Just started up this one by Pete Blaber of Delta fame. So far very impressed with his outlooks and philosophies. Enjoyable read after about 1/4 of the book and work picking up if you have some time.
http://www.amazon.com/Mission-Men-Me...5917129&sr=8-1
"But the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet withstanding, go out to meet it."
-Thucydides
"Tracking - a blueprint for learning how", Jack Kearney
I read this one a while back. It's a good read, although it does start echoing Not a Good Day to Die once you hit the Anaconda section (which is understandable since he was one of the main sources for that book).Originally Posted by sullygoarmy
"On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
T.R. Fehrenbach This Kind of War
First to Fight by Bob Breen.
Vietnam '65 - '66.
About the 173rd Airborne Brigade with 1 RAR (infantry battalion) and a Kiwi gun battery attached.
Breen describes quite nicely the very different operating methods between the US and the ANZACs.
In his words:
The Americans were hell bent on massive company and battalion size engagements and willing to pay a price for a high body count, while the Diggers preferred to spread out into large company operating area’s to kick out platoon size patrols. They where less willing to pay in blood for a body count.The paratroopers were saying to the Viet Cong, ‘You know where we are, and when and where we will strike, take us on and pay the price.’
The Diggers said to the Viet Cong, ‘You will never know where we are but we will find you and kill you.’
Neither philosophy was ‘perfect’ but:
The diggers seemed to shine in their ability to deny the enemy of initiative through well planned patrols over large areas. Once that strength was realised and appreciated they were wisely used in that way while the US battalions were used to do what they do best, kick arse with lots of noise.Given the missions of the day, the ‘bottom line’ was that the Paratroopers were killing Viet Cong and the Diggers were not.
Here’s a taste.
Nothing that results in human progress is achieved with unanimous consent. (Christopher Columbus)
All great truth passes through three stages: first it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
(Arthur Schopenhauer)
ONWARD
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