krum

Tactical Disposition and Energy

2010-04-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-01T22:53:00.000-08:00

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

2010-03-01T22:33:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

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.

The lost Platoon

2009-11-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

Reading through these three chapters, it was apparent that The Principle Maneuver was evident. Very often when LT. General Moore was talking about a battle they were in or a mission they were on, he emphasized their techniques/movements they used to succeed. Along with their different ways of approaching the enemy, Moore and the other leaders were very good at talking to one another about the location of the NVA. With their knowledge they gained through one another, they were very good at deciding the best way to approach the enemy with an advantage.

I truly believe that Maneuver was a very important principle to enforce at all times in this story. In such a dangerous area and enemy with a high morale, if Moore and his men had not applied this principle, outcomes would have been a lot different. Maneuver is highly important for any one because I believe that it sets the out come of a mission/battle. Which ever side has the advantage has that better chance of winning instead of working extra hard to get out of a disadvantage.

Night Falls....

2009-10-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

I will always place the mission first
I will never accept defeat
I will never quit
I will never leave a fallen comrade

I will Always place the Mission First: Right away in this section it was evident that Moore's men followed this etho well. On pg 147 of my book, Moore talks about how they were going on their second night of no sleep. They were all pretty tired, but choose to stay a wake so that their mission would not be ruined by the Vietnamese attacking them. Many of them kept up a high motivation to defeat the Vietnamese. on pg 150 of my book, Specialist 4 Vincent Cantu recalled how he treated the night just like the day and had every intention to stay completely alert that evening.

I felt that Savage was a great example of a soldier who followed the Warrior Ethos. He took his platoon out at night and was determined to bring fire down on the NV when ever he heard them (pg 153). even at 3:15 am he was still out their with his men ready to fire whenever needed.

Moving into Chapter 12 the use of warrior ethos started to become entangled with one another. In the beginning of the chapter Moore says they all need to go on a recon to find Savage and his men (never leave a fallen comrade). While they are on their way to find Savage, they are attacked by the Vietnamese. Right away they have to put aside finding Savage to battle the Vietnamese.

A great example of never leaving a fallen comrade is at the end of chapter 12. Cantu had been drafted into the Army and only had a week left in Vietnam until he could go home. While he was hiding behind a tree he saw some one in camouflage taking photos of what was happening. Cantu was interested in seeing who this was and all of the sudden realized it was Joe Galloway who was a former friend from high school. Cantu quickly ran over to Joe and reminded him who he was and gave Joe mental support to get him through the battle.

Warrior ethos are a great way to keep soldiers minds on what needs to be done. I think that the first three one, I will always place the mission first, i will never accept defeat, i will never quit, all go together. If a soldier quits, he is not placing the mission first and is accepting defeat. if he doesn't place the mission first, he is basically quitting and accepting defeat. I think it's good that in the Warrior ethos we have I will never leave a fallen comrade. Many times in a high strung situation we tend to think of just ourselves. But having this etho, we are reminded that we need to look out for our buddy. If one of us goes down, we all go down, that's how a team works!

Fix Bayonets!!

2009-10-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

First off, Wow!!!! These three chapters included a lot of situations that Lt. Gen. Moore's men went through. In chapter 8, the Storm of Battle, it seemed that the men were unfortunately on the defensive side for most of the contact with the Vietnamese. I did notice that the minute they were approached by the Vietnamese or spotted them, they were quickly able to re plan their course of action. John Herren got himself into a harsh situation. He all of the sudden saw a North Vietnamese standing on a bank not to far form him with an AK-47. Herren decided to fire upon him but when he fired a round from his M-16, but quickly realized that the trigger pin was not working or had fallen out. The north Vietnamese quickly took cover, so Herren choose to throw a grenade which bounced off a tree branch. Since he was not sure if the soldier had died or if there were more that way, he decided to retreat back to the LZ and then to meet up with another platoon. There were a few times that Herren had to think quickly on his feet. Initially he had to think what to do once he saw the Vietnamese soldier, which he quickly decided to fire upon him and then use a grenade when his M-16 didn't work. Since he was not sure if the soldier was still alive or if there were more that way, he choose to leave the area and stay safe. All of these decisions were made quickly and were probably the best options for him at the time.

X-Ray

2009-10-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

The beginning of this section started with the situation of landing on X-Ray. Moore did a great job planning out how exactly he would land at the location. While they did not touch down at the same exact time they planned, they were pretty close. Moore listened to his men who knew about where they needed to go to to determine the best spot to land. Once they reached their objective, Moore was very good at initiating rapid fire and not being conservative on firing. The success on this objective was also apparent when they were the first to get to the location and attack. Others even mentioned how they were coming out that way and how Moore's men had already succesfully taken care of the location. This looked really good on Moore's leadership to follow through with his assignment and have a good outcome.

We Were Soldiers: Going To War

2009-09-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

"In the American Civil War it was a matter of principle that a good officer rode his horse as little as possible. There were sound reasons for this. If you are riding and your soldiers are marching, how can you judge how tired they are, how thirsty, how heavy their packs weigh on their shoulders?"

While reading this section, this quote stood out the most to me and kept me thinking about it for a while. As a Leader we are constantly judged by our subordinates. This quote helps us to think about how we can give respect to those under us while, also gaining respect from them. For those at Valpo, we have heard many times from Major Ricciardi that great leaders and officers are the ones who get in and do the grunt work too. An example which we are given is through doing community service. While we may be the one's supervising the work, we can also get in and get our hands dirty too. Wile we should be on a "higher level" then those under us, it is also good to equalize ourselves with them at times.

So the other part of this section that stood out to me is how well LT Gen. Moore knew all of his staff members. It was amazing how much he knew about just one person. For some of his staff members he wrote not only about their degree and where they graduated from, but also where their fathers graduated from. Being a squad leader at Valpo for the first quarter it was a big eye opener for me to realize how much more respect he probably got just for knowing extra information about his staff. The section has motivated me to want to spend more time getting to know my squad members so that, just for their sake, they can feel more comfortable talking to me about issues that they might be having in ROTC.