This is coolbert:
Undoubtedly some pundits will respond to the latest sanctions as applied to the Iranians and suggest that this is a situation analogous to and reminds them of the situation that existed in the days just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941.
Iran now finding themselves in a situation so it will be stated, without recourse but to strike out in some manner, no option available, no recourse to a steadily worsening stream of events!
As it was in 1941, the Japanese oil supply from the American supplier having been "cut-off", Japan not having oil available and their society going to "grind" to a halt, Roosevelt and American planners also just prior to American entry into the war having PROVOKED THE JAPANESE IN A MANNER THAT COULD NOT BE REFUSED!!
Compelling the Iranian as is being done now many will feel is again a set of circumstances as was done to Japan in 1941? Japan not having ANY oil was forced to act as it did AND AMERICA ONLY HAS ITSELF TO BLAME FOR EVENTS AS THEY TRANSPIRED!!
NOT so fast Charlie Brown!
From the web site essay: "World War II: Japan and Oil (1939-45)"
The Japanese in 1941 actually having an abundance of stockpiled oil that more than satisfied DOMESTIC NEEDS for about a two year period, ONE YEAR ONLY if further war with the U.S. and Britain commenced!! [recall that Japan had been at full-scale war with China for FOUR YEARS PRIOR TO PEARL HARBOR!!]
"Japan had oil stockpiles that could supply its normal needs for 2 years, but only about 1 year if Japan went to war because of the huge increased requirements to fight a naval war"
My understanding is that Japanese oil stockpiles and reserves and what was needed for DOMESTIC NEEDS was hardly so dire, even was favorable. American "cut-off", the embargo I also understand to consist of stopping the flow of REFINED AVIATION GASOLINE AND NOT CRUDE OIL! Even in those several months prior to Pearl Harbor Japanese tankers carrying CRUDE OIL from American west coast ports to Japan unimpeded and unmolested, NOT STOPPED!!
The Roosevelt administration too using their good offices to restrain the Japanese ONLY finding themselves put into an awkward situation from which there was no option - - the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China prior to the oil embargo [refined aviation gasoline] being put in place a needless provocation which seemed to absolutely signal aggressive intent on the part of the Japanese.
coolbert.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Sanctions.
This is coolbert:
This means war?
Sanctions that will lead to war are being imposed and have been imposed on Iran. The Iranian now having been told that THEY WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO POSSESS ATOMIC WEAPONRY, THE SCREWS OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS BEING APPLIED IN AN UNPRECEDENTED MANNER!!
I hope this all does not backfire and rather than averting war RATHER LEADS TO WAR!!
From two weeks ago this unprecedented move. Iranian banks doing international monetary transfer now forbidden from using the SWIFT system. Transfers of money, large sums of it, within the international money transfer realm now out of reach for the Iranian. Again, UNPRECEDENTED!!
"Iran's banks to be blocked from global banking system"
"Swift, the body that handles global banking transactions, says it will cut Iran's banks out of the system on Saturday to enforce sanctions."
AND from only today, the sanctions and the hurt being ratchet up a notch as they say. More pressure and pain being caused. ALMOST AN ULTIMATUM! AND also again unprecedented at least in my memory and knowledge.
"Iran crisis: US to apply fresh oil sanctions"
"US President Barack Obama has approved the introduction of fresh sanctions on buyers of Iranian oil."
China, Indian and South Korea being told in no uncertain terms to STOP PURCHASING IRANIAN OIL. Harsh words and perhaps even harsh measures to be taken against nations, major trading partners with the U.S. Also unprecedented. I KEEP USING THAT WORD UNPRECEDENTED OVER AND OVER FOR EMPHASIS AND WITH REASON!
Within the Shia worldview this sort of punitive steps and measures fits very well? The Iranian sees themselves as being set upon in a manner as would have Hussein fourteen hundred [1400] years ago? Friendless and unappreciated, a righteous nation of believers the martyrs of legend who to a degree even enjoy the status of the persecuted?
Economic sanctions will bite hard and place the Iranian with their back to the wall so to speak, the only way out for them as they see it a conflict of apocalyptic and global proportions even HOPED FOR the use of proxies an option. Be very careful with this or it can and will backfire!!
coolbert.
This means war?
Sanctions that will lead to war are being imposed and have been imposed on Iran. The Iranian now having been told that THEY WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO POSSESS ATOMIC WEAPONRY, THE SCREWS OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS BEING APPLIED IN AN UNPRECEDENTED MANNER!!
I hope this all does not backfire and rather than averting war RATHER LEADS TO WAR!!
From two weeks ago this unprecedented move. Iranian banks doing international monetary transfer now forbidden from using the SWIFT system. Transfers of money, large sums of it, within the international money transfer realm now out of reach for the Iranian. Again, UNPRECEDENTED!!
"Iran's banks to be blocked from global banking system"
"Swift, the body that handles global banking transactions, says it will cut Iran's banks out of the system on Saturday to enforce sanctions."
AND from only today, the sanctions and the hurt being ratchet up a notch as they say. More pressure and pain being caused. ALMOST AN ULTIMATUM! AND also again unprecedented at least in my memory and knowledge.
"Iran crisis: US to apply fresh oil sanctions"
"US President Barack Obama has approved the introduction of fresh sanctions on buyers of Iranian oil."
China, Indian and South Korea being told in no uncertain terms to STOP PURCHASING IRANIAN OIL. Harsh words and perhaps even harsh measures to be taken against nations, major trading partners with the U.S. Also unprecedented. I KEEP USING THAT WORD UNPRECEDENTED OVER AND OVER FOR EMPHASIS AND WITH REASON!
Within the Shia worldview this sort of punitive steps and measures fits very well? The Iranian sees themselves as being set upon in a manner as would have Hussein fourteen hundred [1400] years ago? Friendless and unappreciated, a righteous nation of believers the martyrs of legend who to a degree even enjoy the status of the persecuted?
Economic sanctions will bite hard and place the Iranian with their back to the wall so to speak, the only way out for them as they see it a conflict of apocalyptic and global proportions even HOPED FOR the use of proxies an option. Be very careful with this or it can and will backfire!!
coolbert.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Block Captain.
This is coolbert:
From a previous blog entry: "Persons of what is normally considered to be middle-age [45-64 years old] being required to do what sort of non-military duty?"
One of those non-military duties and functions being the BLOCK CAPTAIN!
A war-time [World War Two] measure only, that man-made grid as superimposed on an American urban area the basic unit of which was the BLOCK having an elected individual whose role was an unofficial but important coordinator of activities on the home front!!
That American city block one furlong long, two hundred twenty yards [about 200 meters], eight city blocks to one mile [about 1,500 meters]. Each and every city block organized to have a resident block captain, elected by his peers and presiding over the area unofficially but with a certain degree of understood authority.
"The neighborhood was the building block of these home front activities that almost immediately enveloped every family. Twenty thousand elected block captains [in Chicago alone!]"
Functions and duties of a quasi-governmental nature to include:
* Organize War Bond drives.
* Organize scrap metal drives.
* Organize "Victory Gardens".
* Organize patriotic gestures.
"held ceremonies for those departing for the military and erected small shrines for those who did not return."
* Ensure and maintain air-raid blackouts.
"he went door to door every night to make sure anyone who had their lights on after dark turned them off, or had their windows 'painted' so that lights didn't show on the street."
This would have been [?] important on both the east and west coasts especially during the early stages of the war. Big cities such as Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York in particular.
AND!
* Maintain a silent and perhaps not so-silent watch over their community [city block]
Keep an eye out for shirkers, malingerers, slackers, deserters, drifters, those unwilling to register for the military draft or allow themselves to be conscripted, etc. Recalcitrant and unpatriotic persons watched for!
Older persons serving in the capacity of block captain performing a task during war time felt to be vital, everyone has a role, and everyone feels they are contributing, a patriotic fever pitch in part the goal, and realized in a way not seen since!!
coolbert.
From a previous blog entry: "Persons of what is normally considered to be middle-age [45-64 years old] being required to do what sort of non-military duty?"
One of those non-military duties and functions being the BLOCK CAPTAIN!
A war-time [World War Two] measure only, that man-made grid as superimposed on an American urban area the basic unit of which was the BLOCK having an elected individual whose role was an unofficial but important coordinator of activities on the home front!!
That American city block one furlong long, two hundred twenty yards [about 200 meters], eight city blocks to one mile [about 1,500 meters]. Each and every city block organized to have a resident block captain, elected by his peers and presiding over the area unofficially but with a certain degree of understood authority.
"The neighborhood was the building block of these home front activities that almost immediately enveloped every family. Twenty thousand elected block captains [in Chicago alone!]"
Functions and duties of a quasi-governmental nature to include:
* Organize War Bond drives.
* Organize scrap metal drives.
* Organize "Victory Gardens".
* Organize patriotic gestures.
"held ceremonies for those departing for the military and erected small shrines for those who did not return."
* Ensure and maintain air-raid blackouts.
"he went door to door every night to make sure anyone who had their lights on after dark turned them off, or had their windows 'painted' so that lights didn't show on the street."
This would have been [?] important on both the east and west coasts especially during the early stages of the war. Big cities such as Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York in particular.
AND!
* Maintain a silent and perhaps not so-silent watch over their community [city block]
Keep an eye out for shirkers, malingerers, slackers, deserters, drifters, those unwilling to register for the military draft or allow themselves to be conscripted, etc. Recalcitrant and unpatriotic persons watched for!
Older persons serving in the capacity of block captain performing a task during war time felt to be vital, everyone has a role, and everyone feels they are contributing, a patriotic fever pitch in part the goal, and realized in a way not seen since!!
coolbert.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Big Footprint.
This is coolbert:
Historically here with some instances of the big footprint method being unsuccessful.
The pursuit of an single adversary by a large military force with impedimenta self-defeating. The larger the force the greater amount of "noise" made, the "quarry" instantly alerted, able to take measures and steps to evade capture or death. As it is now in central Africa, the "hunt" for Joseph Kony going to go nowhere?
1. Osama bin Laden. Osama of 9/11 infamy according to Cofer Black at one time having a force of 10,000 or so troops arrayed against him, poised and ready to assault the hideout of the man, nothing coming to fruition from such a large and unwieldy assemblage. Osama finally run to ground and killed by a platoon sized unit of U.S. Navy SEAL's.
2. Eric Robert Rudolph. The Atlanta Bomber. American survivalist and military trained special operations soldier, able to exist and having trained himself to go twenty to thirty days without consuming food of any sort. And when eating, subsisting only on a diet of green beans, oatmeal and sardines. The object repeatedly of massed FBI SWAT teams deploying in strength. Eric knowing the terrain [the Great Smokey Mountains] able to evade and elude those in pursuit always aware of and alert to the efforts of the "hunt".
3. Heroes of Telemark. Norwegian saboteurs [about a dozen strong] responsible for the destruction of the Norsk Hydro facility. Greatly frustrating German atomic bomb development during World War Two. That dozen or some Norwegians escaping a dragnet of 10,000 German troops operating in conventional fashion.
4. Geronimo. American Indian warrior and war chief. Led his Apache warrior band number at most about fifteen men on a rampage repeated frustrating all efforts and attempts at capture. General Miles it is suggested ran an incompetent campaign having no less than 5,000 troops [half the standing active duty American army at the time] at his disposal. That final surrender of Geronimo accomplished by a platoon sized unit of about thirty men to include the famed tracker/translator/frontiersman/stock detective Tom Horn. The predominant number of that 5,000 man force preoccupied with guard and sentry duty, garrison force primarily on-call.
5. Haji Sahib. Haji a man from one hundred years ago leading an anti-British jihad, able to evade capture and his pursuers for a period of twenty years, Haji only finally succumbing to old age! This at a time when the English and their Raj held sway and dominion basically unchallenged!
Perhaps I am overstating the case here? The big footprint effort will succeed, Joseph and his evil minions run to ground, killed or captured, the LRA put of existence, a scourge removed irrevocably and with a great sigh of relief? We hope so but again this Joseph has had MONTHS to prepare for an onslaught and is not a man to be taken lightly. Has broken his "army" into small self-sustaining groups to reform at a later date, and IS FEEDING DISINFORMATION ALL THE WHILE TO HIS PURSUERS? Please do not take Joseph lightly! This is not a done deal.
coolbert.
Historically here with some instances of the big footprint method being unsuccessful.
The pursuit of an single adversary by a large military force with impedimenta self-defeating. The larger the force the greater amount of "noise" made, the "quarry" instantly alerted, able to take measures and steps to evade capture or death. As it is now in central Africa, the "hunt" for Joseph Kony going to go nowhere?
1. Osama bin Laden. Osama of 9/11 infamy according to Cofer Black at one time having a force of 10,000 or so troops arrayed against him, poised and ready to assault the hideout of the man, nothing coming to fruition from such a large and unwieldy assemblage. Osama finally run to ground and killed by a platoon sized unit of U.S. Navy SEAL's.
2. Eric Robert Rudolph. The Atlanta Bomber. American survivalist and military trained special operations soldier, able to exist and having trained himself to go twenty to thirty days without consuming food of any sort. And when eating, subsisting only on a diet of green beans, oatmeal and sardines. The object repeatedly of massed FBI SWAT teams deploying in strength. Eric knowing the terrain [the Great Smokey Mountains] able to evade and elude those in pursuit always aware of and alert to the efforts of the "hunt".
3. Heroes of Telemark. Norwegian saboteurs [about a dozen strong] responsible for the destruction of the Norsk Hydro facility. Greatly frustrating German atomic bomb development during World War Two. That dozen or some Norwegians escaping a dragnet of 10,000 German troops operating in conventional fashion.
4. Geronimo. American Indian warrior and war chief. Led his Apache warrior band number at most about fifteen men on a rampage repeated frustrating all efforts and attempts at capture. General Miles it is suggested ran an incompetent campaign having no less than 5,000 troops [half the standing active duty American army at the time] at his disposal. That final surrender of Geronimo accomplished by a platoon sized unit of about thirty men to include the famed tracker/translator/frontiersman/stock detective Tom Horn. The predominant number of that 5,000 man force preoccupied with guard and sentry duty, garrison force primarily on-call.
5. Haji Sahib. Haji a man from one hundred years ago leading an anti-British jihad, able to evade capture and his pursuers for a period of twenty years, Haji only finally succumbing to old age! This at a time when the English and their Raj held sway and dominion basically unchallenged!
Perhaps I am overstating the case here? The big footprint effort will succeed, Joseph and his evil minions run to ground, killed or captured, the LRA put of existence, a scourge removed irrevocably and with a great sigh of relief? We hope so but again this Joseph has had MONTHS to prepare for an onslaught and is not a man to be taken lightly. Has broken his "army" into small self-sustaining groups to reform at a later date, and IS FEEDING DISINFORMATION ALL THE WHILE TO HIS PURSUERS? Please do not take Joseph lightly! This is not a done deal.
coolbert.
Black Ops.
This is coolbert:
Here from intelNews.org another modern occurrence of military pseudo-operations. Israeli personnel wearing the uniform and driving the vehicles of the adversary [Iran]. Intelligence gathering missions it is alleged to monitor the Iranian nuclear program. Operations into denied territory of the most perilous sort!
This is Mossad or AMAN [military intelligence]? This is not clear.
"Israel ‘conducts espionage incursions into Iran from Kurdish Iraq’"
"The Israelis, according to the Times, deploy twelve-member fully armed teams into Iran . . . the Israeli commandos, who are usually in Iranian military uniforms, are transported to target locations in vehicles made to look like those used by the Iranian military"
"the Israeli commando teams use 'sensitive equipment' to monitor levels of radioactivity and record the magnitude of any explosives tests that might be carried out at those locations"
This is the James Bond type of operation for which failure is not an option. Volunteers, single men without dependents ONLY apply!
Normally the punishment during wartime if captured when wearing the uniform of the enemy is death. In the case of these Israeli probably after a period of terrible and prolonged torture!
coolbert.
Here from intelNews.org another modern occurrence of military pseudo-operations. Israeli personnel wearing the uniform and driving the vehicles of the adversary [Iran]. Intelligence gathering missions it is alleged to monitor the Iranian nuclear program. Operations into denied territory of the most perilous sort!
This is Mossad or AMAN [military intelligence]? This is not clear.
"Israel ‘conducts espionage incursions into Iran from Kurdish Iraq’"
"The Israelis, according to the Times, deploy twelve-member fully armed teams into Iran . . . the Israeli commandos, who are usually in Iranian military uniforms, are transported to target locations in vehicles made to look like those used by the Iranian military"
"the Israeli commando teams use 'sensitive equipment' to monitor levels of radioactivity and record the magnitude of any explosives tests that might be carried out at those locations"
This is the James Bond type of operation for which failure is not an option. Volunteers, single men without dependents ONLY apply!
Normally the punishment during wartime if captured when wearing the uniform of the enemy is death. In the case of these Israeli probably after a period of terrible and prolonged torture!
coolbert.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Wrong?
This is coolbert:
Thanks to Reuters through the Chicago Tribune from yesterday we have this follow-up story on the hunt for Joseph Kony and those remnants of the Lord's Resistance Army [LRA] hiding in the jungle and mountains of central Africa.
Joseph and his minions in the sights of the American Special Operations troops [about 100 of them] deployed since last October to the region. The object to bring Joseph to justice, marshaling the resources of the international community in the process!
"African Union launches US-backed force to hunt Kony"
"JUBA, March 24 (Reuters) - The African Union (AU), backed by the United States, has put together a 5,000-strong military force to hunt down fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, whose profile
has shot up following a celebrity-backed campaign against him."
My instantaneous and intuitive reaction to this article in the Tribune is NO!
NO and emphatically so! This is the big footprint approach and might very well be doomed to failure from the start!
The big footprint approach says that you gather an enormous military force replete with all sorts of trucks, armor if available, helicopters, drones, other fixed wing aircraft, a major military force sweeping an area in pursuit of Joseph and you are guaranteed success. And the bigger the force the greater the guarantee of success.
NO! Joseph has been forewarned for some time now and presumably has taken remedial measures and is well prepared to evade capture or death. That large force too will make A LOT OF NOISE WHEN APPROACHING AND ONLY ALERT THE MISCREANTS MAKING A SUCCESSFUL ENGAGEMENT THAT MUCH LESS LIKELY!
Also, this producer of Kony 2012 was found recently running down the street of San Diego in what was described as an irrational and erratic state. The man was running down the street naked masturbating! My thought was and I would not preclude the possibility that someone that is in league with Joseph [and Joseph is reputed to have backers in high places!] somehow were able [drugs?] to compromise and discredit this producer in revenge for having made the YouTube video that became viral!
On paper the plans to apprehend or kill Joseph appear to be sound. On the ground the reality is far different! NO ONE wants to see this mission fail but make no mistake, NONE of this is going to be easy!
coolbert.
Thanks to Reuters through the Chicago Tribune from yesterday we have this follow-up story on the hunt for Joseph Kony and those remnants of the Lord's Resistance Army [LRA] hiding in the jungle and mountains of central Africa.
Joseph and his minions in the sights of the American Special Operations troops [about 100 of them] deployed since last October to the region. The object to bring Joseph to justice, marshaling the resources of the international community in the process!
"African Union launches US-backed force to hunt Kony"
"JUBA, March 24 (Reuters) - The African Union (AU), backed by the United States, has put together a 5,000-strong military force to hunt down fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, whose profile
has shot up following a celebrity-backed campaign against him."
My instantaneous and intuitive reaction to this article in the Tribune is NO!
NO and emphatically so! This is the big footprint approach and might very well be doomed to failure from the start!
The big footprint approach says that you gather an enormous military force replete with all sorts of trucks, armor if available, helicopters, drones, other fixed wing aircraft, a major military force sweeping an area in pursuit of Joseph and you are guaranteed success. And the bigger the force the greater the guarantee of success.
NO! Joseph has been forewarned for some time now and presumably has taken remedial measures and is well prepared to evade capture or death. That large force too will make A LOT OF NOISE WHEN APPROACHING AND ONLY ALERT THE MISCREANTS MAKING A SUCCESSFUL ENGAGEMENT THAT MUCH LESS LIKELY!
Also, this producer of Kony 2012 was found recently running down the street of San Diego in what was described as an irrational and erratic state. The man was running down the street naked masturbating! My thought was and I would not preclude the possibility that someone that is in league with Joseph [and Joseph is reputed to have backers in high places!] somehow were able [drugs?] to compromise and discredit this producer in revenge for having made the YouTube video that became viral!
On paper the plans to apprehend or kill Joseph appear to be sound. On the ground the reality is far different! NO ONE wants to see this mission fail but make no mistake, NONE of this is going to be easy!
coolbert.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Strange?
This is coolbert:
From the wiki entry for the "Fog of War" we have this admonition from Robert S. McNamara that I find to be strange indeed:
"Ten additional lessons from R.S. McNamara"
"3. We [the U.S.A.] are the most powerful nation in the world—economically, politically, and militarily—and we are likely to remain so for decades ahead. But we are not omniscient. If we cannot persuade other nations with similar interests and similar values of the merits of the proposed use of that power, we should not proceed unilaterally except in the unlikely requirement to defend directly the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii."
American power as enunciated by Robert S McNamara to be used to defend "unilaterally" only the continental United States, the contiguous forty eight states, Alaska and Hawaii. The fifty states constituting the union.
My instantaneous reaction was WHAT ABOUT GUAM? And too, WHAT ABOUT THOSE VARIOUS TREATY ARRANGEMENTS THE UNITED STATES HAS ENTERED INTO WITH OTHER SOVEREIGN NATIONS AROUND THE WORLD?
It is by such misstatements that WARS are started? Nations around the world hostile to the United States and American interests or perceived interests make keen observations with a lack of understanding that leads them to make false and incorrect assumptions of American resolve?
[it is often said that American policy makers quite often do not understand foreign nations we may find ourselves in conflict with. My own perception is that THOSE FOREIGN NATIONS UNDERSTAND US LESS THAN WE UNDERSTAND THEM!!]
SUCH HAS BEEN THE CASE EVER SINCE THE KOREAN WAR! The alleged erroneous pronouncements of Dean Acheson often have been cited as a CAUSE of the Korean War, the communist North Korean and their various backers taking comfort in advance that the American military would not intervene as it did!
Policy makers and foreign observers pay attention to the wiki and the documentaries such as the "Fog of War"? Robert is gone now but if he was around I can hear him saying: "let me explain!"!
coolbert.
From the wiki entry for the "Fog of War" we have this admonition from Robert S. McNamara that I find to be strange indeed:
"Ten additional lessons from R.S. McNamara"
"3. We [the U.S.A.] are the most powerful nation in the world—economically, politically, and militarily—and we are likely to remain so for decades ahead. But we are not omniscient. If we cannot persuade other nations with similar interests and similar values of the merits of the proposed use of that power, we should not proceed unilaterally except in the unlikely requirement to defend directly the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii."
American power as enunciated by Robert S McNamara to be used to defend "unilaterally" only the continental United States, the contiguous forty eight states, Alaska and Hawaii. The fifty states constituting the union.
My instantaneous reaction was WHAT ABOUT GUAM? And too, WHAT ABOUT THOSE VARIOUS TREATY ARRANGEMENTS THE UNITED STATES HAS ENTERED INTO WITH OTHER SOVEREIGN NATIONS AROUND THE WORLD?
It is by such misstatements that WARS are started? Nations around the world hostile to the United States and American interests or perceived interests make keen observations with a lack of understanding that leads them to make false and incorrect assumptions of American resolve?
[it is often said that American policy makers quite often do not understand foreign nations we may find ourselves in conflict with. My own perception is that THOSE FOREIGN NATIONS UNDERSTAND US LESS THAN WE UNDERSTAND THEM!!]
SUCH HAS BEEN THE CASE EVER SINCE THE KOREAN WAR! The alleged erroneous pronouncements of Dean Acheson often have been cited as a CAUSE of the Korean War, the communist North Korean and their various backers taking comfort in advance that the American military would not intervene as it did!
Policy makers and foreign observers pay attention to the wiki and the documentaries such as the "Fog of War"? Robert is gone now but if he was around I can hear him saying: "let me explain!"!
coolbert.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Nuanced?
This is coolbert:
From the previous blog entry:
"And these Russian Marines if actually being deployed to Syria, that means what exactly? Devoted readers to the blog can venture a guess?"
Let me suggest two plausible answers.
1. The Syrian leadership realizes that the Hama Solution is no longer applicable or desirable? The Russian Marines with their experience from the two Chechen Wars are proven city fighters who are able to teach the elite units of the Syrian military the finer nuanced points of urban warfare concepts?
The total obliteration of your enemy via the Hama Solution as was done to the Muslim Brotherhood thirty years ago now plays out very poorly within the international media? Modern technology allows the video journalist an ability to cover events in real time in a way that makes Assad and his clique a pariah on the "world stage" almost literally so. Assad is in this for the long haul [the uprising has gone on for a year now without conclusion] and is making appreciations that include NO MORE use of heavy artillery and tanks against civilian urban targets? This remains to be seen.
2. Those "Black Death" will be embedded with Syrian military units as advisers? Foreign forces whomever they might be wishing to intervene as was done in Libya will have to contemplate that air strikes or other forms of military involvement include the possibility of KILLING RUSSIANS WITH ALL THAT WILL MEAN!! A situation no one wants to occur precludes foreign intervention in the Syria uprising!
Agreed? Devoted readers to the blog let me know!
coolbert.
From the previous blog entry:
"And these Russian Marines if actually being deployed to Syria, that means what exactly? Devoted readers to the blog can venture a guess?"
Let me suggest two plausible answers.
1. The Syrian leadership realizes that the Hama Solution is no longer applicable or desirable? The Russian Marines with their experience from the two Chechen Wars are proven city fighters who are able to teach the elite units of the Syrian military the finer nuanced points of urban warfare concepts?
The total obliteration of your enemy via the Hama Solution as was done to the Muslim Brotherhood thirty years ago now plays out very poorly within the international media? Modern technology allows the video journalist an ability to cover events in real time in a way that makes Assad and his clique a pariah on the "world stage" almost literally so. Assad is in this for the long haul [the uprising has gone on for a year now without conclusion] and is making appreciations that include NO MORE use of heavy artillery and tanks against civilian urban targets? This remains to be seen.
2. Those "Black Death" will be embedded with Syrian military units as advisers? Foreign forces whomever they might be wishing to intervene as was done in Libya will have to contemplate that air strikes or other forms of military involvement include the possibility of KILLING RUSSIANS WITH ALL THAT WILL MEAN!! A situation no one wants to occur precludes foreign intervention in the Syria uprising!
Agreed? Devoted readers to the blog let me know!
coolbert.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Black Death!
This is coolbert:
Black Death in Syria!!
Thanks to Joseph and intelNew.org we have this latest.
"Breaking News: Russian troops land in Syria"
"The Russian service of the BBC has confirmed that a contingent of Russian 'antiterrorist special forces' have landed in Syria. The news first appeared on Monday on the websites of several Russian news agencies, including Interfax and RIA Novosti. The latter claimed that the Russian troops, who were said to be Marines, arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus onboard the tanker Iman, which is part of Russia’s Black Sea fleet."
This is Black Death. Russian Marines. Rated very high in fighting capactity. Saw extensive action during the two Chechen wars. Suvorov says that Soviet and now Russian [?] ground commanders rate these Marines as outstanding, a full regiment of such "naval infantry" having the same combat presence as a full division of conventional ground troops. Called Black Death by the German during World War Two [WW2] the marine of that era going into combat wearing an all-black uniform to include CAPE!
"Naval infantry" in Russian terms but that normally meaning sailors given small arms and told to go ashore and fight. This is not what Russian Marines are!!
See this YouTube video purportedly Russian Marines prior to going into combat - - Grozny. NOT sure whether this is from the First or Second Chechen War:
"Морпехи в Грозном / Marines in Grozny with ENG subs"
[those green bullet proof vests are particular to the Russian military?? Someone knows about this?? IN the you tube video some of those marines wear the black stocking cap or the black hood over the head!]
And these Russian Marines if actually being deployed to Syria, that means what exactly? Devoted readers to the blog can venture a guess?
coolbert.
Black Death in Syria!!
Thanks to Joseph and intelNew.org we have this latest.
"Breaking News: Russian troops land in Syria"
"The Russian service of the BBC has confirmed that a contingent of Russian 'antiterrorist special forces' have landed in Syria. The news first appeared on Monday on the websites of several Russian news agencies, including Interfax and RIA Novosti. The latter claimed that the Russian troops, who were said to be Marines, arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus onboard the tanker Iman, which is part of Russia’s Black Sea fleet."
This is Black Death. Russian Marines. Rated very high in fighting capactity. Saw extensive action during the two Chechen wars. Suvorov says that Soviet and now Russian [?] ground commanders rate these Marines as outstanding, a full regiment of such "naval infantry" having the same combat presence as a full division of conventional ground troops. Called Black Death by the German during World War Two [WW2] the marine of that era going into combat wearing an all-black uniform to include CAPE!
"Naval infantry" in Russian terms but that normally meaning sailors given small arms and told to go ashore and fight. This is not what Russian Marines are!!
See this YouTube video purportedly Russian Marines prior to going into combat - - Grozny. NOT sure whether this is from the First or Second Chechen War:
"Морпехи в Грозном / Marines in Grozny with ENG subs"
[those green bullet proof vests are particular to the Russian military?? Someone knows about this?? IN the you tube video some of those marines wear the black stocking cap or the black hood over the head!]
And these Russian Marines if actually being deployed to Syria, that means what exactly? Devoted readers to the blog can venture a guess?
coolbert.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
YO-3.
This is coolbert:
"listened for cannot be heard, looked for cannot be seen, felt for cannot be touched!"
Saw this one quite by accident. You learn something new each day.
The YO-3 stealth aircraft from the era of the Vietnam War. Actually was deployed and did quite well according to accounts.
The letter Y designates EXPERIMENTAL. Seems to have been more than experimental however.
An aircraft as used by the US Army for low-level surveillance during hours of darkness, STEALTH IN THE SENSE OF BEING VERY QUIET, AT AN ALTITUDE OF 1,000 FEET [300 METERS] NOT AUDIBLE TO A PERSON ON THE GROUND!
"The Lockheed YO-3 'Quiet Star' was an American single-engined, propeller-driven monoplane that was developed for battlefield observation during the Vietnam War. It was designed to be as quiet as possible, and was intended to observe troop movements in near-silence during hours of darkness."
Pilot in the rear, observer in the front, that observer using a downward looking [?] periscope night-vision equipped with infrared [IR] capability as well thanks to an on board IR illuminator!
Able to range a counter-insurgency battlefield in a stealthy manner during hours of darkness, finding and locating targets, the guerrilla enemy accustomed to operating with impunity, the Quiet Star surveillance mission undetected. Your adversary performing their normal chores without knowing they are being observed!!
And even after over forty years, at least one of the original eleven prototypes still in existence and also still flying [as of 2009]!! Amazing.
"The plane was used in rotorcraft research. Most recently, it was in operation at Moffett Field, California. This aircraft was to be returned to NASA's Dryden research facility at Edwards AFB, California in early 2009."
coolbert.
Wellington.
This is coolbert:
Here thanks to the wiki are some quotations attributed to the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, and sourced [the attribution is confirmed] - - the Duke understanding full well the "fog of war" from his own experience and observations:
"All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called 'guessing what was at the other side of the hill.'"
"Just to show you how little reliance can be placed even on what are supposed the best accounts of a battle, I mention that there are some circumstances mentioned in General —'s account which did not occur as he relates them. It is impossible to say when each important occurrence took place, or in what order."
"The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance. . . . "
The fog of war is a term used to describe the uncertainty in situation awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign."
"(War is an area of uncertainty; three quarters of the things on which all action in War is based on are lying in a fog of uncertainty to a greater or lesser extent. The first thing (needed) here is a fine, piercing mind, to feel the truth with the measure of its judgment)." - - Carl von Clausewitz.
"(The great uncertainty of all data in war is a peculiar difficulty, because all action must, to a certain extent, be planned in a mere twilight, which in addition not infrequently — like the effect of a fog or moonlight — gives to things exaggerated dimensions and unnatural appearance.)" - - Carl von Clausewitz.
Comments:
* Arthur Wellesley and US Grant were the two most outstanding senior combat commanders of the Nineteenth Century? What about Napoleon and Robert E. Lee you ask?
* The senior combat commander during the Napoleonic had a much easier time determining what was occurring on the battlefield than does the modern contemporary military man? That commander from the Black Powder Age of warfare often occupying dominant terrain was able to see the entire battle ground as combat progressed and able to the determine with accuracy the disposition of his units and the enemy BOTH often with a single glance? YET, uncertainties still existing and of such Wellington was manifestly aware!!
* Wellington and Clausewitz were contemporaries but probably never met in person. Clausewitz NEVER did use those exact words "fog of war", his magnum opus never finished a rough draft not published during his lifetime, the man tragically perishing in a cholera epidemic.
That fog of war obscuring and making difficult the decision making process of the commander on the ground. The most extreme example from modern times being that of Jellicoe at Jutland? Thirty seconds under conditions of fog, smoke, approaching darkness, uncertainty as to the exact positions of your own ships and that of the enemies - - the critical decision to further pursue or break off contact vital to the war effort, the conservation approach taken as a result both literally and figuratively of the fog of war!!
coolbert.
Here thanks to the wiki are some quotations attributed to the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, and sourced [the attribution is confirmed] - - the Duke understanding full well the "fog of war" from his own experience and observations:
"All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called 'guessing what was at the other side of the hill.'"
"Just to show you how little reliance can be placed even on what are supposed the best accounts of a battle, I mention that there are some circumstances mentioned in General —'s account which did not occur as he relates them. It is impossible to say when each important occurrence took place, or in what order."
"The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance. . . . "
The fog of war is a term used to describe the uncertainty in situation awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign."
"(War is an area of uncertainty; three quarters of the things on which all action in War is based on are lying in a fog of uncertainty to a greater or lesser extent. The first thing (needed) here is a fine, piercing mind, to feel the truth with the measure of its judgment)." - - Carl von Clausewitz.
"(The great uncertainty of all data in war is a peculiar difficulty, because all action must, to a certain extent, be planned in a mere twilight, which in addition not infrequently — like the effect of a fog or moonlight — gives to things exaggerated dimensions and unnatural appearance.)" - - Carl von Clausewitz.
Comments:
* Arthur Wellesley and US Grant were the two most outstanding senior combat commanders of the Nineteenth Century? What about Napoleon and Robert E. Lee you ask?
* The senior combat commander during the Napoleonic had a much easier time determining what was occurring on the battlefield than does the modern contemporary military man? That commander from the Black Powder Age of warfare often occupying dominant terrain was able to see the entire battle ground as combat progressed and able to the determine with accuracy the disposition of his units and the enemy BOTH often with a single glance? YET, uncertainties still existing and of such Wellington was manifestly aware!!
* Wellington and Clausewitz were contemporaries but probably never met in person. Clausewitz NEVER did use those exact words "fog of war", his magnum opus never finished a rough draft not published during his lifetime, the man tragically perishing in a cholera epidemic.
That fog of war obscuring and making difficult the decision making process of the commander on the ground. The most extreme example from modern times being that of Jellicoe at Jutland? Thirty seconds under conditions of fog, smoke, approaching darkness, uncertainty as to the exact positions of your own ships and that of the enemies - - the critical decision to further pursue or break off contact vital to the war effort, the conservation approach taken as a result both literally and figuratively of the fog of war!!
coolbert.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Draft.
This is coolbert:
From the Chicago Tribune Almanac today:
"In 1942. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered that men ages 45 to 64 register for nonmilitary duty."
Ages 45 to 64 register for NON-MILITARY duty!
Those previously [1940] from the ages of 18 to 45 having to register for MILITARY DUTY!
But the US military during the Second World War [WW2] only conscripting [drafting] those up to the age of thirty-five [35] years of age.
At the start of American entry into the war General Marshall perceiving a need at the time for an army of two hundred [200] infantry divisions. That is about 20 million men alone merely for the army, NOT counting the army air corps, navy and marines.
The final decision being made to scale down the ambitious [overly so?] plans for a two hundred division army to a much more do-able and manageable army of one hundred [100] divisions.
Persons of what is normally considered to be middle-age [45-64 years old] being required to do what sort of non-military duty? I cannot say. The average life expectancy of an American male in 1942 was about sixty-eight years!
Middle-aged American males serving in the capacity of coast-watchers, air raid wardens, aircraft spotters, etc. That I assume to the case mainly. Any devoted readers to the blog have a better idea about this?
coolbert.
From the Chicago Tribune Almanac today:
"In 1942. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered that men ages 45 to 64 register for nonmilitary duty."
Ages 45 to 64 register for NON-MILITARY duty!
Those previously [1940] from the ages of 18 to 45 having to register for MILITARY DUTY!
But the US military during the Second World War [WW2] only conscripting [drafting] those up to the age of thirty-five [35] years of age.
At the start of American entry into the war General Marshall perceiving a need at the time for an army of two hundred [200] infantry divisions. That is about 20 million men alone merely for the army, NOT counting the army air corps, navy and marines.
The final decision being made to scale down the ambitious [overly so?] plans for a two hundred division army to a much more do-able and manageable army of one hundred [100] divisions.
Persons of what is normally considered to be middle-age [45-64 years old] being required to do what sort of non-military duty? I cannot say. The average life expectancy of an American male in 1942 was about sixty-eight years!
Middle-aged American males serving in the capacity of coast-watchers, air raid wardens, aircraft spotters, etc. That I assume to the case mainly. Any devoted readers to the blog have a better idea about this?
coolbert.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sandy.
This is coolbert:
Here thanks to the Telegraph the observations of the man - - Rear-Admiral Sir John Forster Woodward - - in command of the English naval task force [he was the overall commander of the expeditionary force too?] during the Falklands Islands War. British able to repel after a three month war the Argentine military the disputed colonial possession, long-held English territory in the South Atlantic, one of those essential territories that Sir Jacky Fisher designated long ago as vital of British Imperial dominion over the oceans of the world.
"Falkland Islands: Britain 'would lose' if Argentina decides to invade now"
"Rear-Admiral Sir John Forster Woodward - who in 1982 gave the order to sink the General Belgrano - regrets not making more of how the Falklands war was won."
Admiral Sir John acerbic and forthright, almost a curmudgeon. Is alarmed by the "dire" state of the present British navy, not even now able to detail a single ship to protect home waters as they are designated!
The English currently unable to replicate that naval task force as was available thirty years ago! Specifically so of major concern to Admiral Sir John is that the Royal Navy [RN] NO LONGER AND UNTIL AT LEAST 2020 WILL NOT HAVE AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER IN THE INVENTORY!!
A naval task force dispatched with reinforcements to the Falklands is not an option in case of Argentinian attack? Aerial troop movement is possible, but ONLY if the single military airfield on the islands is in British hands, kept open and defensible!
“We could not retake the Falklands. We could not send a task force or even an aircraft carrier. If we had been in this state in 1982, the Falklands would be the Malvinas. We rely on sending reinforcements by air, but that would be impossible if we lost control of the airfield at Mount Pleasant.”
"The Argentines might hope to overcome the four Typhoon jets at Mount Pleasant with a dozen Mirages and then bomb the airfield out of action"
[it will be suggested by some that Admiral Sir John in pointing out such deficiencies is perhaps even inciting the Argentine and almost in a sense encouraging an attack!!]
Admiral Sir John also having some comments obviously directed at Prince William and his status - - the Prince currently performing his obligatory military duty in defense of the Falklands as part of the permanent British contingent. ROYALS ARE A HINDRANCE?
[obviously Admiral Sir John is retired for some time! His comments in the American military might be considered violations of UCMJ!]
"To put a royal in the front line is quite inconvenient. You have to take special measures to make sure he doesn’t lose his life. That means you service his aircraft three times as carefully as anyone else’s. If something goes badly wrong, you’ll be blamed. So you protect the Royal Family from their own wish to serve. They are a liability on the front line.”
The English ought to be glad that they have offspring of the royal family able and willing to serve and not just in a titular position either, but in a capacity that DOES place them in danger of some sort beyond the ordinary. Royals feel the position of aircraft pilot too is appropriate and in keeping with their status? William, his brother and father before him all were pilots!
coolbert.
Here thanks to the Telegraph the observations of the man - - Rear-Admiral Sir John Forster Woodward - - in command of the English naval task force [he was the overall commander of the expeditionary force too?] during the Falklands Islands War. British able to repel after a three month war the Argentine military the disputed colonial possession, long-held English territory in the South Atlantic, one of those essential territories that Sir Jacky Fisher designated long ago as vital of British Imperial dominion over the oceans of the world.
"Falkland Islands: Britain 'would lose' if Argentina decides to invade now"
"Rear-Admiral Sir John Forster Woodward - who in 1982 gave the order to sink the General Belgrano - regrets not making more of how the Falklands war was won."
Admiral Sir John acerbic and forthright, almost a curmudgeon. Is alarmed by the "dire" state of the present British navy, not even now able to detail a single ship to protect home waters as they are designated!
The English currently unable to replicate that naval task force as was available thirty years ago! Specifically so of major concern to Admiral Sir John is that the Royal Navy [RN] NO LONGER AND UNTIL AT LEAST 2020 WILL NOT HAVE AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER IN THE INVENTORY!!
A naval task force dispatched with reinforcements to the Falklands is not an option in case of Argentinian attack? Aerial troop movement is possible, but ONLY if the single military airfield on the islands is in British hands, kept open and defensible!
“We could not retake the Falklands. We could not send a task force or even an aircraft carrier. If we had been in this state in 1982, the Falklands would be the Malvinas. We rely on sending reinforcements by air, but that would be impossible if we lost control of the airfield at Mount Pleasant.”
"The Argentines might hope to overcome the four Typhoon jets at Mount Pleasant with a dozen Mirages and then bomb the airfield out of action"
[it will be suggested by some that Admiral Sir John in pointing out such deficiencies is perhaps even inciting the Argentine and almost in a sense encouraging an attack!!]
Admiral Sir John also having some comments obviously directed at Prince William and his status - - the Prince currently performing his obligatory military duty in defense of the Falklands as part of the permanent British contingent. ROYALS ARE A HINDRANCE?
[obviously Admiral Sir John is retired for some time! His comments in the American military might be considered violations of UCMJ!]
"To put a royal in the front line is quite inconvenient. You have to take special measures to make sure he doesn’t lose his life. That means you service his aircraft three times as carefully as anyone else’s. If something goes badly wrong, you’ll be blamed. So you protect the Royal Family from their own wish to serve. They are a liability on the front line.”
The English ought to be glad that they have offspring of the royal family able and willing to serve and not just in a titular position either, but in a capacity that DOES place them in danger of some sort beyond the ordinary. Royals feel the position of aircraft pilot too is appropriate and in keeping with their status? William, his brother and father before him all were pilots!
coolbert.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Megiddo VI.
This is coolbert:
Conclusion.
Armageddon.
"Armageddon (from Hebrew: Har Megiddo, Ancient Greek: Harmagedōn, Late Latin: Armagedōn) is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location. The term is also used in a generic sense to refer to any end of the world scenario."
Strangely enough, the Battle of Megiddo in 1918, the vanquishing and pursuit of the Turkish army group WAS seen by some American Christian religious denominations [primarily Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists] as a sign of prophecy as being fulfilled, an end-of-times revelation as meaning the end-of-the-world, the Second Coming of Jesus to judge the living and the dead?
Megiddo was perceived and interpreted by these groups [and by others also] as fulfilling prophecy as enunciated in the Book of Revelations from the New Testament [the Christian Bible] as being the place where the armies of the world would gather for the final battle prior to "final judgement" as that term is understood!
Signs of prophecy that after almost 2,000 years were being fulfilled AND EVERYONE HAD JUST BETTER MAKE READY! Such was the mental state of some persons at the time, the Battle of Megiddo and the victory of the Imperial British forces making BIG NEWS!
Indeed, you might not concede that these persons seeing the Battle of Megiddo in such apocalyptic terms as being correct within their frame of reference. The armies gathered at Megiddo included contingents from England, Australia, New Zealand, British Indian, Ottoman, ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD!
Other events occurring in the Middle East [Near East] at the same time ALSO seeming to confirm Biblical end-of-time prophecy, the return of the Jews to their ancient homeland [a small number at the time of 1918 but continually increasing] and the capture of Jerusalem by the British army [over 700 years had elapsed since the time of Saladin]! And of course Megiddo! JUST OF ITSELF THE ENTIRE ASPECT OF THE GREAT WAR [WW1], THE WORLD-WIDE CONFLAGRATION AND THE TEN MILLION DEAD THE LIKE OF WHICH BEYOND THE EXPERIENCE OF MANKIND SURELY HAVING SOME SORT OF MEANING!
Armageddon to this day the word representing: an apocalyptic event [normally thought of as war!] of such major proportions that the entire world order and all of mankind will be thrown into disorder and confusion without amelioration!
And such was in the minds of some in 1918, Megiddo a "sign", a portent that should not and could not be ignored! Attitudes that persist, even unto the present time!
coolbert.
Conclusion.
Armageddon.
"Armageddon (from Hebrew: Har Megiddo, Ancient Greek: Harmagedōn, Late Latin: Armagedōn) is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location. The term is also used in a generic sense to refer to any end of the world scenario."
Strangely enough, the Battle of Megiddo in 1918, the vanquishing and pursuit of the Turkish army group WAS seen by some American Christian religious denominations [primarily Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists] as a sign of prophecy as being fulfilled, an end-of-times revelation as meaning the end-of-the-world, the Second Coming of Jesus to judge the living and the dead?
Megiddo was perceived and interpreted by these groups [and by others also] as fulfilling prophecy as enunciated in the Book of Revelations from the New Testament [the Christian Bible] as being the place where the armies of the world would gather for the final battle prior to "final judgement" as that term is understood!
Signs of prophecy that after almost 2,000 years were being fulfilled AND EVERYONE HAD JUST BETTER MAKE READY! Such was the mental state of some persons at the time, the Battle of Megiddo and the victory of the Imperial British forces making BIG NEWS!
Indeed, you might not concede that these persons seeing the Battle of Megiddo in such apocalyptic terms as being correct within their frame of reference. The armies gathered at Megiddo included contingents from England, Australia, New Zealand, British Indian, Ottoman, ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD!
Other events occurring in the Middle East [Near East] at the same time ALSO seeming to confirm Biblical end-of-time prophecy, the return of the Jews to their ancient homeland [a small number at the time of 1918 but continually increasing] and the capture of Jerusalem by the British army [over 700 years had elapsed since the time of Saladin]! And of course Megiddo! JUST OF ITSELF THE ENTIRE ASPECT OF THE GREAT WAR [WW1], THE WORLD-WIDE CONFLAGRATION AND THE TEN MILLION DEAD THE LIKE OF WHICH BEYOND THE EXPERIENCE OF MANKIND SURELY HAVING SOME SORT OF MEANING!
Armageddon to this day the word representing: an apocalyptic event [normally thought of as war!] of such major proportions that the entire world order and all of mankind will be thrown into disorder and confusion without amelioration!
And such was in the minds of some in 1918, Megiddo a "sign", a portent that should not and could not be ignored! Attitudes that persist, even unto the present time!
coolbert.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Megiddo V.
This is coolbert:
Guerrilla warfare!
The military experts are generally in agreement [?] that guerrilla warfare as that term is understood is most effective when combined with and as an adjunct to conventional combat operations!
As it was at Megiddo and a very rare event during the Great War [WW1], those irregular guerrilla forces of the Arab revolt attacking and destroying important and vital Turkish lines of communications in support of the general British advance!
"He [Allenby] also incorporated the irregular forces of the Arab Revolt into his operations"
"the Ottoman forces were distracted by attacks against their lines of communication by mainly irregular forces of the Arab Revolt"
"On 16 September 1918 [the main attack at Megiddo set for 19 September], Arabs under T. E. Lawrence and Nuri as-Said began destroying railway lines around the vital rail centre of Deraa, at the junction of the Hedjaz Railway which supplied the Ottoman army at Amman and the Palestine Railway which supplied the Ottoman armies in Palestine."
That rail line vital to continued Turkish re-supply and reinforcement attacked repeatedly in numerous locations, guerrilla warfare as successfully waged by the Arab irregulars an integral and planned effort by the British.
That guerrilla warfare is most effective when combined with and as an adjunct to conventional military operations also made apparent during the Battle of France, 1944.
That German SS division Das Reich taking fifteen days by road march to reach the Normandy battlefield, beset the entire way by the actions of the French resistance, the maquis. Das Reich running a planned gauntlet of ambush and sabotage, reaching the scene of battle in a depleted state, tired and exhausted from a period of continuous combat, in a less than effective state!!
"When ordered to the Normandy battle front, Das Reich was delayed by fifteen days through a concerted programme of sabotage organised by SOE [Special Operations Executive] and the French Resistance [maquis]. This delay was critical to the success of the D-Day advance."
"the French resistance, supported by the British and Americans, and the role they played in disrupting and slowing the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich in its journey from Toulouse to the bocage of Normandy. A journey that should have taken only a few days instead took over 15, due to the efforts of the resistance and of Allied air cover."
"That this journey was slowed . . . did have a significant impact on the second battle of France."
Consideration and planning of the sabotage effort as waged by the Arab forces in those days prior to 19 September not absolutely vital to British success at Megiddo but nonetheless valuable and of worth!
coolbert.
Guerrilla warfare!
The military experts are generally in agreement [?] that guerrilla warfare as that term is understood is most effective when combined with and as an adjunct to conventional combat operations!
As it was at Megiddo and a very rare event during the Great War [WW1], those irregular guerrilla forces of the Arab revolt attacking and destroying important and vital Turkish lines of communications in support of the general British advance!
"He [Allenby] also incorporated the irregular forces of the Arab Revolt into his operations"
"the Ottoman forces were distracted by attacks against their lines of communication by mainly irregular forces of the Arab Revolt"
"On 16 September 1918 [the main attack at Megiddo set for 19 September], Arabs under T. E. Lawrence and Nuri as-Said began destroying railway lines around the vital rail centre of Deraa, at the junction of the Hedjaz Railway which supplied the Ottoman army at Amman and the Palestine Railway which supplied the Ottoman armies in Palestine."
That rail line vital to continued Turkish re-supply and reinforcement attacked repeatedly in numerous locations, guerrilla warfare as successfully waged by the Arab irregulars an integral and planned effort by the British.
That guerrilla warfare is most effective when combined with and as an adjunct to conventional military operations also made apparent during the Battle of France, 1944.
That German SS division Das Reich taking fifteen days by road march to reach the Normandy battlefield, beset the entire way by the actions of the French resistance, the maquis. Das Reich running a planned gauntlet of ambush and sabotage, reaching the scene of battle in a depleted state, tired and exhausted from a period of continuous combat, in a less than effective state!!
"When ordered to the Normandy battle front, Das Reich was delayed by fifteen days through a concerted programme of sabotage organised by SOE [Special Operations Executive] and the French Resistance [maquis]. This delay was critical to the success of the D-Day advance."
"the French resistance, supported by the British and Americans, and the role they played in disrupting and slowing the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich in its journey from Toulouse to the bocage of Normandy. A journey that should have taken only a few days instead took over 15, due to the efforts of the resistance and of Allied air cover."
"That this journey was slowed . . . did have a significant impact on the second battle of France."
Consideration and planning of the sabotage effort as waged by the Arab forces in those days prior to 19 September not absolutely vital to British success at Megiddo but nonetheless valuable and of worth!
coolbert.
Megiddo IV.
This is coolbert:
Ground attack!
That Turkish army group at Megiddo attempting a retirement, being pursued by the Royal Air Force [RAF] with a vengeance.
Pursuit of the enemy during a breakthrough offensive, not allowing the enemy any respite attack from warplanes operating in the ground attack mode quite common.
The German having pioneered [?] the use of dedicated ground attack aircraft as an integral element of those tactics as used to break the stalemate of trench warfare during the Great War [WW1], strafing and bombing enemy troops while either entrenched or during retirement from the battlefield.
[those three elements of the blitzkrieg type offensive being the use of infiltration tactics, poison gas delivered by shell on target, and the incorporation of ground strafing warplanes!]
GROUND ATTACK AIRCRAFT ALSO A TACTIC AS USED BY THE BRITISH AT MEGIDDO!!
"Following the success of Allenby's attack at Megiddo on the 19th of September, the Turkish divisions were forced to retreat through the narrow defile of Wadi Farra. On the 21st of September the Australians trapped them there, when they bombed the head and the tail of the Turkish column. Together with RAF SE5as and DH9s [these two aircraft were NOT dedicated ground attack aircraft] the Australians mercilessly bombed and strafed the terrified Turks."
"On 21 September, the Seventh Army was spotted by aircraft in a defile west of the river. The RAF proceeded to bomb the retreating Turks and destroyed their entire column. Waves of bombing and strafing aircraft passed over the column every three minutes and although the operation had been intended to last for five hours, the Seventh Army was routed in 60 minutes. All transport, artillery and heavy equipment was abandoned or destroyed, many Turks were killed and the survivors were scattered and leaderless."
"When the smoke had cleared it was seen that the organization of the enemy had melted away. They were a dispersed horde of trembling individuals, hiding for their lives in every fold of the vast hills. Nor did their commanders ever rally them again. When our cavalry entered the silent valley the next day they could count ninety guns, fifty lorries, and nearly a thousand carts abandoned with all their belongings. The RAF lost four killed. The Turks lost a corps." - - T. E. Lawrence,
"A dispersed horde", "trembling individuals", "hiding", commanders not able to rally them, disintegration of unit cohesion, NO amelioration for such air attack. Shock tactics that WORKED!!
A retreat is best understood if done in an orderly manner or as a disorderly rout, mass disintegration and total chaos with units further unable to reconstitute themselves, INEFFECTIVE!!
Prior to 1914 the general staffs of the various European military powers would have seen the warplane as a curiosity, a contraption, an oddity for which there was little if any use. In the aftermath of the war, that perception had changed markedly to the extreme without a doubt!!
coolbert.
Ground attack!
That Turkish army group at Megiddo attempting a retirement, being pursued by the Royal Air Force [RAF] with a vengeance.
Pursuit of the enemy during a breakthrough offensive, not allowing the enemy any respite attack from warplanes operating in the ground attack mode quite common.
The German having pioneered [?] the use of dedicated ground attack aircraft as an integral element of those tactics as used to break the stalemate of trench warfare during the Great War [WW1], strafing and bombing enemy troops while either entrenched or during retirement from the battlefield.
[those three elements of the blitzkrieg type offensive being the use of infiltration tactics, poison gas delivered by shell on target, and the incorporation of ground strafing warplanes!]
GROUND ATTACK AIRCRAFT ALSO A TACTIC AS USED BY THE BRITISH AT MEGIDDO!!
"Following the success of Allenby's attack at Megiddo on the 19th of September, the Turkish divisions were forced to retreat through the narrow defile of Wadi Farra. On the 21st of September the Australians trapped them there, when they bombed the head and the tail of the Turkish column. Together with RAF SE5as and DH9s [these two aircraft were NOT dedicated ground attack aircraft] the Australians mercilessly bombed and strafed the terrified Turks."
"On 21 September, the Seventh Army was spotted by aircraft in a defile west of the river. The RAF proceeded to bomb the retreating Turks and destroyed their entire column. Waves of bombing and strafing aircraft passed over the column every three minutes and although the operation had been intended to last for five hours, the Seventh Army was routed in 60 minutes. All transport, artillery and heavy equipment was abandoned or destroyed, many Turks were killed and the survivors were scattered and leaderless."
"When the smoke had cleared it was seen that the organization of the enemy had melted away. They were a dispersed horde of trembling individuals, hiding for their lives in every fold of the vast hills. Nor did their commanders ever rally them again. When our cavalry entered the silent valley the next day they could count ninety guns, fifty lorries, and nearly a thousand carts abandoned with all their belongings. The RAF lost four killed. The Turks lost a corps." - - T. E. Lawrence,
"A dispersed horde", "trembling individuals", "hiding", commanders not able to rally them, disintegration of unit cohesion, NO amelioration for such air attack. Shock tactics that WORKED!!
A retreat is best understood if done in an orderly manner or as a disorderly rout, mass disintegration and total chaos with units further unable to reconstitute themselves, INEFFECTIVE!!
Prior to 1914 the general staffs of the various European military powers would have seen the warplane as a curiosity, a contraption, an oddity for which there was little if any use. In the aftermath of the war, that perception had changed markedly to the extreme without a doubt!!
coolbert.
Megiddo III.
This is coolbert:
Coup de main.
"A coup de main . . . is a swift attack that relies on speed and surprise to accomplish its objectives in a single blow."
A very rare event in warfare period and even more so during the Great War [WW1] was the killing or capture of the most senior military commander as part of an overt and thought through mission.
Either eliminate or neutralize the enemy commander and render those subordinate forces leaderless from the top-most-level, and do so at the most critical juncture of the battle.
"neutralize . . . As pertains to military operations, to render ineffective or unusable."
And idea worthy in theory but hard to do in reality, and not often contemplated much less attempted.
Becoming reality at Megiddo, the British with purposeful intent "in the hunt" for Liman von Sanders. Von Sanders not only having his reliable communications disrupted but the man having to flee for his life. The Turkish army group for a full day THE COMMAND STRUCTURE POWERLESS TO INITIATE COUNTER-MEASURES IN RESPONSE TO THE BRITISH ONSLAUGHT!!
Thanks to the book by Bryan Perrett:
"Von Sanders from Nazareth, 20 September 1918."
"The 5th Cavalry Division . . . was to continue northwards . . . where it was to send a detachment to Nazareth with the object of capturing Sanders' GHQ and if possible Sanders himself, The Gloucestershire Yeomany came very close to capturing Sanders."
"The 13th Cavalry Brigade's attempt to capture General Liman von Sanders by coup de main failed narrowly. Sanders evacuated the town later the same day."
"At 13:15 Sanders abandoned Nazareth and, accompanied by only three staff officers, drove to Tiberias then to Samakh at the southern end of Lake Tiberias [Galilee], where he established a temporary GHQ during the evening. Thus the [Turkish] Yilderim Army Group was effectively deprived of it's commander for the entire day."
Von Sanders while not killed or captured the man and his staff paralyzed and neutralized at that most critical moment. Vital decisions regarding the battle NOT BEING MADE AND NOT CAPABLE OF BEING MADE.
[merely neutralizing the enemy commander is adequate? That commander out of touch with his subordinates, unable to communicate or issue reasoned orders based upon hard and accurate information is impotent at best! Killing or capturing of course is much more dramatic but not absolutely necessary to battlefield success!!]
Other than this attempt by the British during the Great War to either kill or capture von Sanders, NO OTHER such coup de main of such a nature was attempted during that conflict? I think not!
coolbert.
Coup de main.
"A coup de main . . . is a swift attack that relies on speed and surprise to accomplish its objectives in a single blow."
A very rare event in warfare period and even more so during the Great War [WW1] was the killing or capture of the most senior military commander as part of an overt and thought through mission.
Either eliminate or neutralize the enemy commander and render those subordinate forces leaderless from the top-most-level, and do so at the most critical juncture of the battle.
"neutralize . . . As pertains to military operations, to render ineffective or unusable."
And idea worthy in theory but hard to do in reality, and not often contemplated much less attempted.
Becoming reality at Megiddo, the British with purposeful intent "in the hunt" for Liman von Sanders. Von Sanders not only having his reliable communications disrupted but the man having to flee for his life. The Turkish army group for a full day THE COMMAND STRUCTURE POWERLESS TO INITIATE COUNTER-MEASURES IN RESPONSE TO THE BRITISH ONSLAUGHT!!
Thanks to the book by Bryan Perrett:
"Von Sanders from Nazareth, 20 September 1918."
"The 5th Cavalry Division . . . was to continue northwards . . . where it was to send a detachment to Nazareth with the object of capturing Sanders' GHQ and if possible Sanders himself, The Gloucestershire Yeomany came very close to capturing Sanders."
"The 13th Cavalry Brigade's attempt to capture General Liman von Sanders by coup de main failed narrowly. Sanders evacuated the town later the same day."
"At 13:15 Sanders abandoned Nazareth and, accompanied by only three staff officers, drove to Tiberias then to Samakh at the southern end of Lake Tiberias [Galilee], where he established a temporary GHQ during the evening. Thus the [Turkish] Yilderim Army Group was effectively deprived of it's commander for the entire day."
Von Sanders while not killed or captured the man and his staff paralyzed and neutralized at that most critical moment. Vital decisions regarding the battle NOT BEING MADE AND NOT CAPABLE OF BEING MADE.
[merely neutralizing the enemy commander is adequate? That commander out of touch with his subordinates, unable to communicate or issue reasoned orders based upon hard and accurate information is impotent at best! Killing or capturing of course is much more dramatic but not absolutely necessary to battlefield success!!]
Other than this attempt by the British during the Great War to either kill or capture von Sanders, NO OTHER such coup de main of such a nature was attempted during that conflict? I think not!
coolbert.
Megiddo II.
This is coolbert:
Nerve damage!
English heavy bomber aircraft [one airplane] dropping the entire payload as carried on a single target [the 'Al-Afuleh telephone exchange] destroying same and creating great havoc among the ranks of the Turkish command at Megiddo.
That telephone exchange ['Al-Afuleh] extremely vital to the communication of the Turkish army group destroyed, negating the ability of von Sanders and his subordinates to either understand the situation or issue orders in a timely manner that MADE SENSE!!
"At 1:00am on 19 September, the RAF Palestine Brigade's single Handley Page O/400 heavy bomber dropped its full load of sixteen 112-pound (51 kg) bombs on the main telephone exchange and railway station in Al-Afuleh. This cut communications between Liman's headquarters at Nazareth and Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies for the following vital two days, dislocating the Ottoman command."
One plane, one target, one payload of bombs, damage done, Turks out of communication with one another, chaos ensuing!!
[radio equipment at the time was bulky and generally unreliable for rapid commo of the type as needed by the defender during a blitzkrieg offensive. Field telephones were relied upon at the time for voice, telegraph and even teletype communications by the high command of the various warring parties during the Great War!]
Additional damage of a similar nature done to similar targets of a similar nature during the Megiddo offensive! DESTROY THE NERVE CONNECTIONS AND THE BRAIN CANNOT SEND SIGNALS TO THE BODY!!
"DH.9s of No. 144 Squadron also bombed El Afule telephone exchange and railway station, Messudieh railway junction and the Ottoman Seventh Army headquarters and telephone exchange at Nablus."
Liman von Sanders indeed was operating in the "fog of war", uncertain of what exactly was occurring and unable to respond and even unable to respond if indeed he could have done so in a cogent manner!!
coolbert.
Nerve damage!
English heavy bomber aircraft [one airplane] dropping the entire payload as carried on a single target [the 'Al-Afuleh telephone exchange] destroying same and creating great havoc among the ranks of the Turkish command at Megiddo.
That telephone exchange ['Al-Afuleh] extremely vital to the communication of the Turkish army group destroyed, negating the ability of von Sanders and his subordinates to either understand the situation or issue orders in a timely manner that MADE SENSE!!
"At 1:00am on 19 September, the RAF Palestine Brigade's single Handley Page O/400 heavy bomber dropped its full load of sixteen 112-pound (51 kg) bombs on the main telephone exchange and railway station in Al-Afuleh. This cut communications between Liman's headquarters at Nazareth and Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies for the following vital two days, dislocating the Ottoman command."
One plane, one target, one payload of bombs, damage done, Turks out of communication with one another, chaos ensuing!!
[radio equipment at the time was bulky and generally unreliable for rapid commo of the type as needed by the defender during a blitzkrieg offensive. Field telephones were relied upon at the time for voice, telegraph and even teletype communications by the high command of the various warring parties during the Great War!]
Additional damage of a similar nature done to similar targets of a similar nature during the Megiddo offensive! DESTROY THE NERVE CONNECTIONS AND THE BRAIN CANNOT SEND SIGNALS TO THE BODY!!
"DH.9s of No. 144 Squadron also bombed El Afule telephone exchange and railway station, Messudieh railway junction and the Ottoman Seventh Army headquarters and telephone exchange at Nablus."
Liman von Sanders indeed was operating in the "fog of war", uncertain of what exactly was occurring and unable to respond and even unable to respond if indeed he could have done so in a cogent manner!!
coolbert.
Megiddo I.
This is coolbert:
Archetype?
Again from that comment to the blog entry concerning the 2nd Lancers:
"I would be grateful if you can tell me where else can I read more about the battle, as it is definitely an interesting battle to read about from a cavalry officers point of view"
A most interesting battle at the very end of the Great War [WW1], the significance has not been fully realized by the military historians?
Megiddo that last and climactic battle in what was considered to be a side-show during WW1, the war in what we now call the Middle or Near East, the forces of the Ottoman Empire in league with the European Central Powers opposed by the British Empire and the dominions!
Megiddo significant in two most important ways:
1. Megiddo can be considered to be the archetype of the blitzkrieg breakthrough offensive as understood in the modern sense?
An offensive action, massed armies versus other massed armies, the intention of which is to create a gap in the enemy defensive position, exploitation of that breach by quickly advancing echelons [in the case of Megiddo those units of mounted infantry, dragoon style infantry!] moving forward as fast and as far as possible, the compromise, destruction and neutralization of the enemy command and logistic structure being a primary goal.
NOT allowing your adversary a moment of surcease or respite, pursuit to the greatest possible extent and total obliteration of the enemy war-making ability a possible!
That blitzkrieg breakthrough offensive as originally devised by the German and used both at Riga and Caporetto, and brought to a higher degree of sophistication and fruition by the English at Megiddo.
2. Prior to Megiddo the Ottoman Empire had actually enjoyed a marked degree of success when in combat with the forces of the British Empire!
* Fought the English and dominion forces to a standstill at Gallipoli.
* Defeated a large British Indian army at Al Kut [modern day Iraq].
Under the senior command of German officers such as Liman von Sanders and Colmar von der Goltz the Turkish soldier comported themselves favorably on the battlefield of the Great War.
The Ottoman at least prior to Megiddo found themselves in a somewhat favorable position with regard to peace talks and negotiation. Capitulation and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire was not considered until the destruction of the Turkish army group at Megiddo?
The defeat of the Turk as cataclysmic as it was a catalyst without question [?], Ataturk from the Turkish perspective surveying the damage and knowing that drastic change was not only needed but mandated
With Megiddo, the Ottoman "gone with the wind" so to speak. An ancient and very old tradition of five hundred years of empire gone irrevocably and forever!!
coolbert.
Archetype?
Again from that comment to the blog entry concerning the 2nd Lancers:
"I would be grateful if you can tell me where else can I read more about the battle, as it is definitely an interesting battle to read about from a cavalry officers point of view"
A most interesting battle at the very end of the Great War [WW1], the significance has not been fully realized by the military historians?
Megiddo that last and climactic battle in what was considered to be a side-show during WW1, the war in what we now call the Middle or Near East, the forces of the Ottoman Empire in league with the European Central Powers opposed by the British Empire and the dominions!
Megiddo significant in two most important ways:
1. Megiddo can be considered to be the archetype of the blitzkrieg breakthrough offensive as understood in the modern sense?
An offensive action, massed armies versus other massed armies, the intention of which is to create a gap in the enemy defensive position, exploitation of that breach by quickly advancing echelons [in the case of Megiddo those units of mounted infantry, dragoon style infantry!] moving forward as fast and as far as possible, the compromise, destruction and neutralization of the enemy command and logistic structure being a primary goal.
NOT allowing your adversary a moment of surcease or respite, pursuit to the greatest possible extent and total obliteration of the enemy war-making ability a possible!
That blitzkrieg breakthrough offensive as originally devised by the German and used both at Riga and Caporetto, and brought to a higher degree of sophistication and fruition by the English at Megiddo.
2. Prior to Megiddo the Ottoman Empire had actually enjoyed a marked degree of success when in combat with the forces of the British Empire!
* Fought the English and dominion forces to a standstill at Gallipoli.
* Defeated a large British Indian army at Al Kut [modern day Iraq].
Under the senior command of German officers such as Liman von Sanders and Colmar von der Goltz the Turkish soldier comported themselves favorably on the battlefield of the Great War.
The Ottoman at least prior to Megiddo found themselves in a somewhat favorable position with regard to peace talks and negotiation. Capitulation and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire was not considered until the destruction of the Turkish army group at Megiddo?
The defeat of the Turk as cataclysmic as it was a catalyst without question [?], Ataturk from the Turkish perspective surveying the damage and knowing that drastic change was not only needed but mandated
With Megiddo, the Ottoman "gone with the wind" so to speak. An ancient and very old tradition of five hundred years of empire gone irrevocably and forever!!
coolbert.
Australian Peel.
This is coolbert:
Thanks to FM 7-93 Appendix J from GlobalSecurity and the tip as from discussion with Deke, we have an immediate battle drill for small unit action, patrols, quite often long range surveillance or combat intelligence gathering missions that involve BREAKING CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY AND DOING SO IN AN EXPEDITIOUS AND RAPID MANNER. Thwarting further pursuit a main goal.
The Australian Peel. Also called the Australian Drill!!
A small-unit drill troops breaking contact with the enemy an integral part of the drill throwing a hand grenade or using munitions to expedite the process!
(8) An alternate method to break contact from the front or rear is the Australian peel.
"The assistant team leader or the last member throws a hand grenade (fragmentary)."
"team members can also use CS, white phosphorus, or smoke to cover withdrawal."
"the team can emplace a Claymore mine."
"a mine with a time-delay fuze to slow the enemy."
Thwarting pursuit using even perhaps by the use of a special hand grenade [called a munition which suggests something more robust?] designed specifically for the purpose.
M86 Pursuit Deterrent Munition (PDM). This PDM was a new one on me!
"This munition is employed primarily by Special Operations Forces [SF] to support hit-and-run, ambush, harassing, and urban warfare missions. PDM is also employed by Infantry, Light Combat Engineers, and Rangers where mission warrants the use of this device. The PDM is used as a deterrent by special-operations forces (SOF) and in operations where units may be pursued by an enemy force".
"Several activated PDMs dropped behind withdrawing SF [Special Forces] elements would create an obstacle: The pursuing enemy forces would either take casualties, stop and breach the mined area or divert their route. Any of these options would give the SF unite time to break contact."
When flung the PDM deploys [shoots out?] trailing wires, a number of them, that function as a trip wire. Someone stumbling over the wire, any of those wires sets off the munition with disastrous results for the adversary. A land mine on the surface you do not have to step upon to set off. This PDM is "smart too". Can be set to de-activate after a pre-set time!
CAN BE FLUNG!! This PDM was a new one on me! Attempting to fight a delaying action, even for a small sized unit, a patrol or long range surveillance, especially during hours of darkness, can be very dangerous and difficult to do well? This device simplifies the matter or at any rate gives the patrol a fighting chance to evade and elude the enemy and do so with a good degree of confidence that their action will be successful!
coolbert.
Thanks to FM 7-93 Appendix J from GlobalSecurity and the tip as from discussion with Deke, we have an immediate battle drill for small unit action, patrols, quite often long range surveillance or combat intelligence gathering missions that involve BREAKING CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY AND DOING SO IN AN EXPEDITIOUS AND RAPID MANNER. Thwarting further pursuit a main goal.
The Australian Peel. Also called the Australian Drill!!
A small-unit drill troops breaking contact with the enemy an integral part of the drill throwing a hand grenade or using munitions to expedite the process!
(8) An alternate method to break contact from the front or rear is the Australian peel.
"The assistant team leader or the last member throws a hand grenade (fragmentary)."
"team members can also use CS, white phosphorus, or smoke to cover withdrawal."
"the team can emplace a Claymore mine."
"a mine with a time-delay fuze to slow the enemy."
Thwarting pursuit using even perhaps by the use of a special hand grenade [called a munition which suggests something more robust?] designed specifically for the purpose.
M86 Pursuit Deterrent Munition (PDM). This PDM was a new one on me!
"This munition is employed primarily by Special Operations Forces [SF] to support hit-and-run, ambush, harassing, and urban warfare missions. PDM is also employed by Infantry, Light Combat Engineers, and Rangers where mission warrants the use of this device. The PDM is used as a deterrent by special-operations forces (SOF) and in operations where units may be pursued by an enemy force".
"Several activated PDMs dropped behind withdrawing SF [Special Forces] elements would create an obstacle: The pursuing enemy forces would either take casualties, stop and breach the mined area or divert their route. Any of these options would give the SF unite time to break contact."
When flung the PDM deploys [shoots out?] trailing wires, a number of them, that function as a trip wire. Someone stumbling over the wire, any of those wires sets off the munition with disastrous results for the adversary. A land mine on the surface you do not have to step upon to set off. This PDM is "smart too". Can be set to de-activate after a pre-set time!
CAN BE FLUNG!! This PDM was a new one on me! Attempting to fight a delaying action, even for a small sized unit, a patrol or long range surveillance, especially during hours of darkness, can be very dangerous and difficult to do well? This device simplifies the matter or at any rate gives the patrol a fighting chance to evade and elude the enemy and do so with a good degree of confidence that their action will be successful!
coolbert.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Cavalry!
This is coolbert:
As Bryan Perrett author of "Megiddo 1918: The Last Great Cavalry Victory (Campaign)" or even Jill, Duchess of Hamilton would be quite willing to admit, cavalry on the battlefield was used extensively during the Russian Civil War, 1918-1922.
Megiddo represents the last large scale usage of cavalry in the classical manner, but NOT the last use of cavalry period.
From Inside Soviet Military Intelligence by the Soviet era defector Victor Suvorov [Vladimir Rezun]:
In the sprint of 1918 . . . the diversionary intelligence service came into being. These diversionary detachments reported to the intelligence chiefs of fronts, armies, corps and sometimes divisions and were called the 'cavalry of special assignments'. Formed from the best cavalrymen in the Army, they dressed in the uniform of the enemy and were used to carry out deep raids in the enemy's rear, to take prisoners - - especially staff officers - - to collect information on enemy positions and activities and to undermine and sometimes physically destroy the enemy's command structure . . . In 1920, on the Polish Front, on the staff of the Soviet forces, there was a separate cavalry brigade for 'special assignements' with a strength of more than two thousand cavalrymen,m and this was on top of several regiments and separate squadrons."
Intelligence gathering, diversionary action, etc. There WAS indeed a role for cavalry for the entire duration of the Russian Civil War, that famous commander of the Red Army the theorist Mikhail Frunze in his writings seeing a continued need and role for cavalry even after that era of the Great War..
coolbert.
As Bryan Perrett author of "Megiddo 1918: The Last Great Cavalry Victory (Campaign)" or even Jill, Duchess of Hamilton would be quite willing to admit, cavalry on the battlefield was used extensively during the Russian Civil War, 1918-1922.
Megiddo represents the last large scale usage of cavalry in the classical manner, but NOT the last use of cavalry period.
From Inside Soviet Military Intelligence by the Soviet era defector Victor Suvorov [Vladimir Rezun]:
In the sprint of 1918 . . . the diversionary intelligence service came into being. These diversionary detachments reported to the intelligence chiefs of fronts, armies, corps and sometimes divisions and were called the 'cavalry of special assignments'. Formed from the best cavalrymen in the Army, they dressed in the uniform of the enemy and were used to carry out deep raids in the enemy's rear, to take prisoners - - especially staff officers - - to collect information on enemy positions and activities and to undermine and sometimes physically destroy the enemy's command structure . . . In 1920, on the Polish Front, on the staff of the Soviet forces, there was a separate cavalry brigade for 'special assignements' with a strength of more than two thousand cavalrymen,m and this was on top of several regiments and separate squadrons."
Intelligence gathering, diversionary action, etc. There WAS indeed a role for cavalry for the entire duration of the Russian Civil War, that famous commander of the Red Army the theorist Mikhail Frunze in his writings seeing a continued need and role for cavalry even after that era of the Great War..
coolbert.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Hamilton.
This is coolbert:
From a comment to the blog entry concerning the 2nd Lancers:
"I would be grateful if you can tell me where else can I read more about the battle, as it is definitely an interesting battle to read about from a cavalry officers point of view"
Go here and see these items:
1. "Megiddo 1918: The Last Great Cavalry Victory" by Bryan Perrett.
And this too:
2. "First to Damascus" by Jill, Duchess of Hamilton.
The father of Jill, Duchess of Hamilton actually fought and rode with the cavalry during the Palestine campaign. Jill, Duchess of Hamilton evidently has a deep and abiding interest in that part of the world, events past and present. Jill, Duchess of Hamilton writes very good military history, in the same category as a Barbara Tuchman? That pdf document down loadable for FREE! Keep and read at your leisure.
In addition from the home page of Jill, Duchess of Hamilton we find the various FREE e-books you can download - - Her latest articles and Her latest books demonstrative of a protean and far reaching intellect that cannot fail to impress.
coolbert.
From a comment to the blog entry concerning the 2nd Lancers:
"I would be grateful if you can tell me where else can I read more about the battle, as it is definitely an interesting battle to read about from a cavalry officers point of view"
Go here and see these items:
1. "Megiddo 1918: The Last Great Cavalry Victory" by Bryan Perrett.
And this too:
2. "First to Damascus" by Jill, Duchess of Hamilton.
The father of Jill, Duchess of Hamilton actually fought and rode with the cavalry during the Palestine campaign. Jill, Duchess of Hamilton evidently has a deep and abiding interest in that part of the world, events past and present. Jill, Duchess of Hamilton writes very good military history, in the same category as a Barbara Tuchman? That pdf document down loadable for FREE! Keep and read at your leisure.
In addition from the home page of Jill, Duchess of Hamilton we find the various FREE e-books you can download - - Her latest articles and Her latest books demonstrative of a protean and far reaching intellect that cannot fail to impress.
coolbert.
ASAS.
This is coolbert:
This headline from intelNews.org is surprising? Thanks to Joseph:
"Australian special forces secretly operating in Africa, says newspaper"
" [it is alleged that] a secret Australian special forces squadron has been illegally conducting espionage operations in several African countries during the past year . . . the 4 Squadron of Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) has been deployed in 'dozens of secret operations' during the past 12 months, in countries such as Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Members of 4 Squadron have been operating dressed in civilian clothing, carrying forged identity papers, and with strict instructions to deny any connection with SASR if captured"
If indeed this is true, my instantaneous reaction is that this is some sort of proxy operation for other parties! ABCA is at work here? Australian, British, Canadian, American! That informal [?] military organization that little is spoken and about which little is known. ABCA as organized from that era directly in the aftermath of the Second World War [WW2]!
That ASAS is analogous to the the British Special Air Service [SAS] and the American Green Berets! Undercover espionage operations using military personnel wearing civilian dress is more a French type of "thing"? This is all unclear.
And is called ILLEGAL! I am not sure that if the Australian PM authorizes that this is illegal. To find Australian military outside of their normal sphere of influence and operating area such as Africa indeed does raise eyebrows? Again, this is all ALLEGED!
coolbert.
This headline from intelNews.org is surprising? Thanks to Joseph:
"Australian special forces secretly operating in Africa, says newspaper"
" [it is alleged that] a secret Australian special forces squadron has been illegally conducting espionage operations in several African countries during the past year . . . the 4 Squadron of Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) has been deployed in 'dozens of secret operations' during the past 12 months, in countries such as Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Members of 4 Squadron have been operating dressed in civilian clothing, carrying forged identity papers, and with strict instructions to deny any connection with SASR if captured"
If indeed this is true, my instantaneous reaction is that this is some sort of proxy operation for other parties! ABCA is at work here? Australian, British, Canadian, American! That informal [?] military organization that little is spoken and about which little is known. ABCA as organized from that era directly in the aftermath of the Second World War [WW2]!
That ASAS is analogous to the the British Special Air Service [SAS] and the American Green Berets! Undercover espionage operations using military personnel wearing civilian dress is more a French type of "thing"? This is all unclear.
And is called ILLEGAL! I am not sure that if the Australian PM authorizes that this is illegal. To find Australian military outside of their normal sphere of influence and operating area such as Africa indeed does raise eyebrows? Again, this is all ALLEGED!
coolbert.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Light Horse.
This is coolbert:
With regard to the Battle of Megiddo, the breakthrough offensive and the pursuit of the Turk, those of you interested will want to download this pdf document from the Internet and save, reading at your leisure.
Thanks in all cases to Jill, the Duchess of Hamilton!
"First to Damascus"
"The Story of the Australian Light Horse and Lawrence of Arabia"
As authored by Jill, Duchess of Hamilton
From the dedication by the Duchess:
"My father owned a horse in Egypt. It carried him from the shadow of the Pyramids, across the deserts to Palestine and to the fringes of one of the last great cavalry feats in the history of warfare. This book is dedicated to that horse – and to the50,000 horses shipped from the Australian bush to Egypt, Palestine and Syria in the First World War, under the care of Banjo Paterson, never to return"
Banjo Patterson of course the great poet of Australian fame, "The Man From Snowy Mountain", etc.
Extolling the life of the stock man and those living rough in the bush, the hard life of the horseman, the breaker, etc. Patterson too during both the Boer War and the Great War mustering horses for the Australian military, an expert of repute was Banjo!
This too from the book, that Waler horse as ridden by the Australian mounted troop during that pursuit of the Turk:
"Most of the horses were ‘Walers’ – tough Arab crosses, with strong necks, short backs and the small hooves of desert-bred horses. A little bigger than Arab horses, they stood about fifteen to sixteen hands. Originally they were sired by an English thoroughbred from breeding mares, and were said to be part draughthorse. They had a well-deserved reputation for having similar endurance to the legendary Cossack ponies, and tens of thousands had been exported to India since the 1830s. Favoured as stock horses and cavalry remounts, they were named after the state in which they were originally sired and raised, New South Wales."
The Duchess no stranger either to war, having been a correspondent covering the Vietnam War, intimate with the military and military operations so it seems!
coolbert.
With regard to the Battle of Megiddo, the breakthrough offensive and the pursuit of the Turk, those of you interested will want to download this pdf document from the Internet and save, reading at your leisure.
Thanks in all cases to Jill, the Duchess of Hamilton!
"First to Damascus"
"The Story of the Australian Light Horse and Lawrence of Arabia"
As authored by Jill, Duchess of Hamilton
From the dedication by the Duchess:
"My father owned a horse in Egypt. It carried him from the shadow of the Pyramids, across the deserts to Palestine and to the fringes of one of the last great cavalry feats in the history of warfare. This book is dedicated to that horse – and to the50,000 horses shipped from the Australian bush to Egypt, Palestine and Syria in the First World War, under the care of Banjo Paterson, never to return"
Banjo Patterson of course the great poet of Australian fame, "The Man From Snowy Mountain", etc.
Extolling the life of the stock man and those living rough in the bush, the hard life of the horseman, the breaker, etc. Patterson too during both the Boer War and the Great War mustering horses for the Australian military, an expert of repute was Banjo!
This too from the book, that Waler horse as ridden by the Australian mounted troop during that pursuit of the Turk:
"Most of the horses were ‘Walers’ – tough Arab crosses, with strong necks, short backs and the small hooves of desert-bred horses. A little bigger than Arab horses, they stood about fifteen to sixteen hands. Originally they were sired by an English thoroughbred from breeding mares, and were said to be part draughthorse. They had a well-deserved reputation for having similar endurance to the legendary Cossack ponies, and tens of thousands had been exported to India since the 1830s. Favoured as stock horses and cavalry remounts, they were named after the state in which they were originally sired and raised, New South Wales."
The Duchess no stranger either to war, having been a correspondent covering the Vietnam War, intimate with the military and military operations so it seems!
coolbert.
Leopard!
This is coolbert:
Flak trap!
From the earliest days [1965] of the American aerial bombardment and offensive against North Vietnam, the American Air Force not faring well, meeting unexpected resistance and looking very bad in the process.
Encountering the Soviet SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile [SAM] for the first time, the USAF demonstrating a lack of preparedness that must have startled a lot of high ranking officials. And the aftermath even much worse!!
Thanks to the book: Clashes: Air Combat Over North Vietnam, 1965-1972" - - By Marshall L. Michel, III.
"USAF"On July 24, 1965, Leopard, a flight of four Air Force F-4's, was in the area of the of the SA-2 site when the site's Fan Song radar locked on . . . despite [a] warning SA-2's hit the F-4 formation, downing Leopard 2 and damaging the other three f-4's. After the loss permission was given to attack several sites; three days later a strike force of F-105's made an ill-advised low-level attack on two missile sites . . . Only one site was occupied; the other site a was a flak trap whose AAA tore into the American strike. Six F-105's were lost, and the sites essentially were undamaged."
That radar site and missiles removed by the North Vietnamese in anticipation of a USAF retaliatory air strike, a false emitting radar left in place, the area saturated with AAA [anti-aircraft-artillery], A TRAP THAT WORKED! AN ENTIRE USAF AIR WING THAT STRIKE FORCE OF FORTY-EIGHT F-105 SENT TO DESTROY A BOGUS SAM SITE, RATHER THAT WING SUFFERING EVEN GREATER LOSSES IN THE PROCESS!!
Please do not think, however, that the USAF was ALONE in the mistake of flying large formations of tactical bomber aircraft into flak traps! The United States Navy [USN] aviation too was guilty of the same!
"on the night of August 11-12 [1965] the Navy lost an A-4 to a SAM. Permission was given to attack this particular installation, and two days later the Navy repeated the Air force's mistake by sending a large strike force to find and attack the site. Not only did the attackers not find the SAM Site, but North Vietnamese guns in the area shot down six of the Navy aircraft."
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me?
I am not sure what the highest level of civilian leadership must have thought of such ineptitude? Is this the correct work - - ineptitude? The American military aviation at the time would have been perceived to be more or less omnipotent and not susceptible to such poorly executed missions with disastrous results?
But it was so!
coolbert.
Flak trap!
From the earliest days [1965] of the American aerial bombardment and offensive against North Vietnam, the American Air Force not faring well, meeting unexpected resistance and looking very bad in the process.
Encountering the Soviet SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile [SAM] for the first time, the USAF demonstrating a lack of preparedness that must have startled a lot of high ranking officials. And the aftermath even much worse!!
Thanks to the book: Clashes: Air Combat Over North Vietnam, 1965-1972" - - By Marshall L. Michel, III.
"USAF"On July 24, 1965, Leopard, a flight of four Air Force F-4's, was in the area of the of the SA-2 site when the site's Fan Song radar locked on . . . despite [a] warning SA-2's hit the F-4 formation, downing Leopard 2 and damaging the other three f-4's. After the loss permission was given to attack several sites; three days later a strike force of F-105's made an ill-advised low-level attack on two missile sites . . . Only one site was occupied; the other site a was a flak trap whose AAA tore into the American strike. Six F-105's were lost, and the sites essentially were undamaged."
That radar site and missiles removed by the North Vietnamese in anticipation of a USAF retaliatory air strike, a false emitting radar left in place, the area saturated with AAA [anti-aircraft-artillery], A TRAP THAT WORKED! AN ENTIRE USAF AIR WING THAT STRIKE FORCE OF FORTY-EIGHT F-105 SENT TO DESTROY A BOGUS SAM SITE, RATHER THAT WING SUFFERING EVEN GREATER LOSSES IN THE PROCESS!!
Please do not think, however, that the USAF was ALONE in the mistake of flying large formations of tactical bomber aircraft into flak traps! The United States Navy [USN] aviation too was guilty of the same!
"on the night of August 11-12 [1965] the Navy lost an A-4 to a SAM. Permission was given to attack this particular installation, and two days later the Navy repeated the Air force's mistake by sending a large strike force to find and attack the site. Not only did the attackers not find the SAM Site, but North Vietnamese guns in the area shot down six of the Navy aircraft."
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me?
I am not sure what the highest level of civilian leadership must have thought of such ineptitude? Is this the correct work - - ineptitude? The American military aviation at the time would have been perceived to be more or less omnipotent and not susceptible to such poorly executed missions with disastrous results?
But it was so!
coolbert.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
2nd Lancers.
This is coolbert:
Here with a response to a Military Thoughts blog entry by anonymous from way back when:
"Australian cavalry fought at meggido but it was the Indian cavalry which captured the musmus pass"
And this is absolutely 100 % correct. The vital Mus mus pass captured by the cavalry of the British Indian Army, the 2nd Lancers having the honor. As it was in the days of the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose 3,400 years earlier, so it was with the Indian Lancers in 1918!!
The overall commander of the Ottoman forces, Liman von Sanders realizing the importance of Mus mus pass and detailing a significant contingent for the defense thereof:
"a total of six [infantry] companies and 12 machine guns."
That capture of Mus mus again an accomplishment of the 2nd Lancers, on the attack, a critical objective of major importance. From the book:
"Megiddo 1918: The Last Great Cavalry Victory" - - By Bryan Perrett.
"The Capture of Mus mus Pass, 21 September 1918."
"Major-General Barrow's 4th Cavalry Division had been given the responsibility of securing the Mus mus Pass, the 2nd Lancers, under the command of 30-year-old Captain DS. Davison, were to lead the assault."
Mus mus pass captured with little loss to the attacking force, the Turk suffering numerous men SPEARED BY THE LANCERS IN A MANNER AS MIGHT HAVE BEEN SEEN LAST DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA!!
From: "Armageddon 1918", Cyril Falls..
". . . Forty six were speared and virtually all the rest, numbering 470, were taken prisoners. On their side the lancers had only a single man wounded..."
The Battle of Megiddo and the pursuit of the Ottoman forces AN EXTENSIVE USE OF CAVALRY THE LIKES OF WHICH ARE NEVER AGAIN TO BE SEEN IN WARFARE?
coolbert.
Here with a response to a Military Thoughts blog entry by anonymous from way back when:
"Australian cavalry fought at meggido but it was the Indian cavalry which captured the musmus pass"
And this is absolutely 100 % correct. The vital Mus mus pass captured by the cavalry of the British Indian Army, the 2nd Lancers having the honor. As it was in the days of the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose 3,400 years earlier, so it was with the Indian Lancers in 1918!!
The overall commander of the Ottoman forces, Liman von Sanders realizing the importance of Mus mus pass and detailing a significant contingent for the defense thereof:
"a total of six [infantry] companies and 12 machine guns."
That capture of Mus mus again an accomplishment of the 2nd Lancers, on the attack, a critical objective of major importance. From the book:
"Megiddo 1918: The Last Great Cavalry Victory" - - By Bryan Perrett.
"The Capture of Mus mus Pass, 21 September 1918."
"Major-General Barrow's 4th Cavalry Division had been given the responsibility of securing the Mus mus Pass, the 2nd Lancers, under the command of 30-year-old Captain DS. Davison, were to lead the assault."
Mus mus pass captured with little loss to the attacking force, the Turk suffering numerous men SPEARED BY THE LANCERS IN A MANNER AS MIGHT HAVE BEEN SEEN LAST DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA!!
From: "Armageddon 1918", Cyril Falls..
". . . Forty six were speared and virtually all the rest, numbering 470, were taken prisoners. On their side the lancers had only a single man wounded..."
The Battle of Megiddo and the pursuit of the Ottoman forces AN EXTENSIVE USE OF CAVALRY THE LIKES OF WHICH ARE NEVER AGAIN TO BE SEEN IN WARFARE?
coolbert.
Kony!
This is coolbert:
Who would have ever thought such a thing to be so? But it is.
The saga, deplorable as it is - - of Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army [LRA] - - now a hot button item on the Internet.
"three Southern California filmmakers returned from Africa and released a documentary on the children forced to fight under Kony's leadership."
Thanks to nbcNEWS:
"'Kony 2012' Campaign Against Uganda Warlord Takes Over Internet"
A thirty minute YouTube video now with 7 million "hits" just during the first day. Chronicling the over two decade saga of Joseph and his LRA contingent, Joseph and his cohorts spreading much mayhem and misery over large portions of central Africa.
Joseph as we speak in the cross-hairs of American Special Forces advisers, the hope being that the villain Joseph can be finally and once-and-for-all run to ground and his potentiality for evil-doing eliminated.
[don't count Joseph out yet. The man has an undeniable staying-power! Puts together that proper combination of African juju, Christian mysticism and now reputedly Islamic fundamentalism that works well in that part of the world!!]
The pestilence of Joseph and the LRA will be finally eradicated? This remains to be seen!
P.S. This video has become what they call "viral" and has gained a viewing audience beyond any other such item on the World Wide Web EVER!!
coolbert.
Who would have ever thought such a thing to be so? But it is.
The saga, deplorable as it is - - of Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army [LRA] - - now a hot button item on the Internet.
"three Southern California filmmakers returned from Africa and released a documentary on the children forced to fight under Kony's leadership."
Thanks to nbcNEWS:
"'Kony 2012' Campaign Against Uganda Warlord Takes Over Internet"
A thirty minute YouTube video now with 7 million "hits" just during the first day. Chronicling the over two decade saga of Joseph and his LRA contingent, Joseph and his cohorts spreading much mayhem and misery over large portions of central Africa.
Joseph as we speak in the cross-hairs of American Special Forces advisers, the hope being that the villain Joseph can be finally and once-and-for-all run to ground and his potentiality for evil-doing eliminated.
[don't count Joseph out yet. The man has an undeniable staying-power! Puts together that proper combination of African juju, Christian mysticism and now reputedly Islamic fundamentalism that works well in that part of the world!!]
The pestilence of Joseph and the LRA will be finally eradicated? This remains to be seen!
P.S. This video has become what they call "viral" and has gained a viewing audience beyond any other such item on the World Wide Web EVER!!
coolbert.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Bach-Zelewski & Model.
This is coolbert:
It is generally recognized that the German high ranking officer of the Second World War [WW2] was highly adept and displayed considerable proficiency when:
1. Employing with effectiveness in combat ad hoc units.
2. Containing and defeating an enemy breakthrough offensive [a rupture of defenses].
That German WW2 combat commander most skilled at creating and using with effectiveness ad hoc units in combat Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski.
Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski.
"General of the Higher SS and Police Leader Corps, responsible for anti-partisan warfare on the Eastern Front during World War Two."
"Highly regarded by Hitler for his brutality and improvisational skills – he was able to conjure armies out of very unpromising material, he ended the war as an Army Commander."
Ad hoc units for instance - - a division [a combat division in name only, in actuality much reduced in size] consisting of perhaps a regimental sized detachment of trained and experienced infantry bolstered by a battalion each of: Hitler Youth, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine comb-outs, Volksturm over-age soldiers, and a company [battery] each of armor and artillery!
That German military commander most adept and proficient at containing and subsequently defeating an enemy breakthrough offensive Walther Model. Model the archetype of the skilled combat commander on the defensive working almost miracles on the battlefield albeit in a harsh and unremitting manner.
"Otto Moritz Walter Model . . . was a German general and later field marshal during World War II. He is noted for his defensive battles . . . best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare."
"[he was] repeatedly tasked him with retrieving desperate situations"
Contain the breakthrough, plug the rupture in the defensive lines, destroy the attacking enemy force, stabilize the situation, bring order out of chaos. For this Model is the epitome without equal during WW2.
Bach-Zelewskid and Model both fervent followers of the fascist cause, devoted unto the end. Bach-Zelewski also a commander of Einsatzgruppen on the Eastern Front during WW2, responsible for the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of Red Army commissars, Jews and partisans. WAS NOT punished post-war, his testimony in return for immunity from prosecution.
coolbert.
It is generally recognized that the German high ranking officer of the Second World War [WW2] was highly adept and displayed considerable proficiency when:
1. Employing with effectiveness in combat ad hoc units.
2. Containing and defeating an enemy breakthrough offensive [a rupture of defenses].
That German WW2 combat commander most skilled at creating and using with effectiveness ad hoc units in combat Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski.
Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski.
"General of the Higher SS and Police Leader Corps, responsible for anti-partisan warfare on the Eastern Front during World War Two."
"Highly regarded by Hitler for his brutality and improvisational skills – he was able to conjure armies out of very unpromising material, he ended the war as an Army Commander."
Ad hoc units for instance - - a division [a combat division in name only, in actuality much reduced in size] consisting of perhaps a regimental sized detachment of trained and experienced infantry bolstered by a battalion each of: Hitler Youth, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine comb-outs, Volksturm over-age soldiers, and a company [battery] each of armor and artillery!
That German military commander most adept and proficient at containing and subsequently defeating an enemy breakthrough offensive Walther Model. Model the archetype of the skilled combat commander on the defensive working almost miracles on the battlefield albeit in a harsh and unremitting manner.
"Otto Moritz Walter Model . . . was a German general and later field marshal during World War II. He is noted for his defensive battles . . . best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare."
"[he was] repeatedly tasked him with retrieving desperate situations"
Contain the breakthrough, plug the rupture in the defensive lines, destroy the attacking enemy force, stabilize the situation, bring order out of chaos. For this Model is the epitome without equal during WW2.
Bach-Zelewskid and Model both fervent followers of the fascist cause, devoted unto the end. Bach-Zelewski also a commander of Einsatzgruppen on the Eastern Front during WW2, responsible for the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of Red Army commissars, Jews and partisans. WAS NOT punished post-war, his testimony in return for immunity from prosecution.
coolbert.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Big Bang!
This is coolbert:
Thanks here to the Daily Beast and the BBC:
ONLY from today we have a spontaneous ammunition depot detonation, the big bang on the order of a minor tactical nuclear weapon, the results horrendous.
"Huge Blast at Arms Dump in Congo"
"A munitions dump in the Congo’s capital, Brazzaville, exploded Sunday, and the huge blast killed at least 200 people . . . Some 1,500 people could be injured, many of them seriously. The explosion may have been caused by a fire in the arms depot, according to the country’s defense minister."
Explosions of this type during war time not uncommon, but much less so during peace time. It is not clear if this disaster in the Congo is the result on single 'big bang" or a series of explosions. And too for a nation such as the Congo poverty stricken as it I find it peculiar that so much dangerous and in quantity explosive ordnance would be gathered in just one place
Munitions ships while at anchorage during both the Great War [WW1] and the Second World War [WW2] spontaneously detonating with catastrophic results in all cases the same as if a tactical nuclear weapon had gone off the presence of that mushroom cloud of major proportions indicating a big bang of monumental scale: 1, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, WW1. 2. The USS Mt. Hood, South Pacific, WW2. 3. Robert Rowan, Gela, Sicily, Italy WW2.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, the WW1 munitions ship Mt. Blanc detonation producing the largest man-made explosion prior to the atomic bombs as dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
USS Mt. Hood.
Robert Rowan (Ship K-40) at Gela, Sicily.
The Port Chicago disaster occurring as it did during hours of darkness so only images of the aftermath as horrific as they are exist? This seems to be so.
coolbert.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Fog of War!
This is coolbert:
In this particular case the "crystal" is radar blips, sonar sounds, phosphorescent torpedo traces, etc.
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident. From 1964. American warships on the high seas attacked by motor torpedo boats of the North Vietnamese Navy. Attacks, one absolutely confirmed during hours of daylight, a second alleged during hours of darkness, the U.S. Congress in the aftermath authorizing President Johnson to use force as deemed necessary to protect American interests in SE Asia. FOR ALL THAT MEANT IN THE YEARS TO FOLLOW - - THE SECOND INDO-CHINA WAR!!
IT IS INDISPUTABLE THAT AMERICAN WARSHIPS DURING HOURS OF DAYLIGHT DID SUSTAIN ATTACK BY NORTH VIETNAMESE TORPEDO BOATS! THAT IS NOT IN DISPUTE!
What is in dispute and to a degree was in dispute at the time [1964] was the second attack, occurring during hours of darkness as alleged.
Controversial to an extent at the time, in hindsight attacks THOUGHT TO HAVE OCCURRED even if based upon specious evidence!
Specious evidence such as:
1. The phosphorescent wakes of torpedoes were seen, or were they NOT seen!
2. Unmistakable radar blips indicating the American warships were under attack or radar blips were seen and misinterpreted!
3. Sonar operators reported hearing torpedoes in the water or did NOT hear torpedoes in the water.
Those naval officers and crew of the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy obviously on edge and jittery, knowing full well that just some hours previously they HAD BEEN in the cross hairs of North Vietnamese torpedo attack.
The further nighttime attack, alleged, is best understood in what is commonly described as the "Fog of War", those uncertainties under which the military man in a chaotic situation perceives and interprets his surroundings:
"The fog of war is a term used to describe the uncertainty in situation awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign."
"War is an area of uncertainty; three quarters of the things on which all action in War is based on are lying in a fog of uncertainty to a greater or lesser extent. The first thing (needed) here is a fine, piercing mind, to feel the truth with the measure of its judgment." - - Clausewitz.
"The great uncertainty of all data in war is a peculiar difficulty, because all action must, to a certain extent, be planned in a mere twilight, which in addition not infrequently — like the effect of a fog or moonlight — gives to things exaggerated dimensions and unnatural appearance." - - Clausewitz
The perception which became reality based upon evidence seen with hindsight as spurious and probably misleading was that the Maddox and Turner Joy HAD BEEN ATTACKED FOR A SECOND TIME, DURING HOURS OF DARKNESS, CONTACT WITH THE ADVERSARY INFERRED BUT NOT ABSOLUTELY 100 % VERIFIED!!
In this case perception became reality and was acted upon, with the results speaking for themselves
Comments:
* The National Command Authority [NCA] to include President Johnson at that exact moment given the evidence as was presented to them were not guilty of fabrication or prevarication? Did honestly believe that a second attack during hours of darkness did indeed occur.
* The consequences of these errant reports and judgement were most extreme? The entire episode of increased American escalation allowing combat forces to engage in an offensive manner and not merely defensive lead to circumstances that are being debated even forty or more years later!!
* I would be lacking and remiss if not to mention that prior to the daylight attack both American warships had been engaged in a combat support mission in support of a South Vietnamese raid on North Vietnamese territory and could have been deemed as justifiable targets for attack!!
coolbert.
"'In this treacherous world Nothing is the truth nor a lie. Everything depends on the color Of the crystal through which one sees it'” ― Pedro Calderón de la Barca.
In this particular case the "crystal" is radar blips, sonar sounds, phosphorescent torpedo traces, etc.
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident. From 1964. American warships on the high seas attacked by motor torpedo boats of the North Vietnamese Navy. Attacks, one absolutely confirmed during hours of daylight, a second alleged during hours of darkness, the U.S. Congress in the aftermath authorizing President Johnson to use force as deemed necessary to protect American interests in SE Asia. FOR ALL THAT MEANT IN THE YEARS TO FOLLOW - - THE SECOND INDO-CHINA WAR!!
IT IS INDISPUTABLE THAT AMERICAN WARSHIPS DURING HOURS OF DAYLIGHT DID SUSTAIN ATTACK BY NORTH VIETNAMESE TORPEDO BOATS! THAT IS NOT IN DISPUTE!
What is in dispute and to a degree was in dispute at the time [1964] was the second attack, occurring during hours of darkness as alleged.
Controversial to an extent at the time, in hindsight attacks THOUGHT TO HAVE OCCURRED even if based upon specious evidence!
Specious evidence such as:
1. The phosphorescent wakes of torpedoes were seen, or were they NOT seen!
2. Unmistakable radar blips indicating the American warships were under attack or radar blips were seen and misinterpreted!
3. Sonar operators reported hearing torpedoes in the water or did NOT hear torpedoes in the water.
Those naval officers and crew of the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy obviously on edge and jittery, knowing full well that just some hours previously they HAD BEEN in the cross hairs of North Vietnamese torpedo attack.
The further nighttime attack, alleged, is best understood in what is commonly described as the "Fog of War", those uncertainties under which the military man in a chaotic situation perceives and interprets his surroundings:
"The fog of war is a term used to describe the uncertainty in situation awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign."
"War is an area of uncertainty; three quarters of the things on which all action in War is based on are lying in a fog of uncertainty to a greater or lesser extent. The first thing (needed) here is a fine, piercing mind, to feel the truth with the measure of its judgment." - - Clausewitz.
"The great uncertainty of all data in war is a peculiar difficulty, because all action must, to a certain extent, be planned in a mere twilight, which in addition not infrequently — like the effect of a fog or moonlight — gives to things exaggerated dimensions and unnatural appearance." - - Clausewitz
The perception which became reality based upon evidence seen with hindsight as spurious and probably misleading was that the Maddox and Turner Joy HAD BEEN ATTACKED FOR A SECOND TIME, DURING HOURS OF DARKNESS, CONTACT WITH THE ADVERSARY INFERRED BUT NOT ABSOLUTELY 100 % VERIFIED!!
In this case perception became reality and was acted upon, with the results speaking for themselves
Comments:
* The National Command Authority [NCA] to include President Johnson at that exact moment given the evidence as was presented to them were not guilty of fabrication or prevarication? Did honestly believe that a second attack during hours of darkness did indeed occur.
* The consequences of these errant reports and judgement were most extreme? The entire episode of increased American escalation allowing combat forces to engage in an offensive manner and not merely defensive lead to circumstances that are being debated even forty or more years later!!
* I would be lacking and remiss if not to mention that prior to the daylight attack both American warships had been engaged in a combat support mission in support of a South Vietnamese raid on North Vietnamese territory and could have been deemed as justifiable targets for attack!!
coolbert.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Christie.
This is coolbert:
Thanks to Google books and the original entries from Popular Science, as reported from decades ago now, the Christie suspension, as demonstrated by the man [J. Walter Christie] himself. Innovative designs which made the military tank a do-able battlefield weapon.
1. "New War Tank Jumps Ditches"
2. "Army Sees Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Tank"
[160 kilometers per hour to be exact]
3. "New Giant Tanks . . ."
4. "Flying Tanks"
5. "New Speedy Battle Tanks for Army"
During the Great War [WW1] the tank as deployed at that time was a contraption, a gadget, a mechanical apparatus, a curiosity and oddity of dubious utility? Subject to such breakdown that a mechanic was assigned to each crew, accompanying the tank during a mission, that mechanic merely along for the ride to maintain the engine in good working order!!
From a contingent of tanks during the era of WW1 attempting to cross and expanse of no-mans-land, ONLY ABOUT ONE-THIRD THE NUMBER WOULD MAKE THE JOURNEY AND GET TO GRIPS WITH THE ENEMY WITHOUT HAVING A MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN OF SOME SORT!!
Those tanks of Christie also able to shed the tracks and operate solely on the road wheels as deemed feasible.
This feature incorporated into the Soviet tanks of the 1930's [the BT series of tanks for instance] and IS AN ELEMENT ESSENTIAL TO THE M-DAY/ICEBREAKER THESIS OF VICTOR SUVOROV [the Soviet defector and writer Vladimir Rezun]! If and when Stalin had given the go-ahead signal to the Red Army, the attack on Nazi Germany and subsequently the rest of Europe, those BT tanks able to "shed" tracks, operate on road wheels alone, offensive military action forward greatly facilitated.
coolbert.
Thanks to Google books and the original entries from Popular Science, as reported from decades ago now, the Christie suspension, as demonstrated by the man [J. Walter Christie] himself. Innovative designs which made the military tank a do-able battlefield weapon.
1. "New War Tank Jumps Ditches"
2. "Army Sees Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Tank"
[160 kilometers per hour to be exact]
3. "New Giant Tanks . . ."
4. "Flying Tanks"
5. "New Speedy Battle Tanks for Army"
During the Great War [WW1] the tank as deployed at that time was a contraption, a gadget, a mechanical apparatus, a curiosity and oddity of dubious utility? Subject to such breakdown that a mechanic was assigned to each crew, accompanying the tank during a mission, that mechanic merely along for the ride to maintain the engine in good working order!!
From a contingent of tanks during the era of WW1 attempting to cross and expanse of no-mans-land, ONLY ABOUT ONE-THIRD THE NUMBER WOULD MAKE THE JOURNEY AND GET TO GRIPS WITH THE ENEMY WITHOUT HAVING A MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN OF SOME SORT!!
Those tanks of Christie also able to shed the tracks and operate solely on the road wheels as deemed feasible.
This feature incorporated into the Soviet tanks of the 1930's [the BT series of tanks for instance] and IS AN ELEMENT ESSENTIAL TO THE M-DAY/ICEBREAKER THESIS OF VICTOR SUVOROV [the Soviet defector and writer Vladimir Rezun]! If and when Stalin had given the go-ahead signal to the Red Army, the attack on Nazi Germany and subsequently the rest of Europe, those BT tanks able to "shed" tracks, operate on road wheels alone, offensive military action forward greatly facilitated.
coolbert.