The Changing Face Of Warfare

The other day I was sitting in my armchair thinking about lessons being learned by the grinding and ever-evolving war between Ukraine and Russia and the more recent war between the U.S. and Iran.  Armchair general stuff was swirling-about in my civilian brain.  Mostly about the asymmetric nature of the conflicts as it pertains to large, global powers going-up against smaller powers and the cost-asymmetry observed in the use of costly exquisite weapons to defeat numerous unsophisticated and cheap weapons.

Just as armor, gunpowder, artillery, naval power, the machine gun, poison gas, communications, mechanization, aircraft and mutually assured destruction changed the face of warfare; we are witness to another.    

Only last month an advanced AH-64 Apache attack chopper was downed by a loitering Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).  A $30 million aircraft defeated by an unmanned drone that costs $20,000.  The pilots survived and were pulled from the waters the the Strait of Hormuz by an unmanned drone watercraft.  Lots of technology packaged in this single incident and a huge disparity in the price of weapon systems.  

China currently produces UAVs and similar loitering drones at a scale  that is stunning.  And if we found ourselves in a shooting war over Taiwan all we got is an ever-dwindling supply of Patriot missiles to shoot them down.  At $4 million a copy.

Shooting million-dollar missiles at twenty-thousand-dollar drones is unsustainable. 

Say hello to the new face of modern warfare. 

Ukraine has embraced drone warfare in earnest; including the deployment of autonomous UAVs capable of  delivering a warhead over vast distances; all the while stalling and reversing Russian advances into their territory at a terrifying cost in Russian and North Korean lives.

    

Assembling a single modern Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor takes about a couple of years.  A solid rocket motor requires up to thirty months.  Setting-up a new assembly facility for Patriot missiles can presently take three to four years.

Ukraine assembles and delivers small FPV (First Person View) reconnaissance and kamikaze drones in a matter of hours to a couple of days.  Supply chain and procurement move an order from workshop to combat deployment in 24 to 48 hours.  Larger strategic strike UAVs and maritime drone boats requires only weeks.

Finally, there is the application of artificial intelligence to facilitate modern warfare. AI software processes real-time intelligence feeds to coordinate operations and advise targeting in single minutes and seconds.

Unmanned drones use onboard computer vision to lock-onto and strike targets independently; thereby defeating electronic jamming.  AI-enabled hardware permits inexpensive weapons systems to defeat high-value targets like tanks, missiles and ships.

Machine learning can sort thru overwhelming amounts of geospatial and signal intelligence that previously would require thousands of human analysts.  

Sadly, modern conflicts have become a test bed for rapid evolution in warfare and tactics as we've known it. 

Meanwhile, the administration has phased-out the Army's cutting edge drone warfare unit.   

And the U.S. is hesitant to allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missiles locally, partially to protect U.S. military intellectual property, but more so because it doesn't want Ukraine to do it better.  

Shortsighted?  Or brilliant strategy?  Judging from how the war with Iran is playing-out only time will tell.  Watch the Peter Zeihan video short to the end.  Better yet read the comments.... 

Friday Music

We have a birthday to celebrate tomorrow.  Our nation's Semiquincentennial - ordinarily known as a 250th anniversary.  A nation conceived and born of rebellion.

Yup, rebellion.  We are a nation birthed of armed insurrection against imperial rule.          

The revolution against King George III broke out in April 1775 with a handful of colonists who were willing to fight for absolute independence from Great Britain and the imposition of colonial rule.  They were considered radicals.          

By the time 1776 rolled-around many more colonists had begun to chafe-against their subjugation under British rule and warmed to the idea of independence.  The writings of Thomas Paine early in the year fed the growing hostility against Britain and helped to spread revolutionary fervor.            

The colonies legally separated from Great Britain on July 2, 1776 when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed earlier in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.  Following the vote, Congress redirected its attentions to the drafting of an explanation of this decision.  Written by a committee of five - with Thomas Jefferson as the principal author - this Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4.              

Independence Day - also referred to as the 4th of July - is a federal holiday memorializing the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.          

Raising a toast to rebellion against imperial rule and future return of a Congress with cojones.  

 

Pro Tip:  Want to learn more about the American Revolution?  Look to the labels feature on the left-hand side of the blog homepage and click on The Road To Independence.  You'll be redirected to a short selection of posts published in the last year. 

 

On This Day In History - Chapter 2

Private John Marvin Steele was the American paratrooper who landed on the pinnacle of the church tower in Sainte-Mère-Église, the first village to be liberated by the United States Army during Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944.

In the third photo that is him second from the right.... 

 

photo - US Army

On This Day In History - Chapter 1

On this day, 82 years ago, on June 6, 1944, First Lieutenant Jimmie W. Monteith Jr., age 26, landed with Company L, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, in the first assault wave on Omaha Beach near Colleville-sur-Mer, France.

As Monteith hit the beach, German machine guns, mortars, and artillery opened fire from reinforced positions on the cliffs. The landing zone was a killing field. Units were disorganized. Casualties were heavy. Officers were down. Men were scattered and pinned along the waterline. Monteith got up, walked into the fire, and started pulling soldiers together. He moved from cover to cover, rallying men, forming them into assault teams, and giving orders to push forward.

He led one of the first small groups off the beach. They advanced over a narrow ledge and crossed an open area under constant enemy fire. He guided them to the base of a cliff where they found partial cover. That action allowed more men to follow and regroup away from the kill zone.

Monteith then turned back. He crossed the open beach alone to reach two Sherman tanks that had landed but were stuck and unable to locate enemy targets. He climbed onto the tanks under fire. He pounded on the hatches and gave directions. On foot, he led the tanks through a live minefield to get them into position. Under his guidance, the tanks opened fire on German pillboxes, machine gun nests, and strong points, taking out several fortified enemy emplacements.

After helping the tanks, Monteith rejoined his company. He led them in an assault on WN 60, one of the key German resistance nests on the bluffs. He ordered Bangalore torpedoes placed to cut through the barbed wire. He led the charge through the opening, across mines and direct gunfire, and into close combat. They cleared the position and secured it.

Monteith stayed on the line. He helped organize the defense of the captured ground as the Germans launched multiple counterattacks. He moved across 200 to 300 yards of open terrain more than once to maintain communication between separated elements of the line.

Later in the day, German forces closed in on his position. They surrounded it. Monteith tried to lead his men in a breakout. As he moved through enemy fire again, he was shot and killed.

For his actions on June 6, 1944, First Lieutenant Jimmie W. Monteith Jr. was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Memorial Day

It is, in a way an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country....in wars far away.  The imagination plays a trick.  We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise.  We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired.

But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives - the one they were living and one they would have lived...

- Ronald Reagan

Originally called Decoration Day - Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service to our country.

There is an American Cemetery and Memorial located in Colleville-sur-Mer on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.  Dedicated in 1956 the Cemetery and Memorial is situated closely to the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 - the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II.  

This is the final resting place of 9,388 of our military dead - most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations.  If you were to visit this place you will note that upon the walls of the Garden of the Missing are inscribed an additional 1,557 names.  And because old battlefields continue to yield their dead - rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

In Plot E Row 26 Grave 37 rests James D. Johnston - Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.  Jill and I walked this sacred place on a typical rainy Norman morning and while I have no direct connection to James Johnston, his life before the war, or his survivors following the war what you can discern from the marker is that Johnston was from North Carolina and was a commander in the same division and infantry regiment my dad served.  

Some of you know that my father landed at Utah Beach as an infantry replacement.  He was a machine gunner in a heavy weapons platoon.  Dad fought in the battle of the hedgerows, the breakout at Saint-Lô and Patton's mad dash across northern France.  His participation in the liberation of Belgium was interrupted by wounds incurred in combat.  Following his recovery in England he served for a brief period in the US Army of Occupation in Germany.

Dad returned home from the war and lived a full and rewarding life. He worked quietly in a public school system and never spoke about his war experiences in any great detail until I was in college. I am alive today to muse about this subject because he survived.  James Johnston never had the opportunity to sit on the stoop and share closely-guarded feelings about the war with a son.  

This is why Memorial Day is personal to me.

A bit of reading reveals that Johnston died from wounds suffered from the detonation of a German 88mm shell at the blood-stained Crossroads 114 near Acqueville just outside of Cherbourg.*  Death in combat was fickle in the skirmishes and battle for mere meters in the uneven and mixed woodlands and pastures of the Bocage.  PFC Gaertner survived - Lt Col Johnston did not.

When it came time for a permanent burial, the families of the dead were asked if they wanted their loved ones repatriated for permanent burial in the U.S. or interred overseas.  Lieutenant Colonel Johnston's remains lie here with approximately 461 graves belonging to 9th Infantry Division G.I.s.

Today it is useful to remember and honor the lives that brave men and women sacrificed.  

Both of those lives.
 

click on images for a closer look

 

 

_{*Eight Stars to Victory - Mittelman, The Battery Press}

How to Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

A funny thing happened on the road to the White House.  The president who turned-up isn't the same guy as the candidate.

The US war against Iran is unpopular and becoming more unpopular as it continues; furthermore, the latest Economist/YouGov Poll also finds few Americans support deploying ground troops to the conflict.

Or do other Americans see it differently?

Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper - Dr. Strangelove

It depends-upon whom you ask.

Only 30% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of President Trump's handling of the Iran war with 60% disapproving for a net approval of -30.

Almost all Democrats (88%) oppose the war while independents oppose it by a 3-to-1 ratio.  

But there is this: Collectively, most Republicans support the war (62%) yet there is a huge gap in support between MAGA Republicans and non-MAGA Republicans (70% support vs. 33%).  Inasmuch as there are more than twice as many MAGA supporters as non-MAGA supporters among the GOP, MAGA opinion is basically settled science.   

Furthermore, a recent CBS News poll found that 92% of MAGA Republicans expressed support for military action against Iran, compared with only 70% of non-MAGA Republicans.

Amongst my MAGA acquaintances, and mostly on account of my unwavering support for arming Ukrainians in defending their country from a Soviet invasion, I have been characterized as everything from an armchair general to a warmonger.  

Naturally, beginning three years ago and following Vladimir Putin's unprovoked assault on Ukraine these same individuals reminded me at most every opportunity that supporting Ukraine's defense was distinctly at odds with candidate Trump's America First platform.  I quote:  'No foreign entanglements', 'We haven't won anything since WWII', 'Donald Trump is the greatest patriot ever' and 'You like war too much'.    

Candidate Trump may have ridden to reelection with a pledge to avoid forever wars yet systematically blowing alleged drug-running vessels and crews out of the Gulf of Mexico, a birthday military parade, deploying the military on America's streets, Houthis in Yemen (Operation Rough Rider), 529 air strikes across the middle east, Africa and central Asia, aerial strikes against Iranian sites last summer including ISIS in Iraq, threats to take Greenland by force, masked and unidentified federal paramilitary forces killing three American citizens, a military toppling of Venezuela's government, seizure of Venezuelan oil at the point of a gun, threats against Cuba, the current Iran war and recent musings to ditch NATO suggest that America First pretty much means whatever President Trump says it is; on any given day.  My impression is it is exceedingly warlike.

I had always figured that MAGA supporters preferred candidate Trump's populist pitch while bemoaning old-school Reagan neocons and their propensity for an assertive foreign policy.  Deservedly or not it is a fact I have been derisively called a neocon; yet the polling seems to suggest that MAGA world agrees-with and, only a short fourteen months into a second term, seems to have developed a powerful thirst for Trumpian military adventurism - both domestically and abroad.  

Just as with the CBS poll, if you dig thru the data, MAGA world is overwhelmingly in favor of mounting a war with Iran; and, when specifically asked if the war counts as an America First policy, only a mere 9% of the president's loyalists say it does not.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute's 2025 National Defense Survey reveals that self-identified MAGA supporters were also the most supportive of all sorts of interventions in Taiwan with two-thirds supporting 'committing US forces in defense of Taiwan.'  That doesn't sound like isolationism does it?

Speaking for myself I happen to think that the Iranian Mullahs are a dangerous collection of twisted religious revanchists who would represent a threat to a peaceful world order if they had nukes and the capacity to deliver them.  I generally lose no sleep over dealing with bad actors by means of force.

Nevertheless, dealing with security threats deliberately and with forethought is not the same as impulsiveness.  And the world has no shortage of bad actors.  Most days I think the president has stepped in it this time and unleashed a cascade of destabilizing events that have dangerous consequences for global stability, security and the world's economy.  Let there be no misunderstanding, it is in my own self interest that things somehow work out for the best.  I'm also smart enough to know that five weeks into this the president's excursion is nowhere near a forever war.  Oh; and we don't have the highly-enriched stuff in our possession either.  Yet anyway.  There is that as a denouement.  

I have yet to hear what the exit strategy is.  You?

So for now I think we might be in for a stretch of rising energy costs, inflation and possibly some economic stagnation or contraction.  Only the passage of time will write the end to that chapter.

Meanwhile, there's a pile of the US population becoming grumpy over rising gasoline and diesel, increasing grocery prices due to supply chain disruptions and escalating transportation costs.  I'm beginning to believe that post-election MAGA world doesn't really care about that as much as they did a couple-three years ago.  Nobody's bitching about it at all on social media and not a single sole Trump supporter I speak with on a daily basis has yet to bring it up.  Loyalists are called that for a reason after-all.  Which is just fine; and it is perfectly OK to own what you have wrought.

It has occurred to me this might have something to do with ideological principles; dictated by whatever president Trump tells us to believe and the possibility that the beliefs of some reading this might be insincere.  Which is fine too; people are disingenuous all day long.  I understand that sometimes it is difficult to admit making a mistake.  I get it.  I make mistakes too.  Get over it.  Own it.

Or perhaps at its core the principle is to agree with the president in every respect; even if his actions contradict what he promised in order to get a voter's support.  No matter it damages their business and costs them the actual farm.  On that matter I can only speculate.

So, for any of my MAGA acquaintances reading this; if you want to call me an armchair general or a warmonger; have at it.  Throw neocon my direction for good measure.  I have a thick skin and since you're doing it from the warming glow of your device and not personally to my face I understand the context. Water off a duck's back.  Das macht nichts aus.  

Polling is science.  With growing awareness the rest of the world is learning that MAGA world likes war; and way the heck more than me.  Does MAGA like it too much?  That's hard to know as we're only fourteen months into President Trump's military adventurism.  I think we ain't seen nuthn' yet.  But I'm perfectly happy to be wrong.

I'm old enough to remember back to 1965 when a certain general famously pledged to eschew ground troops and use naval and air power to bomb the Vietnamese - Back into the stone age.  In his April 1st address to the nation it was fascinating to see and hear President Trump invoke the very same oath - verbatim.  Curious about from whom the president is taking his cues? 

A general splendidly associated with ruthless scorched-earth tactics against civilians.

Stay-tuned..... 

Semiquincentennial

On the road to independence we find ourselves in the winter of 1775-1776 and the patriot cause has ground to a halt. The Continental Army had surrounded and laid siege to Boston but lacked the heavy artillery necessary to drive the the British garrison from the town.

Enter Henry Knox, a Boston bookseller and aspiring artillery officer who proposed a daring solution.  Knox would lead a force north; to march 300 miles to Fort Ticonderoga in New York.  From there he would disassemble and pack cannon, powder and shot and return across 300 miles of rivers, swamps and frozen wilderness to Boston; bringing the weapons of deliverance to Washington's army.  

Knox lacked any formal military training; nevertheless, he had proven himself the previous May when he, Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen ambushed the small British garrison at the fort, capturing it intact, including its artillery.  Washington approved the plan and sent newly-commissioned colonel Knox on his mission in late November.

Arriving at the fort, Knox did not delay.  Within 24 hours he selected 59 pieces of artillery, including brass and iron mortars, howitzers and cannon, each ranging in weight from 100 lbs. to 5,000 lbs.  That was the easy part.  Now he had to figure out how he would bring this enormous weight of firepower 300 miles back to Boston in the dead of winter.  It would prove to be a logistical challenge like no other: a feat of endurance, ingenuity and sheer determination.  Knox's expedition is often referred to as the Noble Train of Artillery. 

Image Credit: Tom Lovell (American, 1909-1997), The Noble Train of Artillery, 1946

Knox packed everything on wooden sledges pulled by teams of oxen.  While the frozen ground and ice made travel easier than wagons on muddy roads nothing was straightforward or without enormous challenges.  

The return route wound south along Lake George, across the Hudson River and east through the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts.  Conditions were brutal and took a toll on men and beasts.  

December 16, 2025 Reenactors

Sleds broke through the ice dumping cannon into lakes and rivers that had to be recovered.  Steep hills were a challenge to surmount and a more formidable challenge to descend as the drovers struggled mightily to keep both teams and cargo from cascading out of control. 

   

Against all odds, and in just over two months, the artillery arrived in late January 1776.  

On March 4 - 5, under the cover of darkness, Washington's troops positioned the Ticonderoga artillery behind earthworks on the Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston Harbor.  When British General William Howe woke the morning of the 5th he arose to the sight of his army and fleet now withing range of cannon positioned on the high ground. 

Faced with assaulting fortified positions or evacuating, on March 17 British troops including their Loyalist followers sailed out of Boston Harbor without a fight. 

Henry Knox's audacious plan became one of the most celebrated logistical feats of the American Revolution.  Knox commanded the Continental Army's artillery for the duration of hostilities and later served as Washington's Secretary of War.  

Notably, Knox had never received any formal military training.  He owned and ran one of the best-stocked bookshops in Boston:  the London Book Store.  Knox regularly placed orders to London on behalf of occupying British troops.  And when British military technical manuals arrived Knox made a point of putting them aside, reading them and taking copious notes.  In particular anything and everything to do with the Royal Artillery.  Only after he was finished with his studies did he deliver the order to its British soldier.

Henry Knox's London Book Store on the corner, left.

When the Ticonderoga guns were emplaced on Dorchester Heights and trained on British forces Knox organized the construction of fortifications, fields of overlapping fire and prepared for siege warfare.  He supervised and drilled the gun crews on powder load, shot size and fuse timing.  He taught the mathematics of trajectory, range and elevation and drilled the crews in the discipline of loading, firing and safety.

At the time America had no formal military academies - Knox was entirely self-taught.  He turned imperial knowledge against the empire itself; essentially beating the British at their own game.  A home-schooled artilleryman and military commander.

National Museum of the United States Army

Fun Facts: Knoxville, Tennessee, the state's first capital, was founded in 1786 and named for Knox while he was Secretary of War.  Fort Knox, Kentucky was established in 1918; named for Henry Knox and his role as Washington's chief of artillery and the first Secretary of War.  Eight states are home to counties named after Knox.

This ends the short series on the Semiquincentennial as our trip to Boston essentially ended with the end to the Continental Army's siege of Boston.  I had high hopes for a post featuring Old Ironsides; alas, the USS Constitution was closed to the public as it is undergoing extensive refitting likely in preparation for being under sail during next year's festivities.

Thanks for reading. 

Semiquincentennial

Following the action at Lexington and Concord in April the colonies were preparing for war. British reinforcements were arriving in Boston and both the nascent Continental Army and the Minutemen bolstered their numbers with volunteer patriots.  

While the British occupied Boston they were surrounded by rebellious colonists who happened to hold the high ground. Whoever controlled the hills encircling Boston could also control the harbor.  It was a matter of time before the opposing forces came to blows.

Maj. Gen. John Burgoyne of His Majesty's Army famously declared - What!  Ten thousand  peasants keep five thousand of the King's troops shut up!  Well, let us get in and we'll soon find some elbow room!  

General Thomas Gage was the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in the colonies.  While he did not lead the forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 he was the commander who gave the orders for a costly frontal assault on patriot positions on Breed's Hill.   

Gage's Council of War, including William Howe, Henry Clinton and John Burgoyne, drafted the initial plans.  Their army would land on Dorchester Neck south of Boston and sweep around the capital in a broad arc.  Nevertheless, colonial spies learned of Gage's plans and set-about to thwart them.  On June 16, several thousand militiamen converged at Charlestown and overnight constructed crude fortifications of earth and timbers atop Breed's Hill; which unlike Bunker Hill was not as high yet closer to Boston.  Fast Fact:  This last minute change persists to modern times contributing to confusion over the battle's name.  

The British generals debated their options with General Henry Clinton advocating for a flanking maneuver that would land troops to the rear of American forces thereby preventing any American retreat.  However, Gage and the other commanders overruled Clinton and  settled-upon General Howe's recommendation for a direct, frontal assault on the well-defended American positions.  

Gage ordered the attack in which Major General Howe would lead 2,400 British soldiers in three successive assaults up the hill.

As dawn broke on the 17th of June the appearance of the American earthworks surprised the British forces.  Gage was of the opinion that the Yankee rabble was no match for Britain's Finest.  Consequently, Gage's forces took their time packing for a three day campaign to take Charlestown and sweep through the countryside.  The redcoats sweated in the hot sun shouldering heavy packs with blankets, rations and kit.  By mid afternoon the colonial militia has been reinforced and firmly ensconced behind their fortifications.

As gunpowder was in short supply Colonel Prescott ordered his militia not to fire - 'til you see the whites of their eyes - orders that were decisive in the outcome of the battle. 

In close order formation the British troops advanced through the tall grass and up the hill.  Further and further they marched. Why did the militia not fire they wondered?  Were they gutless cowards?  Had they retreated?  Suddenly and without warning the command came to FIRE!

The British were decimated as row upon row were mowed-down.  Some British units suffered losses of 75 to 90 percent.  Casualties were greatest among the officers who were singled-out as targets.

Regrouping and forcing their men forward at the tip of a sword a second assault was mounted a half hour later with similar results.  An hour later, with fresh reinforcements and artillery support the third assault chased the rebels from the hill.  They had run out of gun powder and skedaddled. 

Technically, this was a British victory but at great cost.  Losses to the redcoats amounted to 1,054 dead or wounded - nearly half of those who fought.  Colonial losses were 441 of a much larger force.  Privately, General Gage admitted that: The loss we have sustained is greater than we can bear.   Brigadier General Nathaniel Greene of the Rhode Island Militia summed it up:  I wish I could sell them another hill at the same price.

In the aftermath General Howe ordered Charlestown to be burned. Gage was recalled to England and Howe was made commander of all British forces in America.

The beloved Colonial Major General Joseph Warren was killed by a musket ball through the head.  The British stripped his body of clothing, mutilated his face with bayonets, urinated on and otherwise defiled his corpse as Warren was viewed as a principal instigator of the rebellion.  He was buried in a shallow mass grave on the hill with other patriots.  Months later, and after the British had fled Boston, the colonists exhumed their dead for identification and repatriation to their kin.  Warren was identified by his dental work fashioned by patriot, silversmith and erstwhile dentist, Paul Revere.  This was likely one of the earliest examples of forensic dental identification in America.  

 

Martial law and the government of a well regulated city are so entirely different, that it has always been considered as improper to quarter troops in populous cities, as frequent disputes must necessarily arise between the citizen and the soldier, even if no previous animosities subsist.

- Joseph Warren 

Today the monument is a proper urban park and bears little resemblance to the hilly pasture of 1775.  Preservationists originally hoped to save all of the battlefield but much of the land was sold to finance the cost of the monument's obelisk.  In 1825 the cornerstone was laid by Lafayette on the 50th anniversary of the conflict and orator Daniel Webster spoke.  Webster returned more than 17 years later in 1843 to speak at the dedication following completion of the monument.  St. Francis de Sales Church stands atop the true Bunker Hill.

Following Orders Redux

Anybody who follows my musings on the blog or knows me personally also knows that I never served in the military.  Nevertheless, that universal fact does not disqualify me from having an opinion on military matters that are of interest to me or in the news.

This business of following orders has risen to the level of discussion here a couple of times already.  April 21, 2024 and, again on August 31, 2025.  

 

This week, there was a kerfuffle over Democratic lawmakers reminding the military to refuse illegal orders.  Between you and me I think they were trolling the president and, predictably, he rose to the bait.

All of this melodrama about sedition, treason and death by hanging is gonna bump-up against the First Amendment; you know, that business about freedom of speech.  Besides, everyone knows that the video was only addressing (without defining) an obligation to defy illegal orders.

I am told that, generally speaking, orders are presumed to be lawful and that a service member who disobeys a potentially questionable order does so  at their own peril.  The final determination of an order's lawfulness is ultimately a question of law decided-upon by a military judge in a court-martial.  That is a high bar.

A critical tenet of U.S. and international military law, established by principles like those from the Nuremberg Trials, is that "just following orders" is not a valid defense for committing crimes.  Service members have an affirmative obligation to refuse orders that are "patently illegal" or "manifestly unlawful". 

An order is considered unlawful if it:

• Requires the commission of a crime or a criminal act.
• Violates the U.S. Constitution, federal law, or applicable international law.
• Is contrary to a lawful superior order or regulation.
• Is beyond the authority of the official issuing it. 

Examples of clearly unlawful orders include orders to target or intentionally harm civilians, torture detainees, or falsify official records. 

 

A walk down memory lane would offer-up these examples:   

 

1968 — The My Lai Massacre (Vietnam)

U.S. soldiers were ordered to “kill anything that moves.”  That resulted in the slaughter of over 500 unarmed Vietnamese civilians.  Many soldiers refused.  Some tried to stop it.  Lt. William Calley was convicted for issuing illegal orders.  A helicopter pilot, Hugh Thompson Jr., famously ordered his crew to fire on fellow Americans if they continued killing civilians — because the laws of war required him to intervene.

2003–2004 — Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse (Iraq)

Some military personnel were ordered, encouraged, or pressured to commit acts of torture on detainees.  Several refused and reported it.  The Taguba Report (2004) confirmed illegal orders and systemic abuse.  Eleven soldiers were convicted.

2004 — Pat Tillman Cover-Up (Afghanistan)

After Army Ranger Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire, military leadership pressured soldiers to falsify witness statements.  Several refused.  Investigations in 2005 and 2007 confirmed illegal directives to hide the truth and deceive his family and the public.

2007 — The Haditha Killings (Iraq)

24 unarmed Iraqi civilians were killed after Marines were ordered into a “search and destroy” posture inconsistent with rules of engagement.  While convictions were rare, the Pentagon acknowledged violations of the law of armed conflict and improper commands.

1944–1945 — The Dachau Killings (WWII)

U.S. troops were ordered by rogue officers to shoot unarmed SS prisoners after the liberation of Dachau.  Some soldiers refused; some complied.  Investigations documented the illegal order.

 

Illegal orders are a real thing.  And while all sorta people have all sorta opinions on this  week's news on the subject; the folks you don't hear from are those who are currently serving.  It's not that they're disinterested. It's not because they're uninformed.  It is a consequence they cannot legally enter the public debate.  Don't take my word for it - you can read all about it here.   

 

In my view the US military is the most professional on the planet.  I don't lose much sleep over the matter of those who serve understanding right from wrong. 

 

 * This blog post was in the queue before the events of yesterday afternoon when two West Virginia Army National Guard troopers were shot in Washington, DC.  More on that rapidly-developing situation as more solid details are known.   As I have said before; political violence is wrong. 

  

Semiquincentennial

On the road to independence the last chapter was about the efforts of Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott to warn patriots of British troops who had crossed over water from Boston and were preparing to advance on the countryside. Today's episode is about the events that unfolded the following day. 

The battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 marked that moment in history when tensions between Britain and their colonial subjects erupted into open conflict; marking the first military engagement of the American Revolutionary War. 

Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith led the British expedition to seize rebel supplies and arms stored at Concord, Massachusetts and to arrest Patriot leaders - notably Samuel Adams and John Hancock.  Colonial militia - the Minutemen - had been organizing and stockpiling arms in anticipation of such actions.  Second in command was Major John Pitcairn who led the advance of British regulars - namely light infantry and royal marines.  It was Pitcairn in command of the soldiers who confronted colonial militia on Lexington Green.

Buckman Tavern

John Buckman, a member of Captain John Parker's colonial militia operated a tavern in Lexington.  Overnight, April 18-19, Minutemen assembled at this location to await word of advancing British troops.  Around 4:30 AM about 70 militiamen under the command of Captain John Parker gathered on Lexington Green after mustering at Buckman Tavern.  According to multiple accounts Parker went to great lengths to restrain his men from initiating hostilities.  In a sworn deposition taken on April 25, 1775 Parker had this to say:

“I … ordered our Militia to meet on the common in said Lexington … to consult what to do, and concluded not to be discovered, nor meddle or make with said Regular Troops … unless they should insult us; and upon their sudden approach, I immediately ordered our Militia to disperse and not to fire.”

About 5 AM an advance detachment of Pitcairn's troops arrive in the gathering light.

Confronting the assembled militiamen Pitcairn commands them to disperse.  A shot is fired - no one knows who fired first - the British respond with a massed volley killing 8 colonists outright and wounding an additional 10.  The minutemen scatter and the British commence their march on Concord.

Communal grave of Lexington dead

It is important to note that history mentions a shot heard 'round the world on this day. What is not known for certain which shot it was.  Was it at Lexington?  Later at Concord?  The running battle later that day? 

Arriving at Concord the British regulars begin busting down doors, rousting and abusing  the townspeople in their search for hidden weapons and supplies rumored to be there.  Naturally, the colonists had been forewarned and the troops found only a few wooden gun carriages.  The cannon had been removed and buried in a freshly-plowed field on the edge of town.    

Minutemen gathered on this overlook

The troopers decide to set fire to the carriages and some additional contraband.  The fire accidentally spreads to a nearby building and before it is extinguished Minutemen assembling on a hillside outside of town spot the thick smoke and assume that the British troops were setting Concord itself to the torch.  Thoroughly enraged, an angry militia - now numbering about 400 strong -  march upon the North Bridge to confront 96 British troops guarding it.

Facing-off, both sides fire upon one another.  Outnumbered, the British regulars guarding the bridge are routed in a disorderly withdrawal.  Regrouping at Concord, Smith and Pitcairn commence a long, bloody retreat back to Boston. 

In a running ambush, stretching from Concord all the way to the outskirts of Boston, the retreating British are assaulted by colonial militiamen now numbering in the thousands who fire-upon the redcoats from behind trees, stone walls and houses.  Attempts to outflank the Minutemen are futile.  Of an initial force numbering roughly 700; British losses are more than 270 dead, wounded or missing while militia losses are about 90 men.  Surviving British troops eventually reach the relative safety of Boston while colonial militia surround the city.  The Siege of Boston begins.

These engagements mark the beginning of the American Revolution and it proved that colonial militia could stand up to professional British soldiers.

 

Armistice Day

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, there was a temporary cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I as a consequence of the armistice signed by the Allies and Germany.

American troops in France celebrate the armistice

On its first anniversary President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11, 1919 as the first celebration of Armistice Day.  In 1938 this day officially became a federal holiday.  Later, in the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became known as Veterans Day in the United States.  And while the allied nations honor members of their armed forces on Armistice Day – we commemorate it as Veterans Day.  

Inasmuch as today is Veterans Day I figure I'd take a moment to talk about my favorite veteran - Howard Gaertner.  Who also happens to be my dad.  Dad has been gone now for more than fifteen years already but I'm sure he'd appreciate the mention. 

This picture of him was taken in Kidderminster England, November 2, 1944. 

He'd already spent more than three months in combat - including the invasion at Normandy, the battle of the hedgerows, the breakout of the bocage at Saint-Lô, the dash across northern France with Patton's forces and the liberation of Belgium.  He was evacuated to England after being wounded in the Meuse River crossing in September of 1944.  Following his convalescence he returned to Europe serving until the cessation of hostilities in May of 1945 including the Army of Occupation.  

This was turning out to be much more than an average adventure for a previously skinny depression-era kid who was drafted after graduating high school.  

Thinking of dad today and giving a shout out to all of my acquaintances and friends who have served in the armed forces of our nation and call themselves veterans.