Force-on-Force.

This is coolbert:

Begins here additional blog entries extracts with some comment from a Twitter thread as by General Mark Hertling [Ret.].

Topic battlefield casualties the Ukraine Conflict!

General Mark Hartling his career U.S. Army most distinguished. Served in a variety of combat arms capacities and commands.

RU = Russian. UKR = Ukrainian.

My comments in brackets [...].

Conversation

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

"A new stream on an unfortunate topic: battlefield deaths & casualties."

Last night, 

@ErinBurnett on  @CNN "asked me why it seemed the casualty rates on the RU side were so high."

"I didn't want to talk 'body counts,' as the numbers differ depending on who is reporting."

 · Mar 21, 2022·

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

·Mar 21

Replying to 

@MarkHertling

"So I started by reminding her that early in this fight I had predicted that the casualties incurred on a high-intensity, technology-heavy, conventional force battlefield would likely be significant...in the tens of thousands."

[LOSS OF HIGH-TECH GEAR OF ALL SORTS NOT EASILY REPLACEABLE EITHER!]

"When I first said that, it was met with surprise."  

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

·Mar 21

"But that shouldn't suprise anyone."

"The kind of fight we see in UKR is nothing like what the US army experienced in OPN Just Cause, OPN Desert Storm...& especially not what we saw in OEF & OIF."

"OEF -Afghan war, Enduring Freedeom. OIF = Iraq War Two, Iraqi Freedom."

"The 1st two were one sided affairs, the latter 2 were complex counterinsurgencies." 

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

·Mar 21

"In insurgencies, fighting is up close and personal, with rifles, some artillery, & the 'new' threat IEDs."  

"While each casualty was deeply personal for those who fought in these places, they were relatively low."

"As importantly, med support & casualty evac was excellent"

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

·Mar 21

"Soldiers had better first aid training.  There were 'combat lifesavers' aiding well-trained medics.  New type bandages to treat wounds, etc."

"The 'golden hour' for evacuation from battlefield to various levels of care was quick & effective...a standard that became a norm."

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

·Mar 21

"The skills of medevac pilots & their crews were terrific (one of my medevac crew chiefs in Iraq told me he had flown 1700 missions, and never lost a patient in flight)..."

"...and the docs/nurses at Combat Support Hospitals (CSH) and above were phenomenal." 

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

·Mar 21

"This illegal RU invasion of UKR is very different."

"It's a 'force-on-force' fight between a 'technologically advanced army' (RU) vs an army w/ less equipment, but with more heart (UKR)."

["IT IS NOT THE  SIZE OF THE DOG IN THE FIGHT BUT THE SIZE OF THE FIGHT IN THE DOG!" - - Eisenhower.]

"RU had 190k troops attacking.  UKR had 250k defending."  

"Fights were not squad vs squad."

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

·Mar 21

"On the RU side, it's hundreds of T72/T80 tanks, BMPs, BTRs, BRDM (personnel carriers), self-propelled & rocket artillery, jets, drones hundreds of support vehicles roaming the battlefield."

"On UKR side...some of the same, but also high-tech tank & aircraft weapons." 

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

·Mar 21

"From my read of the battlefield, RU's plan was filled with hubris,  lacked combined arms operations, and was dysfunctional in logistical support." 

UKR's plan was to fight RU by 'holding on to their belt-buckles,' prioritizing targets, & destroying their killers & logistics." 

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

·Mar 21

"RU used 4 axis of advance for a grand plan of a battle of annihilation (google it)."

"UKR always wanted to conduct a campaign of attrition (google this, too)."

"Both of these kinds of fights result in massive amount of battlefield casualties."

["Whether on the offense of defense you lose a lot of men!" C. Mangin, WW1.]

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* Mark Hertling

@MarkHertling

·Mar 21

"RU is likely sustaining more, based on reports of kills, their lack of casualty evacuation & an apparent lack of combat medical systems (has anyone seen a red cross painted on ANY RU vehicles yet?)."

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Inference:  * This war in contrast to an insurgency involves major combat action at an operational level, major units of division, corps and army size moving in a coordinated manner to achieve a strategic objective. * In all cases high-technology weaponry deadly accurate and most destructive. * Russian medical care for their wounded less than satisfactory. Apparently rate the Russian in this category as a POOR.

To be continued. 

coolbert.