Mission Command

COL Prescott’s understanding of operational variables (PMESII-PT) and mission variables (METT-TC) contributes to his mission command effectiveness. In Battles of the Revolutionary War (Wood), COL Prescott demonstrates his grasp of these variables by determining the British forces’ strength, the morale condition of his own men and the effective location from which his orders say defend. The 6000 British soldiers’ training and equipment outstrip the colonists in every aspect. To deny the British from seizing Dorchester Heights, COL Prescott’s understanding of the current situation gave way to his effective planning that was effective in his visualization of the defense mission.

The battle of Ap Bac was a small battle engaged between the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and the insurgents, or the People Liberation Armed Forces (Viet Cong AKA VC) with the assistance of American’s weapons and advice during the Vietnam War. It took place on 2 January, 1963, near a small village named Ap Bac which is located approximately 65 km southwest of Saigon in the Mekong Delta. (Starry, 2002). As a senior leader, it is important that we have to be technically and tactically proficient. In order to be proficient, we not only need to be trained, but also we have to know how to gain experience from past battles in history using battle assessment, and critical thinking process to study the battle. That way, we know what needs to be improved, how to sustain it, and how would we execute it better next time. Therefore, studying the history of the battle of Ap Bac will enhance the knowledge of how the commanders used the most effective and efficient method for applying decisive action on the battle field. It would be a successful outcome for the South Vietnamese ARVN, and Kennedy’s administration would have gained more trust from American people for the presence of American troops in Vietnam, if the American advisers and the ARVN’s commanders would have integrated intelligence preparation of the battlefield (ITP) throughout the operations process to identify the gaps of intelligence between human intelligence (HUMINT),

The battle of the Bunker Hill is one of the most famous battles of the American Revolution. On June 16, 1975, colonial troops took Breed’s Hill close to the Bunker Hill. The next morning, the British marched up to the hill twice but the colonists held the hill. The third time, the colonists ran out of gunpowder and lost eh hill. In spite of their loss, the colonists were proud that they had fought so hard against the British troops.

Longstreet’s attack was supposed to signal Generals Hill and Ewell to conduct a “simultaneous demonstration” in the North. Specifically, Lee tasked Hill and Ewell to conduct diversionary attacks focused on Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill.22 However, the initial delay of Longstreet’s southern attack and poor coordination between Hill and Ewell proved disastrous on the northern flank. Hill and Ewell’s attacks were two hours apart, failing to mass their combat power in an effective way, thus, allowing the Union to capitalize on its interior lines and reinforce its flank as necessary. Despite General Lee’s key task to mass all available forces, many of Hill’s units were practically unused in the July 2 attack. Hill and Ewell failed to take Cemetery Hill or Culp’s Hill, as Meade’s forces repelled them from

To avoid being flanked, I ordered my companies to side-step paces to the left and Companies A, H, C, G, and the F, the Colors Company to refuse to the left at a right angle, doubling the original regimental front . Although our maneuver led to a single rank in some places, it did not allow for a gap between the right-wing companies and the refused left wing companies . Our men also piled a few rocks from boulder to boulder and concealed behind them. When the 15th Alabama first appeared from the northeast, they were surprised by our concealed positions and staggered back among the rocks and low trees in the valleys after initial intense volume of fire from our refused companies. In spite of this, the 15th Alabama pushed back again and again and during some moments, they were merely a dozen yards away. Left Companies C and G were pushed back and upward by pressure from the right companies of the 15th Alabama . Over a ninety-minute period, the companies of the right wing of the 15th Alabama made a series of five attacks against the five companies of the refused left wing of the 20th Maine which under the command of Major Spears . Small squads of the 15th broke through the lines of the 20th with hand-to-hand fighting but each time, we counterattacked and as a result, the line of fighting forged back and forth up and down the hillside. The fighting was so severe and there were dead and wounded in our front and in our

Sheridan’s ability to create a shared understanding had mixed results of success and strategic losses in the war. He was a considered a strategist and understood the overarching mission and the importance of devising a plan with the most chance of success. However, he struggled in dissemination of his meticulous plan to subordinates. When General Sheridan finally decided to attack Early at Winchester the profundity of his intent was not known. The instructions from Union chiefs to cavalrymen were clear and simple “the move means to fight.” However, Sheridan’s plan was far from clear and simple. His plan required speed, stealth and coordination that his Army of 50,000 troops could not execute. Sheridan’s Army was now in motion with a plan that

After the U.S. began to push out the Germans and enlarge the pathway to Bastogne at the end of December 1944, the U.S. troops and some British soldiers started a counterattack, to eliminate the bulge in the American line. This success was largely due to General Patton’s third army, that attacked from the North and the South. On January 8, 1945, the German forces began to pull out of the Bulge. As the Americans advanced, they continued to erase all German gains. By the end of January, 1945, all territory that was captured by the Germans was back under Allied control (“Battle of the Bulge”). The Battle of the bulge was one of the most difficult battles of the war for the United States. Along with having the most American casualties of any other battle, many of the soldiers suffered great emotional and physical trauma from the cold, and lack of medical supplies, and the horrors that many of them witnessed on the battlefield (Farmer). One battalion, the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion, is a notable example of the physical and emotional trauma of the Battle of the Bulge. At the start of the battle the battalion had 793 men. By the end, only 110 were left alive. The 551st was the worst casualties of any unit during the Battle of the Bulge (Orfalea). Nearing the end of the battle, the allied troops fought harder than ever, partly to ensure that all of the bloodshed and death was not in vain.

Commander in Chief has power to command the armed forces. The president has the ability to decide where to station his forces and is the top man in the military and everyone reports to him for orders. As Commander-in-Chief, Nixon kept troops in an unnecessary war which made it hard to maintain the militaries budget. There is a probability that Nixon would have been at war with Vietnam indefinitely, had it not been for the Case-Church Amendment prohibiting further U.S. military activity in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. However he disobeyed this amendment sent one of his Secretaries of State, Henry Kissinger, to bomb Cambodia and Laos for a campaign called Operation Menu. This objective was to bomb the People’s Army of Vietnam and the National

The Battle at Dong Ap Bia occurred during Operation Apache Snow during The Vietnam War, which had the aim of clearing the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) from the A shau Valley in South Vietnam. This valley was situated near the border with Laos, and it had become a haven for communist forces and major infiltration route into the south. This operation was initiated on 10 May 10 1969 with the specific purpose of destroying the PAVN and VC forces believed to be grouped in the A shau Valley, blocking enemy routes of egress in Laos, interdicting enemy lines of communication and locating and destroying known enemy caches. This valley was heavily forested, and above the it stood Ap Bia Mountain, otherwise

The Forces led by Gen Mathew B. Ridgeway at The Battle of Chipyong-Ni were comprised of various Nations; South Korea, French, and United States. These united Armies are composed of the following forces, 2nd Battalion 23rd Infantry Regiment Golf Co, (2nd Infantry regiment) led by Col. Paul L. Freeman, 37th Field Artillery Battalion, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery, 503rd Field Artillery Bravo Battery, 23rd RTC, and 1st Ranger Co. The French forces include the French Battalion of the United Nations Organization. In all Gen. Ridgeway has over 4,500, to include 2,500 front line infantrymen, to defend the small town of Chipyong-NI. The Chinese offensive includes over 5 divisions of the Chinese Volunteer People’s Army encompassing soldiers of the

Because of this Intel, the U.S felt like the enemy would try and flee the valley or surrender after a short fight with American forces. We now know that this intelligence estimate was grossly wrong. The actual enemy numbers were 700- 1000 and were much better equipped for battle possessing heavy machine guns RPGs mortars and some artillery. Also we now know that most of the enemy were not living in the villages as thought before, in fact, most were already in prepared fighting positions in the mountains. The enemy had no intention of surrendering or retreating.

As for me, I will carry all that I have including this notebook and pencil. According to the Intel and the briefing we had this morning, there are about 200 NVA soldiers in the Chu Pong Mountain (Galloway). Lt. Col. Hal Moore the commanding officer for this mission has decided that to land troops in near the enemy (Galloway YouTube). Surprisingly, Lt. Col. Moore had found a clearing that near enough to the enemy in the region. “The la Drang Valley was a remote and inaccessible region in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, a place of mostly scrub bush, nearly no clearings, deep ravines, and sun-baked termites hills (Steinman 13). This allowed for the Huey to land and drop off troops. But the down side to this was the size of the clearing. With the size of LZ X-Ray, it is only big enough to land eight Huey helicopters at a time (Galloway YouTube). Head Quarters (HQ) and Bravo Company will be on the first lift, followed by Alpha Company then us, Charlie Company, then lastly Delta Company.

The M-107 rang out loudly hitting one of the Soldiers in the head. They kept coming, SSG Wo fired again and again, they kept coming. Major Wakowski and Ramirez repositioned the M-249 and opened up on the approaching Soldiers mowing them down. They were dropping by the tens, eventually they stopped and stood where they had halted. SSG Bell came running out of the Gettysburg firing his M-4 at the Soldiers dropping even more of them. To the PJ’s it was surreal, why weren’t they getting to cover, they were now halted and in the open. SSG Wo, we have them forward

With a retreating force almost completely demoralized by exposure to the frost and snow, which made the strongest Soldier unable to hold his musket or move. The troopers of the cavalry, though they had suffered less than the rest, they were so stiff with cold that they had to be lifted to their horses. Now, with their physical strength at its lowest and their morale fast disintegrating, Elphinstone’s men rose from their frozen bivouac to attempt the passage through Khurd Kabul. A five-mile-long and narrowed by cliffs so high that the rays of the winter sun never reached the valley floor. At the entrance of the pass hundreds of Afghan tribesmen were waiting for the troops and camp followers. A man by the name of Sir George Lawrence lead his men in a bayonet charge that cleared out the path of several hundreds of Afghan tribesmen. The enemy promptly fled away from the Soldiers and camp followers. It seemed that there were still Soldiers who, to the right leadership, would give the right

The point is well taken, but Holland gives it excessive weight. Like their brethren in Detroit and Pittsburgh, domestic tool-makersin the 1970s were too complacent when imports seized the lowerend of the product line. The conservatism that had for years servedthem in their cyclical industry left them ill-prepared for change. Evennow some of the largest U.S. tool-makers are struggling to restructure. Blame the government, yes. But blame the industry, too.