Skills: Jack of All Trades versus Master Craftsman

“The same man cannot be well skilled in everything; each has his own special excellence.” Euripides (c.480 BC to 406 BC), from one of his tragedies (Rhesus). Euripides was one of the great Athenian playwrights and poets of ancient Greece, known for the many tragedies he wrote, including Medea and The Bacchae.

Manpower & Position Warfare vs Material & Mobile Warfare

“In this assault we lost more than 1,200 men killed, wounded and missing. This shows sharply how the curve of casualties rises when one reverts from mobile to position warfare. In mobile action, what counts is material, as the essential complement to the soldier. The finest fighting man has no value in mobile warfare without… Read More

A Commander’s Battlefield Knowledge: Leading from the Front or In the Rear with the Gear?

“It is of the utmost importance to the commander to have a good knowledge of the battlefield and of his own and his enemy’s positions on the ground. It is often not a question of which of the opposing commanders is the higher qualified mentally, or which has the greater experience, but which of them… Read More

A Commander’s Willpower vs the Quartermaster’s Advice

“When, after a great victory which has brought the destruction of the enemy, the pursuit is abandoned on the quartermaster’s advice, history almost invariably finds the decision to be wrong and points to the tremendous chances which have been missed. In face of such judgement there are, of course, always academic soldiers quick to produce… Read More

Fortune & Luck or Skill & Brains?

“Never knock luck , Prefect. In my experience it is the most important quality in a successful soldier. The gods favour some of us with good fortune. Skill and brains come a distant second.” (Scarrow, 2014, p.140). Scarrow, S. (2014) Brothers in Blood. New York, NY: The Overlook Press.