First Combat: Riva Ridge and Mount Belvedere Assaults

Lance R. Blyth, command historian at the North American Aerospace Defense Command and author of Ski, Climb, Fight: The 10th Mountain Division and the Rise of Mountain Warfare, joins the show to discuss the history and tactics of fighting at altitude.       

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Times

    •      01:31 Introduction

    •      01:41 Marine

    •      04:55 L.A. riots         

    •      07:22 From horses to skis

    •      10:13 Antecedents         

    •      13:56 Advantage            

    •      15:40 The Germans    

    •      17:55 The Winter War          

    •      22:51 French surrender

    •      25:58 Specialized divisions

    •      31:37 Volunteers 

    •      33:49 Training

    •      36:50 Delay and Italy          

    •      42:16 No doctrine 

    •      45:29 The Gothic Line

    •      52:00 Success

    •      55:35 Afghanistan

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Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack