@CaveMum
Interesting thoughts on military structure *@RedToothBrush*. I remember DH being quite critical of the way the USAF did things when he was working with them in Iraq and Afghanistan - he said junior officers had little responsibility compared to the same ranks in the RAF and that they were very much “one job” trained - ie a USAF engineer would literally be trained to deal with one component on an aircraft whereas a RAF engineer would be trained to deal with multiple elements. Perhaps it was a numbers game - our RAF is so much smaller (I think he told me that the US Navy’s flying wing is bigger than our whole airforce!) so you’ve got to take on more responsibility and be trained in multiple areas.
Yes, even the US is supposed to suffer from the same chain of command problem though to a less extent. The British because they value ingenuity, self sufficiency and discipline have a very different reputation. I don't think this is patriotic belief - i think its stood up to scrutiny.
By all accounts even just a few years ago the Ukrainian army was a bit of a mess from what I've read so something major has to have happened on the training side of things. Its come as a real surprise to everyone that theyve been so organised for starters. And whilst necessity is the mother of invention, i really do start to wonder the extent to which British training has helped.
The British certainly will have been thinking about tactical stuff like this as they know about it and will realise the type of war they'd have to fight and what strengths they could play to. The Ukrainians have been really thoughtful about this - they haven't gone in all guns blazing - in some cases theyve let troops pass then attacked the middle of the convey to cause more panic and problems. They flooded fields in preparation. There real consideration gone in there.
I don't want to suggest the Ukrainians aren't capable at all of this, they clearly are capable of a lot from what theyve achieved already. Its more that perhaps the combo of the two countries together with local knowledge, strength, determination and tactical know how really have made a significant difference to what would have been the case otherwise. In theory you would expect the Ukrainian army to perhaps lack that ingenuity and self sufficiency element because of the historical cultural element, though clearly certain events in their history and greater freedoms would point to them probably being less rigid that their neighbours.
When we are talking about just how pissy Putin has been about the British, this really does have to be one of those things to consider. I certainly don't know to what extent its made a difference but Zelensky himself has been at pains to mention it and really seems to have valued it.
The fact that the Ukrainians are seemingly actively keeping a tally of officers is interesting. You would expect Russian soliders, with leadership decapitated to go look for another leader. I wonder how many would know how to disable a gun/vehicle or would even think to do it. (Remember very young conscripts who have had no training).
We assume that destroying the guns is logical. Would we think the same if we were culturally from somewhere else? I also don't necessarily think that the Russians would automatically abandon the army - just try and report to someone else.
If you want a good example of lack of critical thinking / training theres been a good example circulating of a group of soliders who were supposed to go to the roof to set up a surveillance and defensive position. Except they decided to take the lift and the Ukrainians merely cut the power to the lift. The photo hasn't been verified but I don't think its likely to be fake either. The Russians aren't stupid but they also are not taught to think critically and we shouldn't dismiss how important this is in a situation like this.