RE: Vietnam and modern combat

At 10:19 AM -0700 4/26/04, John Atkinson wrote:
>True.	There's a lot more too it as well.  No one can
>function at his full effectiveness as an individual
>because individuals have to do everything, watching
>their own back so to speak.  An ad hoc formation is a
>pack of individuals.  But when you know the guys in
>your squad and platoon, and you know they have the
>training to do their job, you can focus on your job
>and your job only.  There's a lot of trust involved.
>There's also the team bonding issue.  Most heroism is
>done out of a sense of loyalty and duty to your
>teammates.  There's nothing to substitute for that,
>and bonds formed in training and solidified by combat
>have become almost a cliche of the genre.  They are no
>less real.  A pack of thugs hopped up to the gills on
>khat and with no real ties to each other will not
>perform on that level.

I agree with this in part, but I have to point to the WWII German 
ability  for units that were previously broken and fragmented, to be 
reformed from what ever was at hand and almost magically form a 
cohesive fighting unit and go back on a counter attack. A great deal 
of training and a great deal of determination go a great deal 
together than one or the other alone.

I certainly agree that loyalty to a group of guys you've trained and 
fought alongside does increase the tendancy for heroic acts.

>There's a definite sense among the 4th ID that as long
>as you look mean, and keep alert, generally the
>Fedayeen won't mess with you.	And if you are on your
>toes, you can often beat them to the punch (their
>first-round accuracy blows chunks) and rack up some
>kills nice and easy.  IF you are doing what you are
>supposed to be doing.
>
>Now, that attitude goes a long way to explaining why
>we kept the Sunni Triangle under control.  These
>jokers who thought they were going to be doing
>"peacekeeping" don't have a killer mindset and so got
>suckerpunched.

Interesting analysis. In some respects, the more calm appearance for 
peacekeeping does lend that question. However, the British have lots 
of experience in that part of the world and they were very quick to 
go to "beret order" as quick as possible.

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