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[Tom Caswell <derpimpkar AT yahoo.com>]

This is an interesting discussion of military science.  While most of it is true on paper, not much of it is true in practice.

 

I'm interested in where you picked up your information.  I can't tell how much of it is generalization so I'll wait to comment. It seems to me that much of your comments mirror a video game's perspective.

 

Tom

James Dasher <jdasher AT ibiblio.org> wrote:

> On Tuesday, Dec 9, 2003, at 17:50 US/Eastern, Alan MacHett wrote:
>
> > Standard military theory promotes injuring the enemy. It's even part 
> > of
> > US Army Ranger doctrine. Injured soldiers slow the enemy. Every 
> > assault
> > soldier (the ones actively engaged in warfare -- infantry, artillery,
> > etc.) requires approximately 10 support personnel; injured soldiers 
> > only
> > exascerbate those figures. Injured soldiers have to be carried and 
> > cared
> > for by their comrades. Injured soldiers also tend to scream in pain,
> > which has a nice psychological effect on the enemy. Better to nearly 
> > kill
> > them than to kill them.
>
> You're right about the affect of injured soldiers on morale, mobility, 
> and logistics. Injuring, as opposed to killing, enemy soldiers is even 
> included in the tactical
>  doctrine taught at elite unite and warfare 
> schools.
>
> I should've clarified that I was speaking of standard infantry tactics 
> - what every soldier is taught at Basic, and has reinforced through 
> field maneuvers and other unit training exercises. Elite units are 
> taught guerilla tactics (among assorted other useful things :), which 
> emphasize the tactical benefits of, among other things, forcing troops 
> on the move to deal with an injured comrade. As an elite unit, Rangers 
> learn such tactics.
>
> Standard military doctrine and theory, however, promotes killing rather 
> than injuring. Close air support pilots, for example, are taught to 
> blow stuff up so that they can kill whoever's there. Armored units are 
> taught to blow stuff up - cars, tanks, railroad cars, and so forth - in 
> the hopes of killing whoever's inside.
>
> Snipers and other specialized troops, whose military objectives 
> generally involve the morale/mobility/logistics
>  factor, certainly have 
> the option to aim for an injurious, rather than fatal, wound. 
> Advancing infantry, whose goal is to take and hold territory, benefit 
> from an absence of enemy troops, whether wounded (and therefore, under 
> Geneva, requiring medical attention from their captors) or not (and 
> therefore, again under Geneva, requiring humane treatment).
>
> Cheers -
>
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