In this episode, we discuss
-The US Army’s individual replacement system in Vietnam
-McDonough’s experience serving as the aide to the commanding general of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam
-McDonough’s thoughts on how technology has extended senior leaders’ ability to overexert influence or command on small units
-How McDonough’s Vietnam experiences shaped his approach to command
-Some of the mistakes McDonough made as a platoon leader in Vietnam
-The decision-forcing case The Farmer: its inspiration, development, and use with US Marines
-What it was like to serve in the ‘Hollow Army’ after Vietnam
-McDonough’s experience as a mechanized infantry company commander
-McDonough’s time as an S-3 operations officer for an infantry battalion in South Korea
-His experiences serving as the military assistant to General John Galvin, Supreme Allied Commander Europe
-McDonough’s observations of the maneuver warfare debates in the Marine Corps
-The value and pitfalls of studying German military history, especially the German forces of World War II
-The tight rope that military and military-civilian professionals must walk when studying the forces of the Nazi Germany a nthe Southern Confederacy
-The events leading to McDonough’s appointment as director of the School of Advanced Military Studies
-The process of revising FM 100-5 Operations
-The origin of the term “operations other than war”
-What inspired the writing of McDonough’s second book, The Defense of Hill 781, and what today’s soldiers and Marines can learn from it in light of renewed focus on large-scale conventional combat operations
-What lessons from Hill 781 might not apply to today’s battlefields
-McDonough’s third book, The Limits of Glory
-His experience standing up the brigade that would eventually get reflagged as the 173rd Airborne Brigade
-What it was like leading that brigade through the genocide, Cholera epidemic, and civil war in Rwanda
Links
Platoon Leader by James McDonough: https://www.amazon.com/Platoon-Leader-Memoir-Command-Combat/dp/0891418008
The Defense of Hill 781 by James McDonough: https://www.amazon.com/Defense-Hill-781-Allegory-Mechanized/dp/0891414754
The Limits of Glory by James McDonough: https://www.amazon.com/Limits-Glory-Novel-Waterloo/dp/0891413847
"American Army Doctrine for the Post- Cold War" by John L. Romjue: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA317654.pdf
'Facing the "What Now?'" Moment' by Damien O'Connell: https://mca-marines.org/wp-content/uploads/Facing-the-What-Now-Moment.pdf
Errata
-When discussing TBS's use of The Farmer DFC, I said they forced to students to either harm the farmer or risk certain death in the minefield. To be precise, TBS called for students "...to...[decide]...whether to threaten or do bodily harm to a local civilian in order to save the lives of their Marines (soldiers).”
-While discussing the bureaucratic differences between Colonel McDonough and Major General Wesley Clark at TRADOC, McDonough erroneously referred to himself as a 'one-star general,' though he meant to say, 'colonel.'