During WW-2 The Army Air Corps was losing planes and crews in Europe and in the fight with Japan the Navy was losing officer trained pilots faster than they could replace them. Both services were desperate, so they dipped down into the enlisted ranks. Any enlisted man with some civilian pilot experience (even flying old biplanes) was invited to train to be combat pilots. That was a dream for enlisted men. All eligible men immediately signed up. Those enlisted men made the difference in both battle theaters of operation. They did as well as the officer trained pilots and in some cases exceeded the officers in combat action.
During Vietnam, the Army and Marine corps were losing helicopter pilots right and left. The Marines were especially hard-pressed for helicopter pilots, so they dipped into the more senior enlisted ranks, trained Marines in helicopter operations and then commissioned them as warrant officers until they had enough regular officers to man the helicopters again and then dropped the warrant officers back to the enlisted ranks. It was slam, bam, thank you mam.
In any war, soldiers and sailors and marines win battles, but logistics win the wars. Unfortunately after WW-2 politicians came into the mix. That’s why Vietnam was the disaster it became, followed by Iraq, Afghanistan, the first Gulf War, followed by the second gulf war in 2003. Generals and Admirals know how to engage in war, politicians do not. When politicians tell generals and admirals how to conduct war, we do not do well. That’s my story.
No comments:
Post a Comment