Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, he is a marine and not a soldier, and there's more than one plan.
I went to the NTC in 1984 to test a few things, one of them being using a brigade as a blocking force at the junction of Highways 8 & 10.
With air-power, a brigade can sit there indefinitely. They can all sit there drinking tea while the Air Force and Navy create a bigger badder "Highway of Death."
Even without air-power, they can still hold their own with organic artillery augmented by another fires battalion.
It's a choke-point, so the frontage isn't very wide.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rjshae
Iran's a pretty big country. We could probably control a foothold with our current forces,...
That's all you need, and within 30 days there'll be a new Iranian government.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rjshae
...but occupying the entire nation may require implementing the draft.
Red Herring.
There's no need to occupy Iran.
The point is not occupation, it's control. Learn and understand the difference.
To the extent occupation would be needed, it would only be needed in the south to give the US air, rail and road access to Central Asia.
I assure you, the Balochs are not going to give the US any grief, and neither will the other two tribal groups living in the south and none of them are Iranians. They just live in Iran, because that's how the borders were drawn.
Just like how it's always about policy as far as government, the same holds true in the military or in business.
You do what works and you draw from the past. The winner drew from exactly what Americans did to beat the British. Out gunned so you don't face off against them. The Vietnamese didn't go toe to toe with our firepower much they hit and ran, the hide in tunnels.
And just as important, it's a tough fight when you have to fight it on their home turf.
Seems like every empire has had to learn this. Deciding the enemy is inherently inferior and your side's victory is a given - that is probably the worst mistake a leader can make, whether he commands a squad or an army corps. Always, always assume you're fighting someone tough, competent, determined and smart.
Here's how Punch commented on that mindset in 1879, after the British army had learned, to their loss, that the Zulus refused to play by British rules. It could have been drawn so, so many times before and after.
What a stupid thread. A simulation can be steered in any direction you want it to. It's not real. The biases of the person conducting it have more on the outcome than simple reality. So one general out of how many came to this conclusion? I bet there were many other simulations that came out differently. This is simply propaganda.
The simulation was steered in favor of the United States Military...BIG TIME. And General Van Ripen STILL defeated it.
Simulation isn’t real? Thanks Captain Obvious. Yeah...a simulation isn’t real, but it was damn sure a REAL simulation! Again, we make our war plans based on REAL simulations.
And if this were no big deal as you’re inferring here, why did the Pentagon not only cheat to be competitive, but then classified and BURIED the results afterwards! Why? Since it’s no big deal, right??
Quote:
Originally Posted by hawkeye2009
Right-
There were similar scenarios prior to the invasion of Iraq.
The US should not attack Iraq, as it will fall of its own weight in time. All tyrannical governments do. However, if we were in a shooting war with Iraq, it would be over in three weeks. "Over" meaning all conventional forces defeated. The Iranians, like Iraq, would resort to guerilla war; however, the mullahs are not popular with the people, so would fall as well.
Our equipment and forces are 10X better than anything out there. I have a friend who is an active duty SEAL. He has stated that our aircraft, technology, tanks, weapons and forces are by far the best on the planet by a long shot, with the only comparable forces being that of our close allies.
Iran is not a super-power and could easily be defeated in a short time in a conventional war and/or their entire infrastructure destroyed within a week.
The "simulation" forgot to take out the entire infrastructure (electricity, communications, computer system, water and food distribution) first. That is the way you fight a modern war, not the WW2/WW1 way.
Wake up.
You don’t know what you’re talking about! Please.
You know better than the Generals that set up the simulation? The same guys that rigged the game against General Van Riper, and ended up losing over 20k men on the first day? Yeah...he basically sank their whole damn flotilla before the troops could even disembark.
Iran isn’t a Superpower? LMAO...neither is Iraq. How’d that go? Neither is Vietnam. How’d that go? Neither are the Taliban. How’s that going?
Smart weapons? Pfffffft...No replacement for seasoned troops with competent commanders. Tanks? Waste of time in a nation as mountainous as Iran. Technology? Easily defeated or rendered useless in guerrilla war. Troops? You’ve gotta be kidding me? Our forces are superior on THEIR soil?
The simulation was steered in favor of the United States Military...BIG TIME. And General Van Ripen STILL defeated it.
Simulation isn’t real? Thanks Captain Obvious. Yeah...a simulation isn’t real, but it was damn sure a REAL simulation! Again, we make our war plans based on REAL simulations.
And if this were no big deal as you’re inferring here, why did the Pentagon not only cheat to be competitive, but then classified and BURIED the results afterwards! Why? Since it’s no big deal, right??
You don’t know what you’re talking about! Please.
You know better than the Generals that set up the simulation? The same guys that rigged the game against General Van Riper, and ended up losing over 20k men on the first day? Yeah...he basically sank their whole damn flotilla before the troops could even disembark.
Iran isn’t a Superpower? LMAO...neither is Iraq. How’d that go? Neither is Vietnam. How’d that go? Neither are the Taliban. How’s that going?
Smart weapons? Pfffffft...No replacement for seasoned troops with competent commanders. Tanks? Waste of time in a nation as mountainous as Iran. Technology? Easily defeated or rendered useless in guerrilla war. Troops? You’ve gotta be kidding me? Our forces are superior on THEIR soil?
Stop it. You’re killing me. Lol
You probably weren't born when all the experts were telling us how severe the US losses would be prior to Gulf War 1.
I mean, is this emblematic of how desperate you’re getting in this debate? Gulf War 1???
We amassed a bazillion troops from god only knows how many nations to push the army of ONE nation out of Kuwait. Let’s not get carried away, okay?
Anyway, back to our scheduled programming.
Now be fair Pedro is correct. The talking heads predicted a long drawn out war. They sited issue with the M1 in desert conditions. The Apache would be a maintenance nightmare. Iraq's forces were much more experienced. It was a deluge of defeatism.
They sighted the number of Iraqi tanks far out numbered our own. Iraqi air defenses were impenetrable etc.
He is right about that and the talking heads were wrong.
Iran? We already discussed. I think we would roll over their military. That isn't the challenge though. Like Iraq and Afghanistan, it's occupying and holding that is a challenge. that door to door crap gets our guys dead.
The better answer is to let it cool down and live with it.
Now be fair Pedro is correct. The talking heads predicted a long drawn out war. They sited issue with the M1 in desert conditions. The Apache would be a maintenance nightmare. Iraq's forces were much more experienced. It was a deluge of defeatism.
They sighted the number of Iraqi tanks far out numbered our own. Iraqi air defenses were impenetrable etc.
He is right about that and the talking heads were wrong.
Iran? We already discussed. I think we would roll over their military. That isn't the challenge though. Like Iraq and Afghanistan, it's occupying and holding that is a challenge. that door to door crap gets our guys dead.
The better answer is to let it cool down and live with it.
Before Gulf War 1, we hadn’t been in a large ground battle in decades that involved tanks, air power and hundreds of thousands of troops. We had no idea what we were stepping into. We were SMART to prepare for the absolute worst situation possible, and be happy if the opposite happened. Well the opposite DID happen.
This is 2020...there’s no reason to go into war unprepared since we’ve been at perpetual war since 2001. We should after 20 years on the Middle East have a much better picture of our foe, and our foe is formidable.
Gulf War I isn’t applicable here. We should be HAPPY that we overestimated the enemy, not use the actual outcome to be cocky and arrogant.
Iran? We already discussed. I think we would roll over their military. That isn't the challenge though. Like Iraq and Afghanistan, it's occupying and holding that is a challenge. that door to door crap gets our guys dead.
The better answer is to let it cool down and live with it.
You're fooling yourself if you think Iran is going to be rolled over, militarily. They're 4x the size of Iraq in area, and have double their population.
Large segments of the Iranian population may have beefs with their government, but when it comes to defending their country, their critiques of the mullahs are going to fall by the wayside and they'll take up arms.
Seems like every empire has had to learn this. Deciding the enemy is inherently inferior and your side's victory is a given - that is probably the worst mistake a leader can make, whether he commands a squad or an army corps. Always, always assume you're fighting someone tough, competent, determined and smart.
Here's how Punch commented on that mindset in 1879, after the British army had learned, to their loss, that the Zulus refused to play by British rules. It could have been drawn so, so many times before and after.
LMAO...that cartoon is brilliant. Unfortunately, we don’t understand it as a nation.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
