1 Attachment(s)
WWI AEF Small Units Tactics
In 1934, the Infantry School (via one COL George C. Marshall) published what amounted to an anthology of small unit tactics from WWI - (some US, some allied, some enemy). The work was updated in 1938 by two of the editors (Harding and Lanham) who worked closely with Marshall on the first edition.
In four parts from CGSC-CSI (many other interesting titles - freebies - also here):
1939 Infantry in Battle 01.pdf
1939 Infantry in Battle 02.pdf
1939 Infantry in Battle 03.pdf
1939 Infantry in Battle 04.pdf
Total over 400 pages (well mapped)
The philosophy is summed from from the gitgo:
Attachment 1198
IMO: That philosophy seems very relevant today to "COIN" situations and their comparisons - especially to the political side of the military-political equation.
Cheers
Mike
Raising an Army in a Hurry
I've come to believe that the greatest legacy of American involvement in the First World War was the experience learned in what it takes to raise, train and equip an army in a hurry. The AEF in France and sometimes Belgium had quite a few schools training men in their specialties, and many guys will probably recall that Patton served as the commanding officer of the AEF tank school. That the U.S. Army was able to raise an army of nearly 100 divisions after Pearl Harbor was to a great extent the result of experience gained during the Great War.
Some months ago Ken White and I traded messages on how the compressed training courses in U.S. Army schools--six to eight weeks for Basic Training, the bare minimum necessary for Advanced Individual Training--were in essence something that was inspired by our do-it-in-a-hurry experience in 1917-18. Whether that way of training soldiers produces high levels of tactical proficiency, or whether we ought to keep doing what we've always been doing since 1917, is a topic for another thread. However, in 1917-18 and 1941-45 we had no choice but to get things done in a hurry, even though the model may be inadequate for modern times.
Gen. Leslie J. McNair, the commander of Army Ground Forces during WW II, had been the senior field artillery officer in the training section of AEF. I believe the training programs he designed to raise the U.S. Army during WW II were based partly on his Great War experience as a trainer with AEF. He performed a minor miracle training the huge Army that he did from a relatively flat-footed start.
U.S. Production of Mosin Nagant Rifles
Remington and New England Westinghouse made Mosin Nagant rifles for the Russians. If I recall correctly their contracts were funded by the British as part of an effort to keep the Imperial Russians in the war. When the Czar was overthrown deliveries ceased, which is why so many of them are to be found in the U.S. Some have Springfield Armory acceptance marks because they were used as a secondary U.S. weapon. U.S. forces sent to Murmansk-Archangel and Siberia in 1918-19 were equipped with them. My Dad had an NCO in 1943 who had been in Siberia.