One More Bridge to Cross : Lowering the Cost of War

by Poole, H. John

• ISBN13: 9780963869531
• ISBN10: 0963869531
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: Posterity Pr

Summary

Only recently have American military thinkers begun to fully understand the paradoxical, highly deceptive, squad tactics of former adversaries. From the author of The Last Hundred Yards: the NCO's Contribution to Warfare, comes this gut-wrenching look into past battles through the eyes of an enemy soldier. Overemphasis on rank, technology, and long-range warfare has created a significant shortfall in the short-range combat skills of the U.S. military. This shortfall will continue to cost lives until it is fixed. America's opponents have been using a different style of warfare. Their emphasis has been on short-range combat and the individual soldier. They seldom attack without (1) reconnoitering their objective from the inside with sappers, and (2) punching a hole in the defenders' lines with a squad or a platoon. Even at the small-unit level, their actions are designed to look like something else. At the squad level, combat can be like football. But squads need more than one prerehearsed technique for each expected situation, or they become too predictable. Sev

Table of Contents

Maps and Tables	ix
Foreword	xi
Preface	xv
Acknowledgments	xvii
Part One: A Heritage Worth Preserving
Land of the Free	3	(6)
Home of the Brave	9	(4)
With Liberty and Justice for All	13	(6)
Part Two: How Wars Are Won
One Nation under God	19	(6)
A Closer Look at History	25	(14)
Were Ideals Followed?	39	(8)
U.S. Warfare Style in Perspective	47	(4)
The Winds of Change	51	(10)
Part Three: For Those Who Still Serve
A Job for the Tactical Technicians	61	(4)
A Different View of the World	65	(4)
Preserving Limited Assets in Wartime	69	(20)
Doing More with Less in Peacetime	89	(4)
An Interim Solution for Units	93	(6)
The Real Need: Military Reform	99	(8)
Decentralizing Control Works	107	(8)
Notes	115	(16)
Bibliography	131	(6)
About the Author	137	(2)
Name Index	139