Thursday, October 28, 2010

Tomahawk!

Mark Knapp talks about the Battle of Chipyongni.

The 23rd Infantry Regiment (Tomahawks) did a ruck march there every year, as long as they were part of the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea.
I did a Staff Ride of the battlefield back in '91 or '92, and had previously spent some time humping a ruck up and down the mountains in the area.


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Fun times... NOT!

I do think that the conclusions Mr. Knapp draws about the lessons of the battle are listed in increasing order of importance: While it is always good to have a good BAR man with you--personally, I'd recommend a Missouri-class battleship and a good ANGLICO team--"the right positions" and "the right fields of fire" are less important than leadership. While the US Army went into Korea with many problems, poor leadership--at higher echelons, often based on loyalty to MacArthur, as noted--would continue to plague the US war effort for some time after this battle.

Probably the best study of the trials and tribulations of the US Army in Korea is T.R. Fehrenbach's This Kind of War.  (Which someone once tried to tell me an "officially suppressed book" because it was so critical of the US Army.  Except that my copy was printed by the Eighth US Army print shop.)

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