Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Did the regimental system optimize the British army for small wars? And what does that all mean for today’s U.S. Army?

Those, little grasshoppers, are the two questions that occurred to me as I read Max Hastings’s comment (in Winston’s War) that during World War II, "German, American and Russian professional soldiers thought in divisions; the British always thought of the regiment, the cherished ‘military family.’ Until the end of the war, the dead hand of ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Wikimedia
Wikimedia
Wikimedia

Those, little grasshoppers, are the two questions that occurred to me as I read Max Hastings's comment (in Winston's War) that during World War II, "German, American and Russian professional soldiers thought in divisions; the British always thought of the regiment, the cherished ‘military family.' Until the end of the war, the dead hand of centralized, top-down command methods, together with lack of a fighting doctrine common to the entire army, hampered operations in the field."

Those, little grasshoppers, are the two questions that occurred to me as I read Max Hastings’s comment (in Winston’s War) that during World War II, "German, American and Russian professional soldiers thought in divisions; the British always thought of the regiment, the cherished ‘military family.’ Until the end of the war, the dead hand of centralized, top-down command methods, together with lack of a fighting doctrine common to the entire army, hampered operations in the field."

This was, Hastings goes on to write, one reason that the Germans were better at everything from combined arms attacks to mundane but essential tasks such as recovering disabled tanks and trucks from the battlefield.

Yet that same small, cohesive structure might have been good for fighting small wars, with units able to carry on quietly for years without getting much attention, getting to know one area well.

So: What, if anything, does this suggest for how the U.S. Army should be organized for the future? (Or should the small war mission be sent back to the Marines?)

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.