frankl@Sun.COM (03/13/91)
From: ide!frankl@Sun.COM Here are some misc answers to questions posted over the last few days: GEN Schwartzkopf wears his Saudi equivalent rank on the strap you see on his chest pocket. Non-US officers wear US rank on their pockets when working with US forces. The numbering of divisions is completely arbitrary. The US first formed numbered divisions as full time organizations in WWI. (ie The First Division, the Second Division) WWII produced lots of divisions. The ones that were not disbanded kept their names. Please note that the 1st Armored, the 1st Cavalry, and the 1st Infantry (Mech) are all currently serving divisions. Fast Attack Vehicles (dune buggies with machine guns/greande launchers/ TOW missles) were part of the equipment of the 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) which has been disbanded as part of the Army's budget cuts. No great loss, they could not stand up to tanks. The ^ mark was on all allied vehicles as a means of identification. There are 10 completely National Guard Divisions: the 40th Infantry (m) is California, the 50th Armored is New Jersey, the 49th Armored is Texas, etc. The Army will probably cut at least 2 of these divisions as part of the draw down. What rogersh <t3e!rogersh@cs.man.ac.uk (Huw J. Rogers)> saw on TV is not a FAV but a TLAT, a humvee mounted TOW. The above are facts; what follows is opinion. Most people are drawing the wrong lesson from this war.. They chalk up the victory to our superior technology. The real winner was the men and women who fought. The morale of the US forces has NEVER been higher. No fighting force is history has been so intensively trained as the active US army. The NTC training effectively TRIPLES the combat effectiveness of our battalions. Massive computer based simulations have trained corps and division staffs in how to accomplish 300 mile charges without additional support. If we had the same equipment as the Iraqis, we still would have won. Our high tech stuff undoubtably saved many lives, but, as Napoleon said, the value of the morale to the physical is as 4 is to 1. Adam Frankl 1LT IN US Army I say what I mean and I mean what I say.
madmax@gargoyle.uchicago.edu (Max Abramowitz) (03/18/91)
From: madmax@gargoyle.uchicago.edu (Max Abramowitz) In <1991Mar12.231143.29031@cbnews.att.com> ide!frankl@Sun.COM writes: >If we had the same equipment as the Iraqis, we still would have won. >Our high tech stuff undoubtably saved many lives, but, as Napoleon said, >the value of the morale to the physical is as 4 is to 1. I just want to add my two cents. A couple of weeks before the air war began, I saw a television news piece on US Army desert warfare training in California. The "aggressors" were outnumbered using Russian equipement, so theoretically they should have lost. They kicked butt. The aggressors' advantage was in their greater experience in desert combat. max abramowitz madmax@gargoyle.uchicago.edu my opinions are my own.