thread: 2006-03-05 : No, THIS is the perfect medium
On 2006-03-10, DannyK wrote:
This is a superb summary. The main thing I'd like to add to this is to emphasize the importance of
1)Command & Control
2) Logistics
The "teeth" of combat units are supported by the "tail" of many specialized units.
That's why the Blitzkrieg at the beginning of WWII was so devastating: not because the marauding Panzers killed every Frenchman defending the border, but because they cut the lines between the front and the rear, and turned a huge well-equipped army into a mob.
These days, the high-tech weapons are very effective at finding the chokepoints in the enemies' system and devastating them. When the general and half the colonels are dead, the army's not going to have a good day.
In the modern US military, the "tooth-to-tail" ratio is very low—the wonderful high tech weapons use up spare parts and fuel like you wouldn't believe. The Iraqi roadside bombs are largely directed at this vital and difficult-to-defend tail of combat support. Even if don't stop the flow, slowing it down and forcing it into defended convoys is a significant gain for the insurgents.
