Quote:
Originally Posted by dragoon500ly
As far as reservists being not as good as their Regular Army counterparts in their military capacity....
The finest Soviet Motor Rifle Regiment in the world happens to be the OPFOR at Fort Irwin, California (National Training Center). This unit does nothing but Soviet tactics for most of the year and has the well-earned reputation for regularing kicking the bejesus out of every visiting unit. The OPFOR is so seldom defeated that when it does happen, the rest of the Army litterly sets up and take notice...like when a National Guard pulled it off. I can still remember the utter shock of my unit's officers/NCOs that a Guard unit managed to pull off something that we hadn't been able to do....
Of course, my faith was restored when the next NG unit in rotation was gutted in proper fashion!
Still, whenever someone makes the claim that the Reserves just aren't as good as....
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It also goes to show that not all Reserve/National Guard Officers and their staff think "inside the box" as most in the Regular Army have been taught. As with many modern battlefield it not the General and his Staff that win the battle, it some Team Leader, Squad Leader, Platoon Leader, Company Commander, and/or Battalion Commander/XO/S-3 that happens to be Johnny on the spot and makes a decision that their opponent hadn't account for. By the time they realize they are in trouble it way too late.
I remember in the book "Team Yankee" when the Armor Company had been reinforce for supporting attack. They weren't the main axis of the attack, but somehow had captured a bridge. After they had reported to Battalion, the Brigade S-3 I believe who overheard the report came on. There was awkward silence as everyone tried to figure if they let the Battalion continue with their main attack in attempt to capture the bridge head the Battalion was after or shift the Battalion main axis. If they didn't shift the Battalion main attack then the question was there anyone they could move hastily to support the lucky reinforce Armor Company in holding their Bridge...
In modern Mechanized/Armor/Motorized warfare as we have seen these days it takes only little incidents like these to change things. In WWII there was this minor attack that led to the Battle of the Bulge. In which the German main attack had happen to strike at a point of the battle field that was held by green US Division that broke with none to little resistance against a force that no one was expecting to strike there.