Definitions.

This is coolbert:

From that previous blog entry:

"strategy, grand strategy or the operational art"

For clarification purposes, the definitions of what exactly constitutes "grand strategy", "strategy", and the "operational art". As would be generally agreed upon by the experts. In this particular case three Englishman, two most senior general officers and one theoretician from that era of the Great War and the Second World War. If anyone would know, be it accepted that they would.

1. Grand strategy. Those means and measures taken to harness in more or less totality the resources of the nation-state for the war effort. Also create favorable alliances with other nation-states during a time of war and commence planning for what will occur in the AFTERMATH of the war.

"[T]he role of grand strategy – higher strategy – is to co-ordinate and direct all the resources of a nation, or band of nations, towards the attainment of the political object of the war – the goal defined by fundamental policy." - -  B. H. Liddell Hart

"Grand strategy should both calculate and develop the economic resources and man-power of nations in order to sustain the fighting services. Also the moral resources – for to foster the people's willing spirit is often as important as to possess the more concrete forms of power. Grand strategy, too, should regulate the distribution of power between the several services, and between the services and industry." - -  B. H. Liddell Hart

"Furthermore, while the horizons of strategy is bounded by the war, grand strategy looks beyond the war to the subsequent peace. It should not only combine the various instruments, but so regulate their use as to avoid damage to the future state of peace – for its security and prosperity." - -  B. H. Liddell Hart.

I couldn't have said it better.

2. Strategy. Those means and measures taken by the military of a nation-state to satisfy policy as determined by the political authority. The planning of which to achieve desirable goals and objectives formulated and agreed upon by the highest military command authority.

"to derive from the [policy] aim a series of military objectives to be achieved: to assess these objectives as to the military requirements they create, and the pre-conditions which the achievement of each is likely to necessitate: to measure available and potential resources against the requirements and to chart from this process a coherent pattern of priorities and a rational course of action." - - Field -Marshal Viscount Alan Brooke.

 "Strategy is the art of distributing and applying military means, such as armed forces and supplies, to fulfil the ends of policy." - -  Field-Marshal Montgomery.

That definition of Montgomery much to be preferred over that of Alan Brooke.

3. The operational art. The movement and maneuver of units on the large scale. Corps [several divisions reinforced], armies [multiple divisions in a single grouping], groups of armies [army group or front]. Movement consisting of both combat arms and logistical support in a coordinated fashion.

"the operational level of war was conceived by the military theorists to describe the movement and logistics necessary for the coordinated concentration of many units for an offensive."

"Formations are of the operational level if they are able to conduct operational movement on their own, that is operating independently, and are of sufficient size to be directly handled or have a significant impact on the enemy's decision-making at the strategic level"

Within the context of A. Hitler as commander-in-chief making all significant war-making decisions obviously the man NOT conversant or knowledgeable in the operational art, or even understanding much less capable of formulating strategy or grand strategy!!

coolbert.

Benny Lee.

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Captured!

From the Chicago Sun Times today:

"TALLSHIPS FESITVAL"

"Charge: Felon pretended to be Air Force officer at Navy Pier"

Once more we have the regrettable story of the wannabee military man [not claiming to be a hero], the imposter, the prevaricator, the poseur'.

And perhaps in the process of impersonating an officer in the United States Air Force [USAF], also it can be suggested having a more sinister motivation.

A man innocent until proven guilty of course! [already a convicted felon it should be noted]

"When Benny Lee Butler arrived at the Tall Ships Chicago event at Navy Pier this summer, he allegedly was sporting a U.S. Air Force battle-dress, uniform with the rank of major."

[merely wearing of the uniform does constitute a crime. Wearing the uniform and CLAIMING to be a military man is a crime.]

Benny Lee not only wearing the uniform and claiming to be active duty but also in possession of fake documents, ID card and military papers what they are called.

Unmasked and now in the deep doo-doo!

"Butler said he on active duty at Scott Air Force Base in southern Illinois, but kept changing his story until he admitted he was never in the military, according to the complaint. he allegedly said he wore a uniform because he wanted 'to be like you guys' and was trying to 'fit in'."

Mr. Butler as has been noted already a convicted felon with a penchant for uniforms with the intent so it seems to use that mark of authority for very wrong reasons.

"Butler . . . previously pleaded guilty to trying to lure children into his vehicle by posing as a Chicago Police officer."

Enough said. Please Mr. Butler, stop this silliness and learn to behave. Pharmaceuticals perhaps are the answer!

coolbert.

CHASE.

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As from the DEBKAfile from about three week ago:

"A multinational fleet needed to destroy Syria's chemical arms"

"Destroying Syria's chemical weapons at sea is the only remaining option after no country would agree to host the operation of demolishing Syria's stockpile of 1,300 tonnes of toxic materials." Unable to find a nation willing to host the destruction operation of Syrian chemical munitions. NOT content with disabling the means of production of Syrian chemical munitions. NOT content with destroying those weapons systems capable of delivering Syrian chemical munitions. And the alternative is dumping in the deep ocean. Pelagic waters the final resting place? An idea that has merit. And there is PRECEDENT FOR THIS! Stockpiles as they exist loaded onto a cargo ship, taken out into those abysmal depths of the open ocean - - that merchant vessel then deliberately sunk with cargo also going to the bottom. From decades ago the CHASE program. Both conventional and chemical weapons disposed of and most controversially so when CHASE involved the dumping of NERVE agent. "Operation CHASE (Cut Holes and Sink 'Em) was a United States Department of Defense program that involved the disposal of unwanted munitions at sea from May 1964 into the early 1970s." "The disposal program involved loading old munitions onto ships which were then slated to be scuttled once they were up to 250 miles off shore. While most of the sinkings involved ships loaded with conventional weapons there were four which involved chemical weapons. The chemical weapons disposal site was a three mile (5 km) area of the Atlantic Ocean between the coast of the U.S. state of Florida and the Bahamas." "Most controversially so" nerve agents of the most deadly type dumped but contained in what is assumed to be a secure container the danger of leakage minimal. That was CHASE-10. I remember it all very well. Allegations of possible contamination of the ocean a possible so it was suggested. "CHASE 10 dumped 3,000 tons of United States Army nerve agent filled rockets encased in concrete vaults." That CHASE-10 site monitored for leakage and danger for four full decades now and so far so good, poisoning of the open ocean as far as known either negligible or even non-existent? coolbert.

Newman!

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This story described as bizarre and baffling. But not so bizarre and baffling considering the mind-set, the mentality, the attitude and fevered imagination of the North Korean.

"Palo Alto's Merrill Newman, North Korean 'prisoner of war'"

"The bizarre and baffling tale of an elderly Palo Alto man who's been detained by North Korea [DPRK] for more than a month grew even more mysterious Saturday as new details emerged about his role during the Korean War secretly training anti-communist guerrillas fighting behind enemy lines."

American retired and elderly [eighty-five] year old Korean War veteran incarcerated as a prisoner-of-war [POW] by the North Korean, sixty years after a cessation to hostilities. An armistice, a truce, a cease-fire holding, a state-of-war still nonetheless existing, Newman technically according to North Korean law [?] still an enemy combatant.

A photograph of this type particularly rankling to the DPRK. Newman posing with South Korean anti-communist partisans as from the war of sixty years ago!.

These "new details" seems to suggest that:

* Mr. Newman indeed was an American Special Forces [SF] officer during the Korean War.

* Mr. Newman indeed active in the partisan operations [guerrilla warfare] directed against the communist forces of North Korea.

* Mr. Newman indeed in continued and on-going AND OPEN communication with those South Korean veterans of that anti-communist partisan campaign.

And after having made a ten day visit [a tourist excursion?] to North Korea [DPRK], Mr. Newman taken off the airplane just prior to take-off and now held captive, having to do the ritual of confession, beg for contrition, etc.

Mr. Newman now a bargaining-chip? That North Korean dictator wants something and will use Mr. Newman as leverage?

If you are an American veteran of the Korean War, please do not make any trips to North Korea. You might find yourself in hot water and in for a very rough time NO MATTER YOUR STATUS!

coolbert.

Incompetent?

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"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” ― Napoleon.

From the Article in Armchair General "Hitler Takes Command!" by Nick Shepley:

"Shortly after the end of World War II, Lieutenant Gerneral Hasso von Manteuffel, one of Germany's most skilled field commander, was asked for his assessment of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's military competence. According to Donald Grey Brownlow's biography 'Panzer Baron', Manteuffel revealed 'Hitler had read a lot of military literature, and was also fond of listening to military lectures. In this way, coupled with his personal experience of [World War I] as an ordinary soldier, he had gained a very good knowledge of the lower level of warfare - - the properties of the different weapons, the effect of ground and weather; the mentality and morale of troops. He was particularly good in gauging how the troops felt. I found that I was hardly ever in disagreement with his view when discussing such matters. On the other hand, he had no idea of the higher strategical and tactical combinations. [Hitler] had a good grasp of how a single division moved and fought, but he did not understand how armies operated.'" [my emphasis in all cases]

There it is in the proverbial nutshell.

Hitler NOT knowledgeable in those elements of war that comprise strategy, grand strategy or the operational art. That latter the movement of units on a massive scale and basis to achieve strategic and grand strategic goals.

[Also Hitler during the Great War being evaluated and rated NOT BEING SUITABLE AS OFFICER MATERIAL. Mentally the man not so stable!]

Hitler having assumed command of the German military and in the position not only as political leader but then also acting the function of a generalissimo, commanding and directing with direct order the German armed forces, an incompetent man in control, MUCH TO THE ADVANTAGE OF THE ANTI-FASCIST COALITION FORCES.  [the western allies and the Soviets]

[generalissimo as I understand the meaning of the word slightly in deviation with the dictionary definition. Generalissimo as one wielding both military and political control, actually in direction of the armed forces, moving units around on the battlefield at whatever echelon.]

Von Manteuffel that name literally translated means "Man-Devil". Hasso however seems to have a very distinguished war record without participation in "those things". OH, you know what I am talking about, "those things".

coolbert.

Forty-Eighters.

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Here with a tentative listing of German nationals during the American Civil War being appointed to flag rank [general officer].

Having include only those men either possessing a formal German military academy education or military experience as a German officer prior to emigration. [German in the sense of Prussian or the armies of the various principalities.]

These men almost exclusively so if not exclusively so adherents to the Federal cause, and also men having left their homeland in the aftermath of the various European 1848 failed revolutions

Germans referred to as the Forty-Eighters.

"The Forty-Eighters were Europeans who participated in or supported the revolutions of 1848 that swept Europe. In Germany, the Forty-Eighters favored unification of the German people, a more democratic government, and guarantees of human rights"

Germans anti-slavery, socialists, republicans. Even some favorably disposed to the theories of Karl Marx.

That not totally inclusive list to include:

1. Adolph von Steinwehr.

2. Alexander Schimmelfennig.

3. August Willich.

4. Franz Sigel.

5. Frederick Salomon.

6. Louis Blenker.

7. Max Weber.

8. Peter Osterhaus.

General officers in the Union army each and every one, and often preferring to recruit regiments of ethnic Germans, fellow immigrants to the United States. German speakers leading units consisting of German speakers.

To what extent these general officers and their enlisted charges were American citizens or resident legal aliens I cannot say.

And my thought originally was that these German-American experienced and formally trained commanders leading units of their compatriots, enlisted German-Americans, would have given a good account of themselves on the battlefield. Perhaps better or even much better than average.

But this does not seem to be the case. NO worse than average, but not much better than average. Just about the equal of those regiments during the American Civil War consisting of native born Americans.

These German-Americans felt a natural affinity to the Union cause during the American Civil War, the fight as they perceived it commensurate with their personal political beliefs. AND willing to put their bodies where their mind and mouth was.

coolbert.

McArthur.

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That capture of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain during the American Civil War a major event in the conflict and recognized so at the time, in two months the course of the war having changed dramatically to the advantage of the Union.

"A Rebel Waterloo".

"the Union soldiers continued the attack against the remaining lines, seeking refuge near the crest of the ridge (the top line of rifle pits were sited on the actual crest rather than the military crest of the ridge, leaving blind spots). This second advance was taken up by the commanders on the spot, but also by some of the soldiers who, on their own, sought shelter from the fire further up the slope. The Union advance was disorganized but effective; finally overwhelming and scattering what ought to have been, as General Grant himself believed, an impregnable Confederate line."

That charge uphill and the capture of Missionary Ridge spontaneous, impromptu, unauthorized, and perhaps even in disobedience to orders!!

And that man in the lead a junior officer, inspiring and motivating his charges forward, Arthur McArthur Jr. That name McArthur in the aftermath of the war changed to MacArthur. Arthur the father of course of the famous Douglas.

Brevet Colonel McArthur at age nineteen. That family trait of bold combat action even to the point of recklessness and disobedience a family trait?

 "At the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863 during the Chattanooga Campaign, the 18-year-old MacArthur inspired his regiment by seizing and planting the regimental flag on the crest of Missionary Ridge at a particularly critical moment, shouting 'On Wisconsin.'"

"For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was brevetted colonel in the Union Army the following year. Only 19 years old at the time, he became nationally recognized as 'The Boy Colonel'"

Those defending Confederate troops having occupied the topographic crest of the ridge and NOT the military crest, allowing for "blind spots" and voids where Yankee soldier surmounting the ridge could use for cover. A grave error of troop placement!

McArthur Jr. having received the Congressional Medal Honor for his bravery at Missionary Ridge, that decoration only awarded some twenty years later, and then ONLY after intense and prolonged lobbying by the Congressman uncle of Arthur! All that for comportment it can be suggested was fool-hardy and again, perhaps even disobedient. Behavior nonetheless carrying the day in a manner heralded across the nation in the media as it existed at the time.

coolbert.