This is an excellent simulation of this battle, and a big thanks to Matt at Facebook for giving me the heads up. Long War Journal also posted this thing, and keep your eyes on the comments there if you want to review feedback.
Might I also add if you didn’t know already, that this was the battle that Marine Dakota Meyer participated in and received the Medal of Honor for. So it is cool to see exactly what went down that day in the form of a video simulation.
As to my comments on the battle? I think the lessons learned posted at the end say it all. Also, from a private military point of view, you can see how important it is for everyone involved in the machine to be on the same sheet of music and to have excellent intelligence to make good plans.
Also, you can see how vital support was to this task force of Marines, Afghan soldiers, and Army. To be able to support your operations versus depending on someone else to arrange that support or give that is the ultimate in self-sufficiency and mobility. Having their own mortars to provide their own organic fire support, or even having drones like the Switchblade would have been nice to have.
Just look at what happens when you have to depend upon a command post operations center that was incompetent or too bureaucratic/inefficient to support a task force like this? Or look what happens when they are overwhelmed or understaffed?
Another point I wanted to make is Incident Command versus what the military tries to do in war. I think the military could learn from forest fire fighting dispatching centers. They are fast paced, chaotic, and people depend upon a dispatcher’s quick decision making to support fire fighting.
When I was a forest fire fighter back in the day, I got a chance to be a dispatcher. Decisions made in the dispatch center saved lives and property, and we supported operations during times of normal fire activity, all the way up to ‘the entire world was on fire and pure chaos was the result’. lol It is a tough job, and mentally you will be pushed. (it is a multi-tasker’s profession, and women do well at it)
As a dispatcher, you have to understand the needs of those in the field, and bend over backwards to ensure they are supported for their fight. You must be able to operate like this, at all times and in all conditions, and get it right every time. Incident Command is a key command system that makes this work. So when I view how this command post operations center operated in this battle, I have to shake my head in disbelief.
Another thing with dispatching is that highly experienced forest fire fighters were very nice to have in these centers, just because they could interpret the events happening out in the field, and help devise better plans of support. That they could share the reality of the folks out in the field, far better than a dispatcher that has never been out in the field. That’s not to say that dispatchers without fire fighting experience are not good–it’s just they do not have the same ‘orientation’ as experienced fire fighters. (OODA totally applies to this battle, and fire fighting/dispatching)
Although, both types of dispatchers helped tremendously. Two different types of orientation, all contributing to a fast paced decision making environment… I think military folks could learn a few things from these centers.
Also, the company that produced this video put together some fantastic training videos on squad movements and other infantry related skills. Either way, check it out and let me know what you think? –Matt
In this undated photo released by the U.S. Marines, Sgt. Dakota Meyer poses for a photo while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Ganjgal Village, Kunar province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/U.S. Marines)
