The change in tactics dictated by the machinegun had to be learned several times before armies of the world discarded the "tried and true" tactics of frontal assault.
The current reliance on hardware and software reminds me of a story my good friend Tom Vickermann tells of the fielding of the Dragon.
Tom was in the first class trained with the new weapon system in the US. He went then to Europe to a unit that was one the first fielded.
In training run by the contractor he had used the tracking board and the LETS (launch effects trainer) and had scored all hits with this system as he graduated from AIT.
Couple months later he is in Germany, where the new weapon is going to allow the US to stop the Russian hordes. Training is not the highest speed nor even the highest priority, and tracking and LETS are not done anywhere near what he had just trained in the US.
Long story short only he scored hits, everybody in the Bn missed except him. CSM looks into this, goes through the proforma interview process, interviews all the soldiers. Vick tells the CSM, (remember this a guy who shot 100% talking to a CSM about the training)exactly how the training was deficient in comparson to the manufacturers' training he had just gotten stateside.
The CSM was not familiar with the training, did not research the SP4's complaint and evenutally said in his reports that the training was adequate, but the soldiers needed haircuts!
Mike Spight, I too have about 30 months till I can retire, I could stay several years beyond that. I can not, I am sick to death of bean counters, gee whiz weapons systems in lieu of real training.
Shortly, if we follow todays bombs with troops we will find out that every bullet we saved the tax payers will cost in BLOOD!
This is a harsh statement. If ground action follows the bombing we will soon learn that a man with a rifle, machinegun, and mortar, who can use them, is a formidable for indeed when we can not drive a 63 ton behemoth over his gnarly butt!
------------------
Ni ellegimit carborundum esse!
Yours In Marksmanship
http://www.1bigred.com/distinguished
michael