The U.S. Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication titled Warfighting is one of the most important written documents the Corps has produced. It is the lifeblood to the organization’s overall bodily function of winning battles. The text is basic in methodology and sound in composition. It was not designed as a “warfighting for dummies” procedural approach to fighting in war, although the how part is broadly answered. It was, however, intended to answer the philosophical bigger question, why we fight (Warfighting, 1997). Sadly, I believe the enlisted corps throughout the ranks largely overlooks this publication or worse, ignores its lessons all together. If Marines take the time to understand the Corps’ tenets derived in the book’s chapters, such as …show more content…
Key concepts like friction, uncertainty, the human dimension, violence and danger, and more are well summarized (Warfighting, 1997). Just by recognizing these characteristics of war by reading Warfighting makes Marines better prepared for the fight. One important concept is friction. Knowing the effects can prove invaluable to every day’s life challenges. Friction can be both obvious and volatile (Dougherty, 2012, 7). Friction thrives in wartime and can have a dramatic effect on the physical, mental, and moral decision making of anyone. Easy tasks can seem impossible when friction is prevalent (Warfighting, 1997, 5). Climate is a clear external factor of friction and it can wreak havoc on an army who forgets to account for it. Take the heavily armored Crusader army led by King Guy, who lost at the Battle of Hattain on July 4, 1187. The battle was not decided only by the hands of the lighter armored, swifter, Saracen Army of Saladin. King Guy underestimated the power of the blazing Arab sun in July (Dougherty, 2012, 51). His men were more worried about finding water, instead of clashing swords. The friction overwhelmed their capability to fight, and the overly dressed force was …show more content…
A solid recipe for success is attending tough, physical training, and balancing with high degree of education (Warfighting, 1997, 64). Simply having the ability to quickly recognize the many factors can give us an edge. We cannot honestly expose every single Marine to the true realities of war itself, so it’s on the leadership and the individual Marine to hone those skills while we wait for orders. Marines need to make sure they are exposed to realistic combat scenarios and environments. Too often I have witnessed training evolutions that look more like playwrights and less like actual
On July 30, 2008, a bloody battle involving Coalition forces took place in the mountainous eastern Afghan province of Nuristan. This was the Battle of Wanat and the devastating amount of Coalition casualties began a vigorous investigation by the United States Army. The village of Wanat, defended by Second Platoon, Chosen Company, Second Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team would fall victim to numerous bad decision made by higher command. Although the men of Chosen Company fought hard, they ended up surrounded, vastly outnumbered, and without any Battalion assets. This paper will argue the reasons for the disastrous outcome of the Battle of Wanat; examining the effective company leadership exploiting effective
Because the book is a memoir, there was less concern with overarching strategy and more with Sledge’s personal experience during the part of the war he fought in. The argument in Sledge’s book is how war wears on a soldier’s spirit, mind, and body. Because of the way that he describes the war, it allows the reader to personalize the war experience and imagine the feelings as if they were truly there. The description of war through a memoir can be used as an accurate telling of what war is on a personal level and this helps historians understand better when they are studying about war, but aren’t really there. Sledge discusses the traumatic experience of watching a marine use a flamethrower on a pillbox, a concrete dug-in guard post, occupied by Japanese soldiers.
Albeit General Robert E. Lee wore red and Private Buster Kilrain wore blue, these two men were quite similar in several ways. Each soldier was a leader in a war that they chose to fight in, in order to uphold and defend their respective ideologies. Despite those ideologies being opposite, each felt theirs was superior and in turn was willing to sacrifice his life to protect it and the way of life it afforded. Buster Kilrain and Robert E. Lee were very close in age, Kilrain at the ripe old age of fifty-one and Lee at the slightly riper age of fifty-seven.
I chose the book Black Hearts by Jim Frederick because it was recommended to me by First Lieutenant Smaldone. He had to read it as course material during his training at TBS (The Basic School). Officers go to TBS following Officer Candidate School where newly commissioned officers learn to lead and inspire fellow Marines. Black Hearts is a non-fiction story about the 502nd Infantry Regiment’s deployment to a region south of Baghdad, Iraq and it’s breakdown of leadership, morale, and discipline. The Unit was known as “The Black Heart Brigade.”
In the 1950s, Texas was at the forefront of two major, but very different civil rights movements—the African-American movement and the Mexican-American movement. Fighting Their Own Battles by Brian Behnken describes and compares the separate battles for rights of the two movements. People in Texas knew what was happening and newspapers reported about the different events that occurred throughout the 1950s. In hindsight, and with the help of Behnken’s book, one is able to see the subtle influences of both civil rights movements in the Texas newspapers. At the time however, these differences in strategy between the African-American and Mexican-American movements were not so easily understood.
The Effective Military Leader Warrant Officer Romero, Philip T. SPC: Captain Dearth, 1st Platoon The book “Black Hearts One Platoons Descent into Madness in Iraq’s Triangle of Death” by Jim Frederick is a true story about multiple leadership failures and six United States Soldiers from 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division who were convicted for their involvement in horrible crimes while deployed to Iraq. The horrific acts including rape as well as murder committed by the soldiers of 1st platoon were a direct result of poor military leadership. Bad leadership will corrupt any military unit.
What is the most effective way to stop a world war? On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland (Timeline), going against the Treaty of Versailles but no one did anything. Every nation ignored the actions of Hitler, which in turn probably gave Hitler the message that he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it. As his actions become unbearable to ignore, the nations became angered and joined the war. The world was then split into two opposing teams: the Axis powers (which housed Germany, Japan, and Italy) and the Allied powers (Great Britain, the United States, China, and the Soviet Union).
Guadalcanal Diary was written by Richard Williams Tregaskis in 1943, in extreme detail, after he first-hand experienced the struggle for survival at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands during World War II. Just a year prior for three months he was working as one of the only two combat correspondents representing the International News Service at the Solomon Islands. Richard Tregaskis obtained his education through very prestigious higher education seeking schools like the elementary Pingry School in Elizabeth, New Jersey and the college preparation Peddie High School in Hightstown, New Jersey before he obtained a bachelor degree at Harvard University. Despite Guadalcanal Diary being just that a diary of entries I feel the deep meaning it conveys
The lieutenant was charged with delivering an important message to a Cuban general. The book was seen as the perfect portrayal of loyalty and obedience. There are multiple tactical lessons that can be taken from this book/essay, not only to include how individual ethics can create an enormous impact.
Men went through so many tasks during the Vietnam War physically and mentally. The beginning chapters focus on training for war and being prepared for the worst. For example, when there is a sergeant in a room with the marines. The sergeant walks to the chalk board and writes “AMBUSHES ARE MURDER AND MURDER IS FUN” (36-37). The
The book The Best War Ever, by Michael C. C. Adams, is about World War II, the events that led up to the war, and the years following the war. Adams starts the book off explaining some myths that people have about the war. The biggest myth associated with the war is that it was the best war ever. Adams then spends the rest of the book talking about why this may or may not be true. In the following chapters, Adams explains the events that led to the war and the events that accorded during World War II.
Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir was written and published by Joseph R. Owen in 1996. This book gives us a riveting point-of-view of the early and uncertain days of the Korean War through the eyes of Owen himself, as a platoon leader (PL) in a Marine rifle company. As a PL of a mortar section in Baker-One-Seven-Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment- Owen witnessed his hastily assembled men of a few regulars and reservists (who to mention some that have not gone to boot camp) quickly harden into the superb Baker-One-Seven known today. He makes it known quickly (in the foreword and the preface) that some of the major problems he initially encountered was due to how unprepared his unit was. Owen makes the
Both versions of the story take place in the future, many years after an invasion of insect aliens attacked the Earth and nearly eradicated the entire human race. The last invasion failed, and was wiped out only by a last-ditch effort a master strategist, that turned the tide of the war. After everyone thought he had died, Earth needed a new leader. It needed a new master strategist to lead and hopefully end the war, but no ideal candidate had stepped forward. The orbital Battle School began to pick the most spectacular children to train in strategy, to see which would come out to be the best the Earth had to offer, and become the new master strategist Earth needed.
The True Weight of War “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery.
In order to learn more about military mind we can take a look at the United States Army; Warrior Ethos which are: i. I will always place the mission first. ii. I will never accept defeat. iii. I will never quit.