All matters Rhodesian / Rhodesia (merged thread)

[JMA]

Totally agree on both counts. That we -- the US -- do not really provide such competence in peacetime is to an extent an indictment of the politicians and senior military leadership who preclude better training. In their defense, the anti-military tradition in the anglosphere generally is huge part of that problem. That is likely not going away.

Glad we agree on this.

I can only hope that the US can somehow maintain a core cadre of competent NCOs to pass on the skill at arms until this is once again needed on a grand scale.

Your comment on the political issues not taking away from the performance of the troops is spot on.

I got bitten twice (Rhodesia and South Africa) and promised myself I would never trust a politician - any politician - again. How many times in the average military career do US servicemen get bitten by the politicians? Must be damn infuriating.

On the topic of what sources were used in the study of Rhodesion tactics and methods, the RAND study (LINK / .pdf) has a bibliography. You may have already seen the report or parts of it. The bibliography cites Cilliers, Cocks, Moorcraft, Venter, Reid-Daly and Stiff. As for the US Army and the Infantry school, a combination of FAOs, Defense Attaches from RSA and other neighboring nations and probably dispatched observers at the time. While paying attention to events there was not politically correct at the time, the Army's been known to cheat on policies emanating from D.C. Serving in the US Army at the time, I can recall great interest in what was being done and how you were operating at all levels. Mostly, reliance at the time was on media reports, though I can recall seeing a Benning printed copy of a manual purporting to be, IIRC, the Rhodesian Forces Counterinsurgency and Anti-Terrorist Operations (or something like that) shortly before I retired in '77. You've probably seen and may recall these LINK, LINK / .pdf. They came later but the interest at the time was significant. Still is...

Thank you. The first pdf I had not yet seen. Am reading at this moment. The other two I have seen and also the references you mention.

Likewise I tried to read as much stuff out of Vietnam as I could. Too much happened there for a soundbite comment.

Good heavens... been retired for 32 years! What did you do with all that time?

[Ken White]

Glad we agree on this...I can only hope that the US can somehow maintain a core cadre of competent NCOs to pass on the skill at arms until this is once again needed on a grand scale...How many times in the average military career do US servicemen get bitten by the politicians? Must be damn infuriating.

Yes, yes and YEEeessss!

If I run across any other Rhodesian related tomes or papers I'll send you a link.

Good heavens... been retired for 32 years! What did you do with all that time?

Spent the first 18 working as a civilian for the Army in intel, ops and training -- I think that's called masochism...

As a result of being overpaid at that, have been able to spend the last 15 or so doing as little as possible and looking for good Bourbon -- with some success in both areas.