SGT James Elphick 117182 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>The insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq over the past 13 years have shown that small, well-armed forces can effectively engage and disrupt the combat operations of major conventional forces with a combination of cunning and guile. Obviously they cannot defeat these forces but they were able to inflict casualties and hinder movement. Therefore, my question is, would the use of similar tactics, in combination with the use of large conventional forces be an effective means of fighting the next war against large conventional forces? Also, would it be worthwhile as these forces could then potentially "out G the G" as Col. Hackworth put it when fighting insurgencies? 2014-05-02T13:41:39-04:00 SGT James Elphick 117182

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>The insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq over the past 13 years have shown that small, well-armed forces can effectively engage and disrupt the combat operations of major conventional forces with a combination of cunning and guile. Obviously they cannot defeat these forces but they were able to inflict casualties and hinder movement. Therefore, my question is, would the use of similar tactics, in combination with the use of large conventional forces be an effective means of fighting the next war against large conventional forces? Also, would it be worthwhile as these forces could then potentially "out G the G" as Col. Hackworth put it when fighting insurgencies?

2014-05-02T13:41:39-04:00 2014-05-02T13:41:39-04:00 SGT Craig Northacker 117369

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Good question. "Traditional" combat as experienced in World War 2, and even Korea, was fought using large masses of troops and equipment. General Guderian in the German Army developed lightning strikes and exploited breaking through key points and drove rapidly to the rear. The contemporary infantry and mechanized infantry mopped up and moved the lines forward to catch up to Guderian. So, while the use of irregular units are a very important element in any order of battle, when armies are utilizing armor and mechanized units in large numbers their effectiveness is reduced other than for their own specialized breed of warfare. The caveat now is that those types of armies are atypical in our current world.

2014-05-02T19:46:57-04:00 2014-05-02T19:46:57-04:00 2014-05-02T13:41:39-04:00