One More Bridge to Cross : Lowering the Cost of War

Only recently have American military thinkers begun to fully understand the paradoxical, highly deceptive, squad tactics of former adversaries. From the author of The Last Hundred Yards: the NCO's Contribution to Warfare, comes this gut-wrenching look into past battles through the eyes of an enemy soldier. Overemphasis on rank, technology, and long-range warfare has created a significant shortfall in the short-range combat skills of the U.S. military. This shortfall will continue to cost lives until it is fixed. America's opponents have been using a different style of warfare. Their emphasis has been on short-range combat and the individual soldier. They seldom attack without (1) reconnoitering their objective from the inside with sappers, and (2) punching a hole in the defenders' lines with a squad or a platoon. Even at the small-unit level, their actions are designed to look like something else. At the squad level, combat can be like football. But squads need more than one prerehearsed technique for each expected situation, or they become too predictable. Sev