On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:50:40 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:22:11 -0800, the infamous Gunner Asch
scrawled the following:

On Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:01:27 -0800 (PST), Jim Wilkins
wrote:

I learned fire and maneuver during the Vietnam era and never
understood a line of troops marching into musket fire. He explains why
a volley made so few if any hits. He wrote in the period of new
weapons and old tactics, when military thinkers observed the changes
but didn't correctly predict the solutions, a major cause of the
stalemate of WW1. I think that inventors overwhelmed military minds
with a flood of bad technical solutions and made them distrust
everything, including the few really good ones. We have that now with
alternate energy.


Hiram Maxim changed the face of war forever, as did Herr Krupp.

Respectively, they gave us the new/improved gatling gun and the
coffemaker, right? gd&wvvf


Ayup. WW1, was the last war fought with 18th and 19th century battle
tactics such as the mass charge towards the other fellows lines

Unfortunately a large percentage of the Generals attended St. Cyre and
other bastions of military science that hadnt got the word that they
were facing a new age.

The saying is that "we are always fighting the last war" has a great
deal of truth to it. We develope tactics and methods during the war we
are in, and pass em along. The next war of course is completely
different and they start fighting it with the tactics from the last war.

Shrug..thats why Herr Shicklegrubbers Blitzkrieg was so effective.
Surprise and lightening speed. And the end run around te Maginot Line..a
marvelous bit of engineering that was suitible for 1917, but became a
death trap in 1940.

The current war in the Sandbox...we had some practice in 1991..but it
was largely a replay of the Blitzkrieg. We didnt have to learn about
asymetrical warfare..last time we had any of that was in Nam..and it was
a jungle war for the most part. Hearts and minds and lighting up the
jungle.

In the sand box..hearts and minds and lighting up minnows swimming
amoung the schools of fish.

Shrug..we learn, and we learn well, but it takes us time..on the job
training.

Gunner

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..."
Maj. Gen. John Sedgewick, killed by a sniper in 1864 at the battle of Spotsylvania