Most readers will marvel at the tactics & maneuvers UKRs army and its generals used in the east (Donbas) & the southeast (Kherson) during their Oct/Nov operations.
But there's so much more to be gleaned from this article.
It speaks to the transformation of UKR's Army. 2/
If you've read the piece, read it again with a different view.
UKR generals conducting "rehearsals" (in Germany) with US officials.
Our Army calls those "ROC Drills" for "rehearsal of concept." That's a commander/staff drill to coordinate & synchronize actions in combat. 3/
We practice those rehearsals in training, conduct them during warfare & teach the techniques to others.
You never - NEVER - want to go into a fight not knowing what your teammates are doing.
It's done with small units ...& with large units. In a gym, or in the dirt. 4/
Read what else is implied in the article:
Operations based on finely tuned intelligence.
Our army teaches soldiers "don't feel your way around the battlefield...know what you're going after."
Intel collection, analysis, application is key to "intel-based operations." 5/
Precise targeting!
Don't waste ammunition...use targeting to launch precision ammunitions to hit only important targets.
As a US commander - from Squadron to Division - the commander & staff assessed the "High Value Targets."
Using the loop of Decide-Detect-Deliver-Assess. 6/
As a Division Commander in combat, every Saturday morning we held our "targeting boards" for both kinetic and non-kinetic targets.
What would we strike, and who would we engage in a counterinsurgency operation?
The UA only is worried about striking! 7/
The @washingtonpost article discusses some UKR units going fast (in Donbas) & others going not as fast (in Kherson).
Commander's define that "tempo" and it's determined by the context of the fight.
A mentor once taught me "know when you need to speed up & when to slow down."8/
Finally, all of this come together because of great leadership - from corporals to generals - and courage manifested in individual soldiers.
Ukraine's Army has been trained in these things...the Russian Army has not.
Read this WP article again...it's got a lot of nuance. 9/9
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WRT national security & global threats, an extremely dangerous time re US "foes." -Massive Russian strikes in Ukraine -Georgia's "frozen conflict" heating up. -Moldova dealing with Russian troops in Transnistria -Russian economy collapsing...due to Putin's wars --Assad flees to Russia 1/4
-China intimidates Philippines, assaults Hong Kong's autonomy, represses Tibet & Xinjiang, threatens Taiwan, blocks international trade routes -N. Korea troops & weapons in Russia, increases missile capabilities -Hamas destroyed, but Hezbollah, IJ, MB & the Africa terror groups still active. 2/4
-Piracy increases in Persian Gulf and Red Sea regions -US, Mexico & Philippines rated as most active human trafficking countries -Draughts, famine & other climate change factors + outcome of conflicts causes increased migration into US & Europe. -Domestic terrorism indicators rising. 3/4
Watching the Israeli operations in S. Lebanon today, as the IDF releases numerous photos of arms caches found in & near homes. 1/7
These are similar to what US forces found throughout Iraq when we were there.
Using civilian locations provides terror organizations w/ unique advantages:
- difficult to find
- difficult to target
- when found, striking/destroying results in civilian casualties. 2/
This morning, the IAF also struck a 3.5 km tunnel complex between Syria & Lebanon that provided a means of bringing those weapons to Hezbollah.
Between 0900-1100 hrs local time today, Hezbollah launched over 100 rockets & drones into N. Israel. 3/
A few thoughts on what occurred in two different conflicts yesterday...the use of "killer pagers" by Israel and Ukraine's attack on the large ammo cache at Toropets military base 300+ miles inside Russia.
A short 🧵 1/12
First, the pagers.
In this article (gifted) from the @nytimes, the author claims there "no clear strategy" for this coordinated attack.
I disagree. Having used electronic & signals countermeasures in Iraq, the strategy is clear. 2/
Terrorist organizations - unlike conventional militaries who have encrypted signal capabilities - must find ways to communiate. It is important to continue to disrupt & counter this ability.
In Iraq, terrorist use of cell phones allowed US and ISF to glean valuable information & disrupt their networks. 3/