Re: Enemy Appreciations and SOPs

Wow, I can't believe how many emails were generated on this topic just
since
the last time I checked :)

Just in response to all of you guys who said that making assumptions
about
the enemy is dangerous.  Of course, you're all right.  Making your
doctrine
too inflexible would certainly let your enemy take advantage of it.  But
on
the other hand, you still do certainly need guidelines for your troops
about
the operations of both your enemy and yourself.  This is the reason that
armies still do have standardised TO&E's and doctrine, for both
themselves
and their enemies. (just look at all of the US Army's field manuals)  Of
course it should be made very clear to the troops that blindly following
procedures is undesirable, but on the other hand, just "winging it" all
the
time, with no other information, won't do either.

It looks like John A. is replying in a far more in depth manner than I
am
though :)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas Barclay" <kaladorn@magma.ca>
To: <gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu>
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2002 7:24 AM
Subject: Enemy Appreciations and SOPs

> Beth,
>
> Think of it this way. Some militaries (most good
> ones) train their soldiers in lots of situations
> and drill them in varying scenarios. Why? To
> give them the ability to think on their feet and
> lead when the "plan" ends up not working out.
>
> Intelligence (and I include in that appreciations
> of enemy tech, doctrine, and fighting ability)
> only goes so far. It gives you a ballpark of what
> your enemy might do. Your own doctrine gives
> you some idea of how to counter these
> weaknesses or strengths should they arise.
>
> If you blindly assume the enemy will do what
> you expect (hello, General Custer), without using
> your own scouts effectively, you'll get what you
> deserve. If you are overconfident because you
> believe in your own superiority and lack the
> ability to deal with real stresses,  you'll tend to
> fall apart at key moments (hello Lt. Gorman).
>
> A good, flexible commander has intelligence to
> tell him who he thinks he'll be fighting, how the
> other side usually fights, and his own SOPs and
> doctrine to tell him what he can probably do to
> that enemy to take him apart. But the good
> commander also uses his own recce elements
> to good effect (and any ELINT/SIGINT/IMINT) to
> determine if the enemy is doing what he is
> expected to, if the enemy is the unit(s)
> expected, and to keep track of any "other
> factors" not yet accounted for.
>
> By doing so, he doesn't get himself locked into
> a particular appreciation of the enemy
> prematurely. And a good commander, if he
> discovers thing have changed, can change plan
> in mid-stride and have some reasonable chance
> of pulling it off (assuming he has good troops
> under him.... good commanders would have a
> hard time saving poorly trained troops).
>
> War by doctrine alone probably mostly went
> away after the meat grinder battles of WW1. We
> still see it rear its head here and there, and
> misappreciation of the enemy sometimes
> happens (though if I had to misappreciate I'd
> rather overestimate than underestimate). And
> of course, the closer the enemy is to your own
> level of skill (or God Forbid, if he's better), then
> he'll be trying to insure that you don't see what
> he's actually doing or that you see something
> you might be anticipating while he actually does
> something else. It's all a game of think and
> counter think and intelligence. But your local
> SOPs and various training drills give you an
> enhanced chance to respond to a sudden
> change in the situation.
>
> Remember, as the famous general Kochte once
> said "No battle plan survives contact with dice".
>
> T.
> ---------------------------------------------
> Thomas Barclay
> Co-Creator of http://www.stargrunt.ca
> Stargrunt II and Dirtside II game site
>
> No Battle Plan Survives Contact With Dice.
> -- Mark 'Indy' Kochte
> ---------------------------------------------