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**********KOSOVO: OPERATION JOINT GUARDIAN - DAY 5****
********** VOICE OF THE GRUNT
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********** 16 June 1999
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES
Hack's Column
Kosovo: A Pyrrhic Victory
1
Mac Notes
2
>From The Field:
Victory Through Air Power
3
He Deferred Approval To The Vice-President
4
Don't Start The Celebration Yet 5
British SAS Part II
6
It's Official: Training Degrades Readiness
7
The Wildly Revolving Door
8
Medal of Honor:
SSgt. Gersch, John G., USA, E Co., 1/327, 101st ABN Div.
9
A Shau Valley, RVN, 19 July 1969
Commentary:
MPRI: Military Princes Retirement & Investments 10
No Humor This Week
===========================================================
ARTICLE 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KOSOVO: A PYRRHIC VICTORY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By David H. Hackworth, 15 June 1999
Wait a military minute. We spend 4 billion bucks, risk our Green
Berets' and jet jockeys' lives, and the Ruskies do an end run and march
into Kosovo before us?
They get the parades, flowers and cheers that were beamed by
television around the world -- and we pick up the tab.
This just doesn't add up. But come to think of it, nothing in the
"war that wasn't a war" makes much sense.
Let's review the deal. President Clinton does a peace dance with
indicted war criminal Slobodian Milosevic, a guy he called Hitler, in
which Milosevic stays the main man. Kosovo still belongs to him. Serb
soldiers, the ones who drove out the refugees, will be at the border
welcoming them back home.
Humm? Things have changed since President Truman, when Hitler put
a bullet in his brain rather than face Harry's stern music. If he'd played
war under Clinton rules, he'd have been allowed to give Ike the keys to
Berlin while the Nazi army passed in review and then quietly retired to a
sunny dictator-friendly South American state.
Had I submitted an outline of how the operation went down as a
proposal to a book editor, I'd have gotten the Big R - rejection - with a
note saying "We don't do Air Power humor" or "Catch 22's already been
written" or "Sorry, your imagination's in overdrive. No military operation
could have been this bad."
But that won't be the spin coming out of the White House and the
Pentagon until Hillary grabs the headlines by kicking off her pre-2008
presidential election campaign with her go at the Senate.
The veteran Clinton spin team -- which flimflammed Monica into a
stalker, Paula into trailer-park trash, and labeled Bill's womanizing and
the selling of secrets to China as dirty tricks by right-wing extremists
-- will ram a hype hose down the nation's throat and turn the water all
the way up.
The war that wasn't a war will be spun into a great victory, a
combination of our Revolutionary War, V-J Day and Desert Storm.
But when our flyers and soldiers and sailors start leaking to the
press, you'll see a triumph it was not. The conflict was not only badly
bungled, it was the military mismatch of history.
It was like a wrestling match between Little Orphan Annie and Jesse
Ventura -- the little redheaded kid being Serbia and Jesse being a
muscle-bound NATO.
Annie weighed in with a fourth-rate 1960s army, backed by 10 million
people from a primarily agricultural state the size of Ohio whose economy
pumps out less dough than Coney Island on a rainy day. Jesse hit the
scales with the most powerful military machine in the history of the
world, 800 million supporters hailing from 19 mostly rich industrialized
countries.
After 78 rounds, Annie is still standing and singing "Tomorrow!
Tomorrow! I love ya tomorrow!" while Jesse, who has had to spend too much
energy preventing his 19 supporters from stabbing him in the back never
got in a decisive hit.
When Serbia left Kosovo, its forces going out looked as good as
NATO's military machine did coming in. The bombed and blasted Serb Army
vehicles and soldiers were parade-ground sharp. Their trucks and tanks
were clean and well maintained, and their soldiers' gear, uniforms and
haircuts looked ready for a tough first sergeant's inspection. No one
looked battle-rattled or had that vacant 1,000-yard stare that comes from
a few too many nearby hits.
After all those bombs and missiles and all of NATO's glowing reports
about battle damage inflicted on the non-white-flag-waving Serbian Army,
11 MiG fighters rose from an air base in Kosovo on the day the peace deal
was final. They wagged their perfect, unruffled wings and headed north.
After such a pummeling, how could 11 jet fighters, almost more than Great
Britain used in the war, remain unscathed?
Eventually, the analysts will tell us the final score. But one thing for
sure is that the Cold War is back and Russia again has a bunch of missiles
pointed our way.
Their politicians say they didn't authorize the stealth maneuver to
parade in Kosovo. Which means the generals, the guys who control the
nuclear-tipped missiles, are really in charge.
Sleep well. Enjoy the "victory" while it lasts.
============================================
ARTICLE 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*******MAC NOTES*******
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Could it have been any more embarrassing for NATO and our
illustrious foreign policy team last Friday? All the folks turning out
with smiles, flowers and bottles of wine to welcome the Russians into
Pristina, Kosovo's capitol, as their deliverers from the evils of NATO.
What a joke!
NATO has all the best reconnaissance assets in the world at its
disposal, but they never noticed the Russians moving troops and vehicles
to the Bosnian/Kosovo border? And we laugh today when we read how a radar
officer at Pearl Harbor told his operators not to worry about a large blip
moving in from the northwest back on 7 December!
And, sure enough, the crazies in North Korea are now playing "tag"
in the territorial waters of South Korea. South Korea has responded by
putting its 650,000 man Army on a high state of alert. Last word was that
the South Koreans "deep-sixed" one of the North's high-speed "PT" boats.
Hope our mega-billion dollar "Intell" community doesn't drop its eyeballs
on this one or from watching Saddam.
I find it paradoxical with the Air Campaign over, an agreement being
wrangled out and our troops on the ground, we are treated to another Ken
Starr story that made the front-page of the Sunday newspapers and was all
the rage on television news. It would seem that getting Kosovo off the
scope as the lead topic of the news is a high priority. Yeah, let's not
answer all the hard questions that Kosovo raises; let's go back to
"entertaining" news stories.
On another note, one of our assistant editors is an Army Reserve
member and he called last Friday with a very interesting tale. He was
mailed a "Lapel Pin" by the U.S. Army; one of those "Proud To Serve"
trinkettes.
Well, he opens that package and out falls the plastic bag with his
Lapel Pin inside. Tatooed on the bag are the words "MADE IN CHINA." He was
floored. It's bad enough that they have our missile technology, but now
they're manufacturing trinkettes for the U.S. Army! He also told me that
he had heard a story that our combat boots might one day be manufactured
in China.
Also, has anyone heard any reports of Special Forces casualties
during this Kosovo operation? These would have been guys targeting Air
Attacks with targets and getting on the ground "Intell." Please let us
know.
Have a good week. Don't bunch up.
Robert L. McMahon
Editor
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
====================================================
ARTICLE 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Victory Through Airpower
(with apologies to Major Alexander P. de Seversky)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The author's 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force included 230 combat
missions in Vietnam. He also served as the Air Attache in Moscow and on
the Strategy Department faculty at the Naval War College.
************************************* by Colonel George Jatras, USAF
(Ret.)
As a former fighter pilot and long-time advocate of air power, why am I
not elated with the supposed victory of air power in Kosovo? What
"victory?" Nineteen nations, with a combined population of 800 million,
pounded on a sovereign nation of 10 million for 78 days, dropping more
tonnage on Yugoslavia than Nazi Germany during WWII, and the victory is a
negotiated settlement that could have been reached before the bombing
began. Look at the facts.
The Rambouillet "Agreement" was an ultimatum clearly designed as an excuse
to bomb. It was rejected by the government of Yugoslavia - as it would
have been by any sovereign nation. The two unacceptable conditions were
(1) a vote for Kosovo independence after three years, and (2) access by
NATO troops to all of Yugoslavia, with complete immunity from prosecution
for any violations of Yugoslav law, a surrender of national sovereignty.
Neither condition appears in the current agreement.
So the non-war was a setup for whatever reason, take your pick: Divert
attention from Chinagate, establish Bill Clinton's legacy as a wartime
leader, make Yugoslavia an example of what happens when a small country
defies the New World Order, or find a new mission for NATO. What were the
stated war aims? Pure and simple: Milosevic would sign the Rambouillet
Agreement, or else -- no changes and no negotiations, thereby preserving
NATO's credibility and preventing destabilization of the region.
As for the conduct of the war, aka the air campaign, anyone with the
slightest knowledge of the military can be sure that Pentagon planners
advocated a massive buildup and swift, decisive execution, ala Desert
Storm. No one would even suggest the kind of campaign we saw initially --
hitting empty buildings and vacated barracks -- unless they were (a)
incompetent, which they are not, or (b) were told by the great military
experts Clinton and Albright that Milosevic would fold immediately as he
had done in Krajina and Bosnia.
Not only did Milosevic not fold, but the Serbian people, hundreds of
thousands of whom had demonstrated for his removal only two years prior,
closed ranks behind him as the defender of their sovereignty. In addition,
Kosovar Albanian refugees poured out of Kosovo by the tens of thousands
into neighboring Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia, whether in fear of
NATO bombs or driven out by Serb forces. One war aim was down the tubes.
Instead of preventing destabilization of the region, NATO had contributed
to it.
The bombing was not having the desired effect. Instead of being
demoralized, the Serbs were defiant. NATO's response was to broaden the
target list and increase the bombing. NATO spokesman Jamie Shea told us
that had been the plan all along, while denying or making excuses for the
mistaken bombing of apartment buildings, monasteries, churches, refugees,
hospitals, schools and embassies. We were even expected to believe than an
"old CIA map" which would have shown a vacant lot where the Chinese
embassy now stands, was the reason for that SNAFU. The war aim of
preserving NATO's credibility was taking some hard hits. One had to be
totally callous not to be revolted by Jamie Shea's braying announcement
that "NATO had a successful day" when T.V. news was showing children
dismembered by an errant NATO bomb. But our president was resolute; he
wasn't going to let a few innocent civilian casualties deter him from
forcing Milosevic to the negotiating table. Negotiating table? What
happened to "Sign Rambouillet, or else?" So, with a new set of war aims we
entered the last phase of the air campaign -- deliberate targeting of
nonmilitary targets. Meanwhile, in the United States, reserve forces were
put on alert and key Air Force personnel were kept from leaving the
service. The Pacific Fleet was left without an aircraft carrier. All this
to bring Milosevic to his knees -- he certainly is no Monica Lewinsky.
And what is the final outcome? In truth, we don't know. The occupation of
Kosovo still has many unanswered questions. But the results of the air
campaign are pretty clear. Rather than being the all-powerful force the
White House spinmasters are touting to justify Bill Clinton's folly, air
power was misused by arrogant, ignorant politicians in a war that violated
nearly every principle of war as well as principles of law, sovereignty
and decency.
As for our military leaders, I fear that as in the Vietnam War, our
generals, faced with incompetent civilian leadership, are too concerned
about their careers and their retirement jobs to lay their stars on the
table and refuse to be part of a shameful action for which we will pay in
blood and treasure for years to come.
A victory for air power? I'm afraid not. The only thing for which we can
be thankful is that we had no combat casualties. For that we can thank
God, at the same time we ask His forgiveness for the unnecessary loss of
innocent lives. ===================================== ARTICLE 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "HE DEFERRED APPROVAL TO
THE VICE PRESIDENT..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SUMMARY: A report from a "fly on the wall" at Vincenza Italy. Mel Brooks,
Norman Lear and Joseph Heller couldn't make this stuff up.
***************************************** By An Air Force Officer
Managing the Air Campaign was particularly challenging since the
strategy was dictated by Gen. Clark. Each day we had a "daily tactical
direction" given at the 0945 VTC. This brief bypassed all chains of
command -- in one VTC the SAC of all EUR gave specific target selection
directions directly to an Army NCO charged with correlating intelligence
information and passing flex targets to the battlecab. Of course, the same
General in question sat on targets, holding up approval or never
submitting specific CAOC requests. When these were submitted, they were
sent to POTUS first (as opposed to the NAC), who seemed to be on vacation
a lot. And naturally, if it was a particularly challenging or high
collateral damage-potential target, our fearless Commander-in-Chief, never
one to dodge an issue -- deferred approval to the Vice President. Mr.
Gore, understandably, just sat on them. After all, if the strike were to
go OK, Clinton got the gravy. On the other hand, if any CD occurred, Mr.
Gore's presidential campaign might be set back.
Then there was the issue of where we could bomb. Clark's daily
insistence that air power be used almost exclusively to bomb concealed
armor interspersed with homes and IDPs created a nightmare scenario that
resulted in an average of nearly 30 strike sorties required to "kill" a
Serb vehicle. The other sorties planted their bombs in a tree-line, or one
of Clark's "assembly areas" (re- "truck park"). It also, in my opinion,
stretched the bombing campaign by an extra 30 days -- at least.
Incrementalism of target approval and release was a significant factor in
extending the air war for no good reason. In the end, the high payoff
targets we repeatedly asked for on day 1 through 77 were proven to be the
key to breaking Serb will to continue. Had we been given approval to
attack IADs and high payoff target systems systematically in the first
days of the effort, the Serb defenses and will to continue would have
broken. The conflict would have been much shorter, we may have prevented
some of the genocide (which the Serbs continue as I write), and the
collateral casualties would have been much lower.
In short, there wasn't much missing from a comparison between this
effort and the worst of Vietnam (Lady Bird and "wanna see my scar"),
except for the fact that despite the seemingly deliberate effort to
misapply air power, it succeeded in forcing a recalcitrant Serb leadership
back to the bargaining table. Where they got about the same deal they were
offered at Ramboulliet four months ago.
============================================= ARTICLE 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DON'T START THE CELEBRATION YET
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SUMMARY: This officer reminds us that
the tough job is only beginning. ************************************ By
An Army Officer
Recent developments in the NATO-Serbia row promise to offer a
welcomed end to the wholesale death and destruction perpetrated by both
sides, but don't start the celebration just yet. While our politicians
spout self-congratulatory speeches for CNN, we in the military need to
focus on our Serb adversaries' capabilities and intent.
Having spent four years as a Bosnia analyst, including a year in
theater, I believe the Serbs are attempting to dupe NATO in the hope we'll
let our guard down long enough for them to strike at our weak
underbelly-public support. The Washington Post recently interviewed one of
General Wesley Clarke's senior staff officers. In that interview the
officer states that a senior Serb official had told him the Serb
leadership understands very clearly that it was the death of a few Rangers
that changed public opinion and ultimately drove the U.S. from Somalia.
Could it be that the Serbs have merely moved into another phase designed
to lull NATO into complacency and then strike?
Let's look at recent history. In Bosnia, the Serbs conducted an
aggressive campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Muslims and Croats.
Along the way, they took UN soldiers hostage and committed genocide in the
Muslim enclaves of eastern Bosnia. A devastating explosion in a Sarajevo
market (allegedly perpetrated by the Serbs) finally precipitated a NATO
military response, "Operation Deliberate Force." This air campaign
disrupted Serb command and control, allowing the Bosnian Federation forces
to drive the Bosnian Serb Army to its knees and eventually to the peace
talks at Dayton. The political lines drawn at Dayton clearly defines
political responsibility for each of the former warring factions, which
allows blame to be directed toward the appropriate entity in the event of
an attack against NATO forces. NATO has operated without a direct military
confrontation with the Serbs and no deaths at Serb hands.
Now look at the situation in Kosovo. Unlike Bosnia, Kosovo presents
NATO the challenge of operating in an area where there are no clearly
defined political borders. Granted, Kosovo remains a province of Serbia,
but NATO's insistence that all Yugoslav Army and Interior Ministry forces
depart the area removes these Serb elements of power from the chain or
responsibility. NATO may soon find itself in the middle of a low intensity
conflict, where NATO soldiers can be targeted by the KLA, the Serb "Black
Hand" terrorist group, ethnic Albanian civilians, Serb civilians, or all
of the above. Any of these groups might adopt the tactic of attempting to
inflict NATO casualties while placing the blame on another group in order
to provoke a NATO response against their adversaries. Milosevic knows that
casualties will create a rift in NATO unity. He was unable to inflict
casualties while NATO stuck to an air campaign. With NATO soldiers on
Serbian soil, Slobodan may see the opportunity he's been waiting for. It
may not even require direct action against NATO. Even now, Serb troops are
probably placing booby-traps and laying additional mines in every area of
Kosovo they vacate. NATO must remain more vigilant than ever.
================================================ ~~> more articles in Part
B ~~>
A<>E<>R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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