Military Misfortunes

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Military Misfortunes Page 39

by Eliot A Cohen


  in World War I, 11–12

  in Yom Kippur War, 110–12

  Aubers Ridge, 150

  Austria, 106, 117–18

  Austria-Hungary, 133

  Bailey, Sidney, 72

  Bailey Committee, 72

  Baker, Wilder D., 62, 75

  Bandman, Yonah, 114, 116

  Bar Lev, Chaim, 121

  Bar Lev line, 103, 109

  Bay of Biscay, 82

  Battle of, 92

  Bean, C. E. W., 152

  Beaufre, André, 220

  Belgium, 197, 201–4, 211, 218–20, 222, 224–25, 229

  army: Chasseurs Ardennais, 202–3

  Besika Bay, 137

  Bey, Feizi, 143

  Bhopal, 30

  Billotte, Gaston-Henri-Gustave, 204, 212, 222–23

  Birdwood, William Riddell, 140–42, 149–50, 157–59, 162

  Blackett, P. M. S., 78

  Blair, Clay, 169

  Blitzkrieg, 210–11, 218, 226, 230

  Bloch, Claude C, 53, 243

  Bloch, Marc, 198

  Boer War, 136, 154

  Bohain, 223

  Bonaparte, Napoleon, 7

  Bradley, Omar, 179, 190

  Braithwaite, Walter Pipon, 137, 157, 163

  Breda variant, 202–3, 211–12

  Brest, 27

  “Breton redoubt,” 205

  Brezhnev, Leonid, 102, 119

  Bristol, Arthur LeR., 92

  Britain, Battle of, 208

  British army: see Great Britain, army

  British Expeditionary Force, 222

  Brunete, 213

  Brussels, 201

  Brydon, William, 6

  Bulair Lines, 137, 143

  Bulge, Battle of the, 168, 169, 190

  Burma, 244

  Burnside, Ambrose, 10

  Byng, Julian, 141

  Caen, 205, 223

  Cairns, John, 223

  Cambrai, 225

  Carden, Sadenile Hamilton, 137

  Cavan, Frederick, 242

  Cawnpore, 6

  Central Intelligence Agency, 170–71

  Challenger, 30–31

  Chance, 2

  Chapman, Guy, 2

  Chasdai, Ya’akov, 238

  Chateau-Thierry, 205

  Chelmsford, Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 6

  Chernobyl, 3, 17, 26

  Chiang Kai-shek, 169

  China, 239

  civil war in, 193

  Chocolate Hill, 144

  Chosin Reservoir, 172, 186, 193

  Churchill, Winston S., 12, 60, 62, 92–93, 134–39, 145, 161, 197, 207, 245–46

  Civil-military relations: see High command, systems of

  Clausewitz, Carl von, 2, 24, 29, 42, 44–46, 190, 195, 239

  COM 14: see U.S., navy, sea frontiers and naval districts, Fourteenth Naval District

  Command, conceptions of, 138, 156–58, 162–63, 240–43, 246, 261n. 66

  Commander-in-chief, U.S. Fleet (COMINCH), 63, 77, 85–86, 90

  Commanders

  analysis from viewpoint of, 36, 45–46

  dogma of responsibility applied to, 32–34, 62–66, 231–33

  psychopathologies of, 8–10

  Communications, 158–60

  Conolly, Richard, 64

  Constantinople, 133, 139, 151

  Coral Sea, 42

  Corap, André-Georges, 220, 224

  Cot, Pierre, 227

  Courtrai, Robert of, 6

  Critical analysis (Kritik), 29, 44–46

  Custer, George Armstrong, 6, 186

  Dakar, expedition to, 2, 27

  Daladier, Edouard, 221, 230

  Damascus, 95, 110

  Darlan, Jean, 222

  Dardanelles, 133, 236

  see also Gallipoli

  Commission of Inquiry, 149–50, 160–61

  Dayan, Moshe, 33, 99, 106–8, 114, 119, 121–24

  de Gaulle, Charles, 2, 200, 212, 215–16, 229

  Deception, 117–18, 181

  Delbrück, Hans, 38

  Department of State, U.S., 170

  DePuy, William, 238

  de Robeck, John, 152

  Deversoir, 109

  Dijon, 205

  Dinant, 203

  Disaster

  see also Failure

  individual responsibility for, 30–31, 32–34

  see also Commanders

  military and civil compared, 1–3, 25, 161–62, 232–33

  operator error as source of, 17–18, 21

  theory of, 16–19

  Dixon, Norman, 8–10, 22

  Doctrine, 238

  Dole, 205, 223

  Dönitz, Karl, 59, 71, 75–76, 87, 91–92

  Dordrecht, 201

  Douhet, Giulio, 227

  Doumenc, André, 222–23

  Dovecote, 103, 113

  Dunkirk, 201, 204, 208

  Dyle River, 202, 212, 220, 225

  Eben Emael, 201

  Edsel, 19–21

  Edward, Richard S., 60

  Egypt, 43, 95–124, 129, 131, 238

  Third Army, 109

  Eisenhower, Dwight D., 9, 236

  Elazar, David, 100, 102, 106–9, 112–14, 119, 123, 237

  Elphinstone, John, 6

  English Channel, 27, 203–4, 219, 223

  Enigma, 224, 230

  Fabry, Jean, 214

  Failure

  see also Disaster; Misfortunes, military

  aggregate, 27, 165–95

  business, 19–21

  catastrophic, 27–28, 197–230

  complex, 26

  intelligence, 40–43: in Yom Kippur War, 96, 102–3, 105–9, 112–20, 123–24, 156–31

  latent possibilities of, 243–46

  operational, 237–39

  simple, 24–26

  to adapt, 27, 133–64, 208–9, 220–28, 239–43

  to anticipate, 27, 95–131, 208–9, 214–20, 237–39

  to learn, 26, 59–94, 208–13, 233–37

  Fair, Charles, 10

  Fairey Battle airplanes, 207

  Far East Air Forces, 192

  Far East Command, 31, 166, 169, 173, 175–76, 178–81, 183, 190, 193

  Farago, Ladislas, 91

  Farman aircraft, 225–26

  Fisher, John, 136

  Flavigny, Jean, 224

  Foch, Ferdinand, 12, 14

  Ford, Henry, 19

  Ford Motor Company, 19–21

  Forester, C. S., 11, 13

  Form, William, 25

  Fort Benning, 184

  France

  air force, 206–8, 213, 222, 226–28, 230

  army, 197–206, 208, 230

  Fifty-fifth Division, 203

  First Army, 201

  G.H.Q. Land Forces, 222

  Ninth Army, 220

  Seventh Army, 202–3

  Twenty-first Corps, 224

  fall of, 2, 3, 14, 197–230

  Third Republic, 198

  Vichy regime, 27, 198, 220

  World War I, 14, 15, 133, 150, 153, 155, 200, 214–16, 226–27

  World War II, 197–230

  Fredericksburg, 10

  Fuller, J. F. C., 241–42

  Gallipoli, 7, 133–63

  Gamelin, Maurice-Gustave, 198, 202–4, 211–12, 216–24, 230

  Gauché, Maurice, 211, 221

  Gedaliah, David, 115–16

  General Motors, 20

  Georges, Alphonse, 202–4, 206, 212, 219, 221–23, 225

  General staffs: see High command, systems of Generals: see Commanders

  Germany

  air force (Luftwaffe), 73, 92, 210, 213, 218, 223

  Ninth Armored Corps, 203

  army, 15, 234

  Kriegsakademie (war college), 36

  Panzer divisions, 201, 203–5, 207, 210, 212, 218, 223–34

  naval war college, 235

  Webrmacht, 197–98, 201, 210–11, 218, 230

  World War I, 67, 150, 233, 240–41

  World War II, 27, 59–64,
66–71, 75–77, 80–82, 92–93, 192, 197–220, 224, 226–30, 240

  Ghormley, Robert, 72, 88

  Gidi Pass, 103

  Giraud, Henri, 223

  Gneisenau, 27

  Goering, Herman, 220

  Golan Heights, 95, 100–3, 105–7, 109–10, 112, 117, 119, 122–23, 128

  Golden Horn, 139

  Gonen, Shmuel, 112, 128

  Gort, John Standish Vereker, 225, 229

  Grant, Ulysses S., 244

  Great Bitter Lake, 109

  Great Britain

  air force: see Royal Air Force

  army: Eleventh Division, 144, 153, 155

  Gurkhas, 153

  Imperial General Staff, 241

  Korean War, 173–74

  Ninth Corps, 141–42

  Norfolk Regiment, 153

  Twenty-ninth Division, 154

  navy: see Royal Navy

  World War I, 5, 11–15, 27, 77, 86, 93, 133–63, 240–42

  World War II, 43, 60–82, 87–94, 197, 202, 204, 206–8, 220, 222, 224–25, 244

  Guadalajara, 213

  Guadalcanal, 65, 140

  Guam, 48

  Guderian, Heinz, 203, 210, 216–17, 224, 230

  Gulf of Mexico, 62

  Gulf of Saros, 137

  Haggard, H., 149

  Haig, Douglas, 8, 11–14, 22, 157, 240–41

  Haleiwa, 50

  Hamilton, Ian, 134, 136–38, 140–42, 144–46, 148–49, 151–57, 159–63

  Hammersley, Frederick, 144–45, 149–50, 158, 160

  Han River, 189

  Hankey, Maurice, 154

  Hawaii, 46–57

  Heikal, Mohamed, 116, 120

  Henderson, G. F. R., 36

  Henry VI, 6

  Hentsch, Richard, 241

  Hermon, Mount, 103

  Hewitt, H. Kent, 64

  High command, systems of,

  British, World War I, 13

  French, World War II, 221–25

  functions of, 191

  German general staff, 15, 36–38, 231, 235

  role of politicians in, 23, 124–26, 245–46

  History, military, 29, 35–40, 45, 234–35

  Hitler, Adolf, 27, 71, 73, 197, 201

  Hod, Mordechai, 115

  Hofi, Yitzchak, 106–7

  Holland, 197, 201–2, 212, 218–20

  Hong Kong, 180

  Hopkins, Harry, 60

  Hore-Ruthven, A.J.A., 149, 155, 160

  Home, Alistair, 210

  Houx, 230

  Howard, Michael, 195, 231

  Hungnam, 172, 187

  Hunter-Weston, Aylmer, 138, 157

  Huntziger, Charles, 206

  Imbros, 144, 157

  Inchon, 9, 168, 170–71, 179, 184, 187

  Incompetence

  see also Misfortunes, common explanations for

  collective, 8–11, 198–200

  individual, 6–8

  Indochina, 26

  Ingersoll, Royal E., 64

  Intelligence

  British, World War II, 73, 76–78, 127, 129, 258n. 27, 260n. 48

  French, World War II, 217–20, 224

  German, World War II, 224, 229–30

  distinction between intentions and capabilities, 118–20

  failure: see Failure Israeli, 95–131

  sources, importance of, 122, 126–27, 180–82, 224, 225n. 47, 257n. 23

  U.S.: Korean War, 175–82

  World War II, 72–73, 89–91, 115, 127

  Yom Kippur War, 115

  Interlocking Convoy System, 63

  Iraq, 104, 110

  Ironside, Edmund, 229

  Isandhlwana, 6

  Israel, 33, 43, 95–131, 232, 237, 239

  intelligence agencies: AMAN (military intelligence), 100, 102, 105–7, 112–19, 123–24, 126–29

  Mossad, 105, 115

  Israel Defense Force (IDF)

  army, Seventh Armored Brigade, 107, 128

  Israeli air force, 99, 102, 104, 110, 114–15, 122

  Israeli navy, 115

  Southern Command, 102, 113–14

  staff college, 2 38

  Italy

  army, 15, 213

  World War I, 27

  World War II, 206

  Jackson, Thomas J. (“Stonewall”), 36

  James, Robert Rhodes, 157

  James, William, 120

  Japan

  Imperial Japanese Navy: Kido Butai (Pearl Harbor task force), 48

  Naval Air Force, 51

  Korean War, 182–83

  World War II, 30–31, 42, 47–54, 64–65, 86, 89, 169–70, 232, 243

  Joffre, Joseph, 3

  Joint Army-Navy Board: see U.S., Joint Army-Navy Board

  Joint Chiefs of Staff, see U.S., Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, 47–48, 56

  Jutland, 77

  Kasserine Pass, 48

  Keegan, John, 1, 39–40

  Keitel, Wilhelm, 206

  Kemal, Mustafa, 144, 146

  Kimmel, Husband E., 7, 30, 32–34, 46–47, 51–53, 56, 232, 243

  Kincaid, Thomas C, 243

  King, Ernest J., 60, 62–66, 75, 85–86, 89–91, 245

  Kirk, Alan G, 72

  Kitchener, Herbert, 7, 136–38, 141, 146, 156

  Kleist, Ewald von, 205

  Knox, Frank, 47

  Korea, Republic of (ROK), 165, 168–70, 174, 180, 182–84, 189, 192

  Korean War, 9, 26, 31, 34, 43, 165–95, 232

  First Phase Offensive, 166, 173, 177–78, 181, 188

  Operation Relax, 173

  Kreisky, Bruno, 106

  Kunuri, 172

  Kurita, Takeo, 243

  La Chambre, Guy, 227

  La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, 222

  Lateral Road, 103

  see also map, 97

  Le Mans, 17

  Leahy, William, 72

  Leger, Alexis, 229

  Lehman, John F., 242

  Levran, Aharon, 126

  Leyte Gulf, Battle of, 243

  Liège, 201

  Lille, 201

  Little Big Horn, 6

  Lloyd George, David, 12, 133

  Low, Francis, 64, 90–91

  Ludendorff, Erich von, 231

  Luttwak, Edward, 235–36

  Luxembourg, 202, 218

  Maastricht, 203

  MacArthur, Douglas, 9, 30–31, 47, 166, 168–73, 175, 179, 182, 189, 192–94

  Mackenzie, Compton, 141

  Maginot Line, 218–20

  Mahon, Bryan, 141, 162

  Main Supply Route (MSR), 187

  Maintenon, 222

  Malay Peninsula, 43, 161

  Manchuria, 170, 174, 176–77, 181

  Manstein, Erich von, 2, 202

  Mao Zedong, 177, 193

  Marne, 3, 205

  Marshall, George C, 46, 52–53, 56, 63–64, 86, 89, 170, 173, 236, 242, 245

  Marshall, S. L. A., 40, 172, 180–82, 184–87, 189, 194–95

  Masefield, John, 134

  Maxse, Ivor, 241

  Maxwell, R. P., 150

  Mediterranean Sea, 71

  Meir, Golda, 96, 106–8, 125

  Menace: see Dakar, expedition to

  Mendler, Albert, 110

  Meuse, 201, 203, 207, 210, 230

  Midway, Battle of, 42, 86

  Millis, Walter, 39

  Misfortunes, military

  common explanations for: collective incompetence and the “Military Mind,” 10–14

  cultural failure, 16

  institutional failure, 14–15, 66–67

  “The Man in the Dock,” 6–8, 62–64, 170–73 (see also Commanders)

  “The Man on the Couch,” 8–10

  defined, vii, 3

  method of analyzing, 46–57, 121

  ways of ameliorating, 233–46

  Mitla Pass, 103

  Moerdijk, 201

  Moltke, Helmuth von, 36

  Montry, 222

  Moorehead, Alan, 139
–40

  Morison, Samuel Eliot, 60, 66, 75

  Morse, Philip, 92

  Mossad: see Israel, intelligence agencies

  Mouchard, H. E., 222

  Mount batten, Louis, 56

  Munich, 216

  Musketeer, 27

  Mytilene, 158

  Nagumo, Chuichi, 49

  NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), 30–31

  Nasser, Gamal Abdel, 96

  National Security Agency, 181

  Naval Base Defense Air Force, 54

  Net assessments, 127–31, 178–80, 195, 201

  Neuve Chapelle, 150

  New Zealand: see ANZAC Nimitz, Chester W., 48, 86, 243

  Nixon, Richard, 102, 119

  Normandy, 118

  North Korean People’s Army (NKPA), 165–68, 171, 173–74, 176–80, 182, 189, 192, 193, 195

  Northwest Frontier, 136

  Norway, 71

  campaign in of 1940, 2, 213, 221, 224

  Nossow, Sigmund, 25

  Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 18, 31

  O’Donnell, Emmet, 192

  Opana Point, 51

  Operations research, 78, 90–92, 234

  Organizations, 19–22

  military, 31–32: compared with business organizations, 33–34

  in relation to tasks, 78, 83–90

  Osan, 166

  Oster, Hans, 219

  Paillole, Paul, 219

  Panikkar, K. M., 169, 171, 175

  Paret, Peter, 39

  Paris, 205

  Passchendade, 11

  Pattern, George S., 193

  Paukenschlag (“Drumbeat”), 71

  Paulus, Friedrich von, 2

  Pearl Harbor, 7, 29–33, 35, 40, 42, 46–57, 86, 124, 232–33, 243

  Peled, Benjamin, 106

  People’s Republic of China, 9, 31, 43, 166, 168–90, 192–95

  Perrow, Charles, 21–23, 243

  Pétain, Henri Philippe, 14, 198, 205–6, 214, 220

  Philippines, 43, 47–48, 169

  “Phony war,” 206, 209, 219

  Poland, 210–12, 229

  Pownall, Henry, 225

  Pusan perimeter, 166, 176, 179, 187

  Pyongyang, 168, 179, 182, 189

  Rawlinson, Henry, 141

  Reed, H. L., 151, 153

  Reims, 205

  Renault tank works, 225–26

  Reynaud, Paul, 205, 221, 223

  Rhee, Syngman, 166

  Richmond, Herbert, 37

  Rickover, Hyman, 242–43

  Ridgway, Matthew, 34, 168, 170, 174, 189–90, 193–94, 232

  Riom trial, 220

  Robertson, William, 241

  Rommel, Erwin, 203, 205, 230, 236

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 63, 66, 90, 197, 245

  Root, Elihu, 246

  Rosinski, Herbert, 235

  Rotterdam, 201

  Rouen, 205

  Royal Air Force, 27, 77–79, 89, 206–8

  Advanced Air Striking Force, 206, 208

  Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force, 206

  Coastal Command, 78–79, 89

  Home Defence Squadrons, 207

  Royal Marines, 160

  Royal Navy, 27, 65–66, 70–80, 86–90, 93–94, 129, 133, 136, 146, 149, 160, 234

  Operational Intelligence Centre, 76–78, 129

  Western Approaches Command, 78–79

 

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