William S. Lind :collection (merged thread)

[Steve Blair]

I see a lot of fluff in this article, combined perhaps with some sour grapes that Mr Lind wasn't one of the "usual suspects" contacted (and contracted) to work on the project. He's also taking his light infantry stuff at something of a historical half-mast. Some armies may have used them in a guerrilla mode, but on the whole they were intended (and normally used) as highly trained skirmishing units with a good marksman capability (through the use of rifles) thrown in. Certainly there was talk of using them in other roles, but it normally didn't come to pass.

The LRDG was actually closer to light cavalry than infantry in terms of its raiding and reconnaissance role. Use of historical examples has often been a stumbling block for some military theorists, unfortunately. I'm reminded here of the "examples" Warden pulled for his Air Campaign, but that's a whole other rant....

[Stratiotes]

I have been, in the past, a huge fan of Bill's. His work on maneuver warfare and 4GW is generally quite good. But, at times he does seem to have a bad habit of making blanket judgements or mischaracterizing some things. He is not just some nobody who has never served however - he is a pretty bright guy who has made some significant contributions in the past. This may not be one of them but I wouldnt' throw Bill out with the bathwater .