Good post. The instinct is indeed what it's
all about on this topic -- and that's pretty much a genetic thing and so is not to be mentioned in polite or politically correct company. The city / country divide isn't the issue; whether the hunter instinct is preserved in the DNA is...
Agree with you on training versus growing up with it.
As to your questions:
Quote:
"...why British troops today are expected to tackle Terrence, often with only snatch landrovers in support? Why superbly fit and very courageous RM etc are wasting time and losing bloody good men on endless foot patrols? Why it takes hours to get air support, when the opening play of any attack should be an airstrike? Why our boys are expected to "march up hills," without real-time and active gunship support? Why Terrence is frequently able to leg it away from contacts without getting cut off and then killed? Fire Force provided the solution to all this, while also giving us casevac (Medevac) facilities within a usual 7 minute window, and kill rates in excess of 116 to 1. But perhaps that is another story..."
Four words: Egos, risk aversion and bureaucracy.
You could amplify that by adding Armored vests make it hard to chase bad guys who have none.
Quote:
...I agree 120mm, enough of the warrior crap. Now where`d I put my beer
Sounds like a good plan to me... :D
GaaaK. Bite thy tongue...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Norfolk
...
attending regular meetings of the Rotary Club.
went to one -- never again... :rolleyes:
What the reserves bring to the fight
This discussion brings the greatest strength of the U.S. Army reserve to the front.
A battalion (~400-600 soldiers) will have sysadmins, mechanics, moms, medics, psychologists, construction workers, police, marketing executives, hunters, proficient speakers of at least four languages other than english, college professors, practicitioners of a dozen martial arts, artists in a half dozen media, and a host of other skills. And all these skills are of use to a smart commander in a COIN operation. An infantry battalion might not have the moms, but other than that...
As a leader, what I want is not a hundred crack hunters, but a hundred soldiers with three hundred skills represented, and then I'll make sure the sargeants teach them to hunt so they can survive the fight and use those other skills. A diverse skill set is a powerful baseline.
Real world example: A decade ago, my unit was on the way to the Balkans with about 120 soldiers. We weren't taking our own vehicles, but managing some contracted ones, so the commander didn't want to take any mechanics. I successfully lobbied to take a junior enlisted mechanic who really wanted to go. We needed bodies for the "Hey-you" details, and I argued that we should take a broad range of skills. The CO went along with the idea to shut me up. Sure enough, the contracted bus from the airport to our facility broke down, and our lone mechanic saved the day even before we got set up. I'm sure anyone who has deployed will agree with the utility of a wide range of skills and provide stories better than mine.
Rhodesia fought a domestic Insurgency
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rhodesian
Sorry my china, but with genuine respect, you are fighting a COIN war using Conventional tactics, which is why you don`t see the point of tracking hamsters.
No need to apologise. When I joined the British Army, I actually did basic with 3 former RLI. Had a very good ex-RLI mate as well, so I am pretty up to speed on how the fire force worked. - and the British Army has a fair degree of so called "COIN" skills, so I am more than aware of the problems.
Point being the Selous Scouts, like FRU/JSG/Det in Ulster, were an "ISTAR" group type capability, specific to theatre.
Rhodesia fought a domestic Insurgency, as did the UK in Malaya and Kenya, so the context of the training was always leveraged in that direction. Tracking is purely a "Find" function support tool. Much underrated and mostly not exploited (the UK does have a funded and current tracking school!) - but that does not indicate to me that we need to create platoons of Hiawathas.
- and as an aside, back in 1988, I actually learned how to "track" Soviet AFVs at the NATO-LRRP School. Not sh*t. We had to learn to recognise all the different track pad patterns!