Tactical Disposition and Energy

Tactical Disposition focused on talking about modern operations, both offensive and defensive. A key factor in the chapter was gaining key terrain during the operations and to be ready for combat. This is strongly important since these both can help to gain the advantage over the enemy. Next was “Energy,” which focused more on the abilities of the soldiers. It talked about how they need to be trained to be ready for anything. A great example of this importance is when we practice STX lanes during lab. We are able to complete the battle drill, but we also need to learn how to work with variables such as Media or Civilian on the Battlefield. Learning to deal with variables during a mission is crucial because we need to be calm and “on our toes” in order to keep our defense or offense up.

Attack By Stratagem

What caught my eye in this chapter was about the Commander in Chief. Sun Tzu talked about the importance of having a Commander who is in the Military. There is a difference in a Commander based on if they are a civilian or a real military official. Tzu talked about how it is important then that the highest ranking in the military and the commander in chief must be able to come to agreements about things. The Commander in Chief has the final say in what happens, but it is important that they know all the facts and give orders in every one's best interest. The highest ranking in the Military must be able to take orders and execute them the way the commander in chief wants.

On War

Reading this chapter, i was thinking to myself, the US should have read this during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War went bad because of bad choices. The chapter started with saying that it is important to get troops in and out of a war quickly. If they choose to keep the troops in a war for too long, morale goes down and the enemy learns their weaknesses and use them to benefit the enemy. Because our troops were put in Vietnam so long, hope was lost because they didn't know when they could go home and then if they would have to go back. Leaders also have to know when enough is enough. They need to know if their troops are worn out.

Laying of Plans

This first chapter reminded me a lot of what we have discussed in class. There was a good amount of reading based on Terrain Analysis in the beginning of the book. The chapter said that it is very important to analyze the surroundings to gain advantage against the enemy. Along with analyzing the surroundings for advantage, it is also important to plan a good route that is quick and safe.

The Chapter also talked a lot about planning an attack. It is important to fully understand the situation you are in. Another crucial element in planning is knowing who your enemy is. this means what are their strengths, weaknesses, and size. Being able to know who your enemy is will help in a successful mission.

End Chapters

From reading this book, i honestly must say that i was happy that the book was over. It was so hard to read all these stories of men who gave their life for this country and went through hell. I am amazed that Moore was able to write about his experiences so well. When i read the book, and watched the movie, i thought to my self, who would want to write about their experiences. I recently had to interview some one who was in the Vietnam war and It was hard fro me to ask them about their experiences after i read this book because i believe it takes a lot of guts to talk about it.

I thought Moore was a great leader. From the beginning i felt this when he was talking about every man he had and how he knew so much about them. My favorite part was when he told his men that he would be the first one off the chopper and the last one on when they left. This showed that he led by example. One story i thought was very good was when he told the new LT that he would not let anything happen to him while they were over in Vietnam. I think that when the LT died, that was the hardest part for Moore because he just became silent and disassociated him self from every one else for a little while.

A leader who i really enjoyed was SGM Plumely. When i read the book he seemed like a very serious leader and hated life. He was all about getting the mission or task completed and did not really connect with anyone. through the book, and the movies, i noticed that he seemed to come out of his shell and became approachable. I think that this change in SGM Plumely's attitude is a prime example of how the War changed people. I think that as bad and life scaring the war was, one good thing it did was build relationships between the men. They learned how to rely on one another and support each other.

Escape and Evade: James Young

Reading these three chapters was some what hard for me. What i grasped from them was just a lot of incidents of soldiers from the 7th Calvary being injured. It was actually quite sad to here how many people were getting injured. A story which stuck out to me though was about Specialist 4 James Young. I thought he was very brave to handle being on his own for a few days while on Enemy territory. His decisions when he was behind the NVA was very smart when he choose to throw the grenade at them since they were focusing there attention the other way. He was very lucky though to have found a hiding spot and convinced the teenage NVA to not shoot him. I was happy though when he was found and taken to the hospital in the US. It was even nicer to hear that he was able to see his family for Christmas.

Even though Young was just a specialist, i thought he had growing leadership qualities in him. I think the personal courage he showed was very apparent. He did not just chicken out right away, he thought of ways that he could help his Company while he was in a dangerous area. He also did not let his guard down and while in his hiding spot, there were a few times the NVA walked past him and he kept his cool so that they would not find him.

Albany

These chapters spoke out to me loud and clear one main thing, Confusion. To begin with i felt that the concept of who was in command or control was not noticeable. While reading the section there were times when subordinates were not following orders. Rather they would choose to goof off in the back of the formation or start laughing. There were also times when the battalion would split up. An important thing to do when your battalion splits up is to make sure every one knows where they need to be. Just like in ROTC they needed to make sure to hold each other accountable. For Lab or pt, we all check to make sure our team members or battle buddy know exactly when and where they need to be and for what. This was not as enforced while the battalion split up. Another issue that the Battalion had was objectives. While planning a mission may seem pretty easy, the execution is at least 10 times harder. On a piece of paper, one situation happens, but in the real life there are so many more situations that could happen while trying to complete a mission. The lack of communication on what needed to exactly be done with specific over done details ended up hurting the Battalion.