“The reason for giving up the pursuit is almost always the quartermaster’s growing difficulty in spanning the lengthened supply routes with his available transport. As the commander usually pays great attention to his quartermaster and allows the latter’s estimate of the supply possibilities to determine his strategic plan, it has become the habit for quartermaster… Read More
“When a commander has won a decisive victory – and Wavell’s victory over the Italians was devastating – it is generally wrong for him to be satisfied with too narrow a strategic aim. For that is the time to exploit success. It is during pursuit, when the beaten enemy is still dispirited and disorganised, that… Read More
“If there is anyone in a key position who appears to be expending less than the energy that could properly be demanded of him, or who has no natural sense for practical problems of organisation, then that man must be be ruthlessly removed. A commander must accustom his staff to a high tempo from the… Read More
“If quartermasters and civilian officials are left to take their own time over organisation of supplies, everything is bound to be very slow. Quartermasters often tend to work by theory and base all their calculations on precedent, being satisfied if their performance comes up to the standard which this sets. This can lead to frightful… Read More
“Unlike conventional field battles, where tactics are more flexible and largely dictated by the terrain and the enemy’s deployment, special forces anti-terrorist assaults are a combination of physical might and technology working in a swift syncopation, pre-planned and finely choreographed. Once initiated, they move relentlessly into the heart of the problem with precision timing, not… Read More
“When it comes to pay, promotion, education,pension, job security and being ordered about, the military offers a freer and kinder existence than most corporations. And only a few civilians can turn up to work on any given morning to find they are off on an another adventure somewhere in the world.” (Falconer, 1998, p.51). Falconer,… Read More
“Perhaps he had exceeded the measure of confidence that was innate to his nature. That was what ultimately separated the lesser officers from the best, Cato had come to learn. Confidence was the source of competence. Arrogance might also help a man, but it was a brittle quality and founded on delusion rather than good… Read More
Boot Camp & Military Fitness Institute 