 The Last Ridge: The Epic Story the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division and the Assault on Hitler's Europe Books In Print, Audio Books. |
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The Last Ridge: The Epic Story the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division and the Assault on Hitler's Europe
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The Last Ridge: The Epic Story the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division and the Assault on Hitler's Europe Customer Reviews
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Lessons for Our Time
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The Last Ridge is the story of the creation and employment of the 10th Mountain Division during WW II. As an historical account it is excellent. As a good read, it is fascinating. However, the true value of McKay Jenning's work is as a lesson to our modern strategic thinkers.
Current logic is to create "cookie cutter" Brigade Combat Teams (BCT's) with specialized support to fit the environment. Indeed, this methodology will probably meet our needs for ground forces in most instances. However, our planners should take heed of the experiences of the specially trained and equipped conventional force that was the 10th Mountain. While the use of Rangers and Special Forces can accomplish any of the feats of the comparably sized units of WW II 10th MD units (better, owing to vastly improved lethality, and the general skill and motivation of the individual Soldier), larger scale or protracted missions can only be accomplished on the scale seen in Northern Italy with a specially trained unit of brigade or larger size. Ergo the lesson: be prepared to expend 6-12 months in preparing a large unit for specialized environments. The expense in money, time and material will be far less than the lives expended during an unskilled execution phase.
I recommend this book for leaders at all levels. The intelligence, ingenuity and abilities of the Soldiers in our ranks today exceed those of any time in history. Thankfully, our combat leaders are also more adaptable than at any previous time, willing to try out new and innovative concepts. And new ideas are constantly being incorporated into our current operations at all levels. This book lends to reinforce the concept of adaptability in current environments.
The extensive use of individual veteran testimonials enhances, not detracts, from this work as a historically significant work. The only omission is a more detailed description of the operational planning by the division and brigade staffs. These are covered in a general way, and would be even more useful considering the description of the on-the-fly changes in execution as new information became available during attacks, as well as the quick approval of those changes by higher commanders.
The Last Ridge is entertaining, and at times both heart warming and heart breaking. This is an excellent tribute to the men of the 10th and those outstanding Americans, both in and out of uniform, that coalesced this specially trained division. It is also a lesson in, "get in, get out, quit screwing about," with their speedy employment upon arrival in Italy. This is something that we should always keep in mind in theater level military operations when such is possible.
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