At Risk to Rank and Pay ~
"Large portions (not all) of the US COIN-club approach is "history free." They know it exists, but ignore the bits they want to invent and change the bits they need as evidence. What is more a great many of the COIN clubs' assertions about the future, past and present are wonderfully evidence free. "
(WF Owen)
-maybe then that's to say the COIN principle of talent being gleaned from anywhere regardless of rank is either a myth or incapable of being implemented without fracturing the chain of command. How much spontaneity can there be in a combat zone? MikeF asserts there are no human terrain teams, only people. If true, it is a two edged sword, applicable to both camps. What price is paid for spontaneity? What is the reward? The reflection of history shows a lot of dead bodies stemming from fractures in the COC. I don't have a clue as to how much at the small unit level has to 'go up' before there is movement on the part of the small unit in either theatre.
Learn your trade first, redleg
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jkm_101_fso
I'm currently a student at the Field Artillery Captain's Career Course.
Last week, I was tasked to give a class on The Mobile Defense (division level operation).
This week, I called for Fire (with ICM i/e) on a BMP-1 in the Guardfist.
HIC is alive and well here at Fort Sill. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that; but you are correct, sir.
However, tomorrow we start on chapters 1-4 in FM 3-24. Our first COIN class since we started two months ago.
Become the very best artilleryman you can possibly be first, because if asked to support COIN operations someday the speed and accuracy of how well you can do that will be far more important than how well you understand the process that went into developing the target that you are shooting at.
That said, never limit your own professional development by the limits of your profession. As a former Artilleryman who spent most of his conventional career in the Infantry, I can tell you, that most artillerymen just don't understand maneuver, but more dangerously, think that they do. I suspect many will walk out of Ft Sill thinking they understand COIN. Understand your role in COIN and that you don't fully understand the nuances of it and you will do fine. Study on your own to be as capable as possible. Or, do like I did and go straight from Sill to Bragg, I walked of the stage at Sill as the honor grad, and then went straight to selection and never looked back. That knowledge has served me well over the years.
The Field Artillery is facing hard times these days, but someday we will need it again in spades, and we'll need an artillery that can once again reign as the greatest killer on the battlefield. Don't lose that. Don't let your profession lose that.