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Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Quote of the day: On German NCOs

They seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of hard, competent N.C.O.s.

By
Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-089-3779-07,_Russland,_Feldwebel_mit_Orden
Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-089-3779-07,_Russland,_Feldwebel_mit_Orden

 

 

“That was the cement which kept the German Army together. Her men were nothing to boast of on average; no more were the officers, even in crack corps like the Guard and the Brandenburgers; but they seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of hard, competent N.C.O.s.” — John Buchan, Greenmantle (1916 novel)

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1
Tag: Military

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