Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-07-10
Tremendous Task
Awaits Our Army
Says American Officers Must
Adjust Selves to Lessons
Of Nozi Tactics

Adjust Selves to Lessons
Of Nozi Tactics
To the Editor of The Star:
The action of the War Department in
suspending the service schools for this
year, including the staff courses at Leav-
enworth and classes at the Army War
College, has probably a twofold signif-
canoe.
First and probably strongest factor, is
the urgent need for all Regular officers
to participate in the Army's vast expan-
sion program. Even the small Army
increases during the past few years have
caused serious shortage of officers with
troops in some branches. In the Corps
of Engineers, for instance, responsibility
for troop training has often fallen on
Reserve lieutenants on active duty under
the Thompson Act Companies, nor
mally commanded by captain, have
had no Regular officer assigned higher
than second lieutenant. And it has not
improved the morale of hardened vet
Grams of many years service to have in
command shavetail only year away
from military school,
The need for officers with troops is
acute. But If this were not the case it
is doubtful if instruction at the service
schools would be practicable this year.
Such classes would probably prove a
source of considerable embarrassment to
the officers assigned to instruct them
What would the instruction consist Of?
While they are still recovering from the
shock Of the collapse of France before
the Nazi blitzkrieg, it would be somewhat
ironical to give our thoroughly intelligent
officers instruction in the same tactics
and technique that proved so fatally
inadequate for the splendid French
Army.
The truth of the matter is that the
recent catastrophe events in Europe
have swiftly relegated the accepted mill
tary precepts of our Army brass hats to
the ash can. No longer can staff officers
fight theoretical battles on a map of
Gettysburg by having infantry columns
move to the attack supported by artillery
fire and air reconnaissance-tactic of
World War I vintage. Instead, they
must be taught to visualize fast moving
situations over an immense area with
tanks, dive bombers and armored
columns smashing through opposing
lines, with infantry columns following
and pouring through the gaps thus
created. They must not only visualize
this form of lightning attack against
enemy troops but they must also devise
form of defense against such tactics.
1t is certainly big order.
The Army is faced with series of
tremendous problems: Recruiting, cloth
ing and training thousands of new men;
starting virtually from scratch and pro-
curing the tremendous amount of equip
ment and materiel required to bring it
up to the modern mechanical standard.
And not the least of the Army's prob
lens will be the formulating of tactics
and technique for the effective employ
ment of large bodies of completely
mechanical troops. ),
1t is not to be supposed that our mill
tary men have been asleep during the
Nazi onslaught in Europe. Competent
observers have watched the progress and
methods of the German armies and are
gathering information which will become
the basis of our training for defense
against such methods. One important
thing about military tactics is that they
cannot be patented or copyrighted by the
Army that invents them. Other armies
may copy at will and turn them to ad-
vantage against the original inventor.
The employment of gas was a German
innovation in 1915, but was used extern
sively by the Allies against the Germans
before the war ended.
Out of the Russian campaign in Fin
land came valuable lesson. Superiority
in airplanes, tanks, armored cars and
infantry armament are not factors that
will, within themselves, insure success
against an alert and determined enemy.
The success of these essential imple-
ments of modern warfare depends on
their sound tactical employment and
their expert handling by highly trained
and specialized personnel Russia could
not make the grade in either require
ment.
With so little to start with, and with
the probability that the time factor is
vital, our military experts certainly face
a tremendous task. However. there is a
family bright side to the situation. We
have the benefit of having observed what
has so recently happened elsewhere in
the world. We are in a position to
evaluate and profit by the successes and
failures of other armies. Since we must
start virtually from scratch in building
our military machine, we should produce
only modern ornaments that have re-
Gently been proved effective and we may
be justified in expecting American in
genuity to effect improvements. Thus
there is reason to hope that we may
eventually come up with the best
equipped and most efficient Army in the
world. This prediction, however, should
carry one qualification: If we have time.
June ID. RODNEY GEORGE.