French military (catch all)

[ganulv]

Thanks for the heads-up on this one, Dave. I’ve scanned it and I’m looking forward to giving it a closer read.

The title comes from learning the French Army's boots failed in the heat amidst the rocky terrain and the one things they missed from Afghanistan.

Now you’re got me curious as to what model boots the French troops were issued. This Meindl model, maybe? Certain leather treatments can weaken the glue, but the heat alone in a place like Mali could be enough to delaminate even the highest quality of boot soles. I suppose boots with a Norwegian welt—with a liberal coating of seam sealer protecting the exposed stitching—would be one answer, albeit a pricey one. I believe the IDF issues canvas boots with glued soles using the logic that a desert environment is going to kill boots quickly regardless, so might as well go cheap. I don’t know how supportive they are, though, and the logistics of expeditionary warfare are not a concern for the IDF.

[Bob's World]

Best we remember that France's history, interests and goals in this region are completely different than those of the US, and in many ways much more practical, I suspect.

We need to be careful about getting too excited about any tactical insights when not balanced against a context of strategy. Next thing you know we'll be publishing a manual derived from the lessons learned of colonial and containment suppression operations, celebrating its tactical brilliance as somehow adding up to a strategy, and attempting to apply it as "COIN" to what we have been trying to do in Iraq and Afghanistan. Crazy.

[davidbfpo]

Best we remember that France's history, interests and goals in this region are completely different than those of the US, and in many ways much more practical, I suspect.

We need to be careful about getting too excited about any tactical insights when not balanced against a context of strategy. Next thing you know we'll be publishing a manual derived from the lessons learned of colonial and containment suppression operations, celebrating its tactical brilliance as somehow adding up to a strategy, and attempting to apply it as "COIN" to what we have been trying to do in Iraq and Afghanistan. Crazy.

Yes, hence the RAND author's numerous caveats.

What would be interesting is a comparison with the approaches used by the US military in a region familiar to them, using Bob's 'history, interests and goals'. The Phillipines comes to mind.

Being a civilian I was interested in the use of small company sized units as the basic building block and the use of troops based in West Africa and in France itself. The authors do refer to some issues over this.

[ganulv]

Being a civilian I was interested in the use of small company sized units as the basic building block and the use of troops based in West Africa and in France itself.

Is troupe de marine a career path? Or do soldiers cycle in and out of the TDM?

[davidbfpo]

Is troupe de marine a career path? Or do soldiers cycle in and out of the TDM?

Two open sources on the TDM clearly state they are a career path partly as their primary service is abroad - which includes France's far-flung territories. See:http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...-de-marine.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troupes_de_marine