I ran into his blog looking for some historical information on war horses, and he has written a bit about military horses, but it turns out he also literally wrote the book on urban warfare, FM 3-06, Urban Operations (2002). He is also the author of Concrete Hell: Urban Warfare from Stalingrad to Iraq (2012), which looks fascinating. On his blog, he writes that:
Two areas where I think this book breaks new ground is the evaluation of the Israeli Operation Defensive Shield (2002) and the look at US forces in the Battle of Ramadi (2006-7). I think Concrete Hell is the only comprehensive look at these operations currently in print.
Ultimately, what I intended, and what I think Concrete Hell achieves, is a thorough look at the evolution of urban warfare over the last fifty years. By isolating and focusing on this history, and what it tells us in terms of the conduct of warfare, I think Concrete Hell also describes the nature of the most important battlefield of the 21st Century: the urban battlefield. Thus, though a history, Concrete Hell presents not only an accounting of the past but a vision of the future. Recent battles in Lybia and current fighting in Syria seem to validate that vision.
For those with an interest in the Civil War, he has also written "Anatomy of a Failed Occupation: The U. S. Army in the Former Confederate States, 1865-1877," published by the Army's Land Warfare Institute.
He hasn't posted anything new to the blog for about two years, but it has some interesting stuff.
UPDATE: I assume the connection between Corb Lund and war horses is obvious to the regulars here, but for everyone else, here's the missing link:
UPDATE 2: OK, since I'm randomly finding stuff on horse soldiers this evening, I discovered that NYT columnist and economist Paul Krugman is a Civil War buff and U. S. Grant fan. Back in 2013 he wrote about the John Wayne movie The Horse Soldiers that was based on Grierson's Raid.
Was just reading about the Battle for Hue City- "Marines in Hue City", Eric M. Hammel. Apparently the first Marine response was a bunch of troops thrown together on the quick, and the Marine commander realized the Corps had very little training on urban conflict, he started digging through all the books on tactics he could find on base. The book is quite interesting, goes into specific detail on tactics and has current views of many of the contested areas.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Paul Krugman was a better boy than man. Pity.
ReplyDeleteraven, sounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteGrim, it is a pity. I wonder what happened.
From the little I have been able to gather, urban warfare has changed little- The streets are death, blow holes in the structures and move through them, use any concealment or cover possible to block firing lanes in the streets if you must move armor, and use a lot of explosives for clearing.
ReplyDeleteThen there is the Raven doctrine for urban warfare. Open the city for evacuation, sift for enemy, after 24 hours close the cordon and call the B-52's in to reduce it.
Do not fight the way your enemy fights best.
The Raven doctrine presumes that we don't need the city for anything later, I notice. :)
ReplyDeleteFlat is flat- House to house street fighting trashes a city too, the big difference is the B-52's don't leave a lot of American dead in the rubble. The Raven doctrine would have saved a lot of American lives in Fallujah.
ReplyDeleteDon't fight the way your enemy fights best.
The only thing that got Reconstructed was the Democrat responsibility for slavery in the US histories.
ReplyDelete