Latest CJR -- Ricks

[Michael C]

Sniff. A long time ago. A LONG time ago. Hmmmph. I bought his book, first edition, in 1964 at the Smoke Bomb Hill bookstore as a 30-something Platoon Sergeant.

Long time ago indeed...

(Ken exits left to procure another refill mumbling something about "...young whippersnappers." : )

P.S.

On a serious note:

Most of what Galula wrote, as is true of Clausewitz and others, is poorly understood and very poorly applied. With good reason; times change and no two wars are alike. Galula in particular applies French practice and logic primarily to North Africans and to a lesser extent to Viet Namese. Those ideas are not universally applicable. Study them all but do so critically, try not to agree with them but to pick holes in their arguments. No one has all the answers...

All I can say is I apologize for making you feel old.

[Ken White]

However, truth be told, you didn't have much to do with making me feel old.

That started long, long ago when I was a Bn CSM (who did not worry about uniforms, haircuts or police call). I was counseling a SSG * who was born the day I landed in Korea. Been downhill ever since...

(His 'crime' was a noticeable AWOL rate; found out he was not letting people go on leave "because there was a CALFEX or a DRF layout or some other foolishness coming up." There's always something coming up -- no reason to refuse people leave)

[Michael C]

That started long, long ago when I was a Bn CSM (who did not worry about uniforms, haircuts or police call). I was counseling a SSG * who was born the day I landed in Korea. Been downhill ever since...

I believe you put another post about heresy regarding PT at all hours of hte day. Not worrying about uniforms and haircuts, that is heresy! (A heresy and commonsense I wish we could all have.)

[jmm99]

The French military in effect won in Algeria because the guerrilla forces were on the ropes. Some of the French generals felt they were stabbed in the back because of the political settlement. So, then, the generals' revolt, etc.

The reasons for the political settlement were (1) the Algerian rebels were not an existential threat to France itself, although they were a deadly nuisance; (2) continuance of the war was hurting France both diplomatically and economically; and (3) Algeria was not a prime factor in DeGaulle's plans for France's future. So, France "de-colonialized" Algeria, even though it was legally part of France proper.

The Galula monograph at Rand (free in the pdf download), Pacification in Algeria, 1956-1958, is quite good because he gets down to the nuts and bolts of what he did as a company commander - and what worked and what didn't.

Putting the insurgent in the baker's oven (it worked) would not be within UCMJ bounds today.

Best

Mike

PS: And tis said that Caesar's scribe and ____ (we won't go there), wrote his Commentraries. Just some gossip to go with Ken's.

[Polarbear1605]

Putting the insurgent in the baker's oven (it worked) would not be within UCMJ bounds today.

Actually, I like the oven idea because it was a ruse. I also understand what the Field Manual says about detainees. So the questions then becomes; How does the Company Commander get the infomation he needs when fighting a counter insurgence? I really think we need a separate SOP for handling "detainees" in an insurgence. ruse = a wily subterfuge; sounds much better than "stick him in the oven" and should be authorized.

Pacification in Algeria should be manditory reading for Lts, Capts and especially, Generals