Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: terryr@ogicse.ogc.edu (Terry Rooker) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Low tech warfare Message-ID: <12573@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 23 Dec 89 06:05:28 GMT References: <12539@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: Oregon Graduate Institute (formerly OGC), Beaverton, OR Lines: 43 Approved: military@att.att.com From: terryr@ogicse.ogc.edu (Terry Rooker) In article <12539@cbnews.ATT.COM> bxr307@csc.anu.oz writes: [stuff deleted] > >I was not so much interested in what the US learnt politically as what >it had learnt militarily. We have been seeing for the last 15 years that >the US government failed to learn any real lessons from it Vietnam experience. >What I was trying to find out was whether the US Army in particular, and the >rest of the US military in general, had learnt any *tactical* lessons from >Vietnam. There are some indications that the military is trying to absorb these lessons. The army has been trying to form light infantry divisions. These divisions would train from the beginning as light infantry and wouldn't have to retrain for use in an insurgency. They are also getting specialized training for different types of terrain. They also have more strategic mobility so they are quicker to deploy in an emergency. For the army they also have the advantage that they are cheaper to maintain. Ironically, many of the same critics of the army in Vietnam, now criticize the army for having 4 (5 if you count the 9th) divisions that aren't usable in a European conflict. For the troop's sake I would hope they were trained to not rely on firepower since these divisions are notorious for their lack of firepower. The army is also changing its emphasis on air assault. People have finally realized that launching an infantry attack from a helicopter isn't the wisest thing in the world. I think the army's shift is as much because of expense as facing the reality of increased decentralized anti-air weapon systems. The army is wisely maintaining the capabilities and training, but they don't seem as enamored of the idea as they were. Helicopters provide a fast flexible intra-theater transport vehicle. When used as such they, they are great. I don't think we will see large scale use of helicopters to insert troops directly into a firefight. This doesn't mean that the troops will learn to go after the insurgents, but the decreased reliance on copters will force the development of different tactics. -- Terry Rooker terryr@cse.ogi.edu