12 quotes
We are reluctant to admit that essentially war is the business of killing, though that is the simplest truth in the book.
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (1947)
Undue emphasis on conservation is as great a danger to fire power as is an excess expenditure of ammunition.
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (1947)
War must always start with imperfect instruments.
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (1947)
The enemy, no more willing to be shot than was his opponent, was rarely seen, only fleetingly if at all.
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (1947)
The first effect of fire is to dissolve all appearances of order.
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (1947)
Truly then, it is killing men with kindness not to insist upon physical standards during training which will give them maximum fitness for the extraordinary stresses of campaigning in war.
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (1947)
The first duty of the officer is to challenge whatever seems illusory.
The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation (1950)
With respect to the effect of "friendly fire" hitting among troops. however, it is to be observed that if the circumstances leave any room for doubt as to the source, the men will jump to the conclusion that they are being victimized by their own guns.
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (1947)
The art of leading, in operations large or small, is the art of dealing with humanity, of working diligently on behalf of men, of being sympathetic with them, but equally, of insisting that they make a square facing toward their own problems.
The rifleman in training is usually under close observation and the chief pressure upon him is to give satisfaction to his superior, whereas the rifleman engaging the enemy is of necessity pretty much on his own, and the chief pressure on him is to remain alive, if possible.
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (1947)
The familiar and always popular warnings against the dangers of a growth of militarism among our people are raised anew by leaders who never having served in their country's uniform, are loath to recognize that those who do so may have a devotion to the nation's welfare and a love of its free institutions quite equal to their own.
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (1947)
A few of them fire their pieces. At first they do so almost timidly, as if fearing a rebuke for wasting ammunition when they do not see the enemy. Others do nothing. Some fail to act mainly because they are puzzled what to do and their leaders do not tell them; others are wholly unnerved and can neither think nor move in sensible relation to the situation.
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (1947)