SurferBeetle,


I would occasionally wander the old WWI Battlefield of Asiago. It was above treeline so my breathing was a bit labored but no matter how much ground I covered the plethora of splintered bones, sharp shrapnel, live ordnance, and shattered rock always helped me to think about the true nature of war.
I agree with you as far as this statement goes, but would add the large conventional battles are not the only true reflection on the nature of war. A walk in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Philippines, etc. will also shed light on the true nature of war. It comes in many forms, and war isn't simply about large conventional armies fighting one another. The reason I mention this is because you requested additional reference material on the Korean War (the untouched classic is, "This Kind of War" by TR Fehrenbach). That request led to a brain fart of sorts. TF Smith (there was a lot more to the story than the simplified vignettes covered in our leadership manuals) has been drumed into our minds from the first day we ever read anything about military leadership, so it has the call "no more TF Smiths", and not without good reason, but I now wonder if that was the turning point in our history where we jettisoned our knowledge of irregular warfare and focused almost entirely on conventional warfare? To me that seems to the event that shaped our Army's leadership almost more than any other, and I would bet it influenced GEN Westmoreland's views in Vietnam. I recall a quote by a senior Army officer in Vietnam (I'm sorry I can't cite the source off the top of my head), who said we're not going to destroy our Army for this miserable little war. I think he meant were not going to devolve into irregular warfare tactics and risk another TF Smith in the event we had to fight a "real" war. Just a thought, but I would definitely like to this council's ideas on it.

As for Hezbollah's TTP, I have read numerous outstanding studies on them, but for the civil affairs type focus I highly recommend you read S.W.E.T. and Blood. It was in the NOV/DEC 07 issue of the Armed Forces Journal, but I also found it at this link.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-172010720.html