I heard a story....

German Freikorps, Reichsheer and Reichsmarine 1919-1934.
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GunnySpook
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Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:59 pm

I heard a story....

Post by GunnySpook »

I heard a story that postulated the following:

1. The German General Staff, after the conclusion of WWI, commissioned a study as to why the German forces had failed to prevail during the war. The conclusions of the study were reached and published sometime in the late 1920s.

2. The outcome of the study was a complete restructuring of German military forces, to include rank, authorities (within individual combat units), structure, relationships, etc. Supposedly this also included a drastic reduction in the ratio of the number of officers to enlisted and NCO ranks. More authority was to be vested in the NCO ranks to actually make field level combat decisions.

3. As the story went, the US Marine Corps picked up on this study and adopted it almost in its entirety, and that this study formed the base of Marine Corps doctrine today.

Has anyone ever heard this before?

Can anyone validate (or refute) this?

Thanks!

The Gunny
bil
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Re: I heard a story....

Post by bil »

Sort of...Captain (Hauptman) Adolf Von Schell was a German infantry officer that served in WW I,both eastern and western fronts.Post-war,he continued to serve in the German Army,as a line officer and staff officer. In 1930 he was sent by his government to attend The Infantry School at Fort Benning,and graduated there with the advanced class of 1930/31.He gave a series of lectures while there to the students,officers,and also officers of the 29th infantry.These lectures were based on his extensive experiance during the war,in varying conditions.
His book,'Battle Leadership',was first published in 1933,and has been reprinted as late as 2002,by the Marine Corps Association in Quantico.
Preface:
Captain Von Schell's collection of lessons learned as a small unit infantry commander during WW I should be a part of every marine's professional library.It is one of the finest works of its type I have read and compares favorably with Rommels 'Infantry Attacks'
His observations on combat leadership and tactics are timeless and are as pertinent today as they were in 1917.It should be required reading for all combat leaders,particularly those serving on the platoon,company,and battalion level.
D.M. Twomey,Major general,U.S.Marine Corps

A very good book,and well worth reading (and keeping!) ---bil
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