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DOVER, Tenn. (10/11/2012) – There are very few things that remain
constant throughout the evolution of combat and the military.
Officers and senior enlisted from 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry
Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air
Assault), participated in a staff ride to the Fort Donelson
Battlefield Sept. 28 to learn the principles of leadership during
the Civil War still hold true today.
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Officers and senior enlisted with 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), gather around a cannon used during the civil war by the confederates defending Fort Donelson,
Sept. 28, 2012. The cannons were used with other defense techniques
to keep the encroaching Union soldiers at bay. Photo by Army Sgt. Charlene Moler
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The concept of a staff ride is to learn from historical
battles by understanding what happened, the reason for the
outcome of the battle and how those lessons can be applied
in present conflicts.
“Technology changes, but
military items like leadership and command decisions, never
change,” said Greg Biggs, a military historian leading the
Fort Donelson staff ride. “So what the
Army started doing in the early 20th century is the staff
ride concept. They use staff rides now to teach leadership
principles.”
Understanding the conditions in which
past battles were fought, the limitations the soldiers faced
and how it affected the decisions that were made, clearly
shows the cause and effect in victory or loss.
In the
civil war you had single shot muskets, single shot cannons,
today everything is automatic, said Biggs.
“You can
go back and look at Caesar verses the Gauls, and the
leadership principles of Julius Caesar carry forward to
today,” said Biggs. “The speed is so much quicker, instant
communications, but the leadership principles never change.
Learning from military history makes you a better officer I
would think.”
With remnants of the battles still
visible, staff rides bring history to life, on the very
ground where these historic battles happened.
“One of
the focuses I have been trying to get with the battalion is
to start doing some of the things we used to do before we
were deploying back to back,” said Maj. Sean Brown,
executive officer for 1st Btn., 502nd Inf. Reg. “One of
those exercises we used to do in the Army was called staff
ride. I wanted to make it interesting so we looked for a
campaign, a battle that had a significant naval component so
we could see how the Navy integrated with the land
maneuver.”
The ride started with a 5.3 mile canoe
ride on Tennessee's Cumberland River to understand how the
waterway played a significant role in the battles. Leaders
were able to see the advantages and challenged faced at Fort
Donelson, which sits on the bank of the river. Once exiting
the river, the staff ride continued to various sites
surrounding the post and learned about the land progression
of the battle.
“One of the things I noticed today as
we were going over some of the timelines, some of the orders
got fouled due to how quick they were issued,” said Brown.
“They issued some of the orders for the next day the night
prior and they didn't have the benefit of radios or even
telegraph for most of these. Yet they were doing complex
maneuvers and given very little time to plan for them or
execute them.”
With the advancements of today's
military it may not seem like leaders can apply much from
what they learn about military conflicts that occurred 150
years ago. However, there are simply some things in combat
that do not change.
“In today's Army we would tend to
balk at executing something the very next day, the very next
morning, without time to appropriately plan,” said Brown.
“There are just some beneficial lessons learned, in this
particular battle, whether to go on the defense or assume a
defensive posture versus go on the offense and completely
change the outcome of the day.”
By Army Sgt. Charlene Moler
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2012
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