all fronts.
the reason they couldn't prepare against the Americans may be that they had already been at war for so long that their resources morale and troop numbers were severely depleted mhile the Americans were fresh and ready. Try telling the Barbarians that died by Roman sword that chaos is the key to victory.
Also, if you spend some time in Russia they'll tell you that the war was won by their brilliant final assault and that D-day was just a minor occurrence.