This article was written by Ernie Audino and appeared in Frontlines of Freedom. THE HERO of RAMADI, LTG SEAN MACFARLAND – THE CHANGING CHARACTER OF WAR.
History’s largest tank battle was raging this week, 83 years ago at Kursk in the USSR, not far from the border with Ukraine. And 20 years ago at Ramadi in Iraq a tank brigade commander and his task force were turning the tables against al Qaeda…with such success that the months-long battle is sometimes termed Iraq’s Gettysburg. Two completely different battlefields, two completely different enemies, and two completely different eras of weapons, tactics and training. The commander was then-Colonel Sean MacFarland. He later commanded 1st Armored Division and III Corps and led the fight against ISIS in Syria. If anyone has the relevant experience to understand and describe the changing character of modern war…from Kursk to Ramadi to Ukraine to Iran and into the future, it’s Sean. I’m privileged to call him an old friend, and he joined me on the Frontlines Report this week. Click here to hear his fascinating comments: https://frontlinesoffreedom.com/show-968/
But first, a few thoughts on the Nature of War (as opposed to the Character of War). The Nature of War is a violent clash of a People’s will. It’s unchanging. It arises when we’ve reached the limits of reasoned debate between Peoples or nations, which is why, in the West we understand war as the extreme extension of politics (as opposed to political ideology).
The Character of War, on the other hand, can be understood as the way we fight, but the way we fight changes from era to era. Today we fight with precision-guided munitions, drones, cyber ops, directed-energy weapons, GPS, thermal sights, encrypted digital frequency-hopping comms, F35s, computer vision, networked battleships, submarines, nukes, satellites, tanks, machine guns, rockets, missiles, mortars, artillery, etc., etc., etc. But we once fought with clubs, and spears, arrows, axes and swords. Times changed from the Agricultural Age to the Industrial Age to today’s Information Age….and so did our ways of fighting.
The latest lessons and false lessons on the changing character of war are coming from Ukraine, and now also from Iran. The lessons are not just at the tactical level. In fact, many of the most fascinating (and most frustrating) lessons are at the strategic level. BTW I have a piece coming out later this week in Real Clear Defense that digs into some strategic lessons for Iran.
And NO…the prevalence of drones on the modern battlefield does not spell the demise of the tank! Drones are just the latest verse in the End-of-The Tank chorus that has been singing since the first widespread combat use of ATGM’s (anti-tank guided missiles) during the Yom Kippur War, 1973. Tune in to hear why.
