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Post by scottbono on Jan 24, 2014 18:05:20 GMT -6
Britt: I think it does. I will go further and say that is the way I would have done it had I been calling those shots. I am not Keogh though, and that is why I classified it no better than a hunch, not wishing to be more definitive thereby suggesting my way was the only way. It is not. It is a simple, direct, and effective way of deploying a force. The advantages you give it are completely valid, covering of movement and buying time and security for other deployments until a position is fully set. Generally speaking the rule is, first in address the most immediate threatened area. If that area continues to be the most threatened first in then also becomes last out. What surprises me is that no one commented about Keogh himself. Personally I think he gets a bad rap, mostly brought on by where his body was discovered. As a battalion commander, he would have turned over the running of his company to his senior subordinate. I cannot see a man like Keogh not being far forward and present where the most serious threat was. Initially that was Calhoun Hill. Now he was found back with his own Company I giving fuel for his detractors. I can think of two possible reasons for his presence with Company I that are completely in line with his battalion commander duties. 1) A new and unexpected threat emerged in that vicinity, and the place that leaders grace with their personal presence is in efforts to address threat. 2) Had Keogh, and this is just speculation, been given a time limit to stay in this area by Custer, or had Keogh decided on his own that it was time to go due to pressure, it would be likely that he would pass that first to Companies C and L, then back to convey the same message to Company I. All three then were caught in the act, and the rest is well known. Perhaps a slice of each? Speculation of course but based on the very practical logic of your scenario(s). By a combining effect I mean the 'new and unexpected threat (1) occurs (Calhoun Hill area) and as a good commander aware of his troops' situation, gives orders first to C & L and then to I (2). However, I think, by that time, the momentum of the NA attack grows exponentially in both time and numbers and Keough 'gets caught' with I because time runs out.
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Post by quincannon on Jan 24, 2014 19:08:31 GMT -6
Scott: I have long thought that Keogh was on the verge of displacing, and as you say time ran out. As the commander he and he alone was responsible for what happened, but I cannot attach the blame to him that others do, nor do I excuse his tardiness in the realization that the jig was up.
Sometimes, even with the best of the best, forces beyond their control are so powerful they cannot be dealt with.
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Post by scottbono on Jan 24, 2014 19:56:11 GMT -6
Scott: I have long thought that Keogh was on the verge of displacing, and as you say time ran out. As the commander he and he alone was responsible for what happened, but I cannot attach the blame to him that others do, nor do I excuse his tardiness in the realization that the jig was up. Sometimes, even with the best of the best, forces beyond their control are so powerful they cannot be dealt with. Since I tend to be clueless in the operational arts I have to ask the following: Given what we might figure Keough could see in front of him, what were his command options? What could have been done differently? (except not to have gone into the valley in the first place). The more time I spend reading the more literate posts here, the more it seems GAC was kinda making things up as he went along; there is a real absence of cohesive thought in instances.
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Post by quincannon on Jan 24, 2014 20:18:00 GMT -6
I am going to drop back a bit before I directly answer. The first responsibility of a commander is to exercise command, meaning command of the whole. Custer's own actions reduced himself from the role of a regimental commander to the other extreme of at the end commanding only a company of that regiment. He sent one of his battalions on an untenable mission, essentially in practical terms divorcing themselves from the rest of the regiment. He sent another battalion on a wild goose chase, and placed himself in the position of not knowing what happened to them or what status they found themselves in. He then moves north and splits again into a two battalion configuration, and again leaves one battalion on a hill with a mission that can only be guessed at, some guesses better than others, rides off and gets whacked, surrounded by forty or so men of a six hundred plus man regiment.
Keogh's command options were in so far as possible do whatever Custer told him to do, and in the absence of further orders or in the event those orders became overcome by events use his own judgment. He could have mounted his men, broken contact by riding east then north again in an attempt to rejoin Custer. That would be the first, and I suspect only option short of dying. This option depends on being completely aware of the situation facing him. I have very serious reservations that he knew of his situation until moments, two or three at most before it was to late to do anything.
Sometimes you trap the tiger, and sometimes the tiger eats you for breakfast
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Post by scottbono on Jan 24, 2014 20:35:02 GMT -6
I consider that an informed summation. Thanks!
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Post by quincannon on Jan 24, 2014 20:41:21 GMT -6
I made it all up while eating a bowl of Rice Krispies. Well the made up part is not exactly true, but eating the Rice Krispies is. You're welcome.
There is one thing you must always keep in mind Scott as you pursue your studies. You can make your plans to complicated, or you can plan on the fly. Not always, but usually both methods fail. The best plans follow the dictum of keeping it simple, and letting everyone know the part they are expected to play..
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Post by scottbono on Jan 25, 2014 16:06:20 GMT -6
I made it all up while eating a bowl of Rice Krispies. Well the made up part is not exactly true, but eating the Rice Krispies is. You're welcome. There is one thing you must always keep in mind Scott as you pursue your studies. You can make your plans to complicated, or you can plan on the fly. Not always, but usually both methods fail. The best plans follow the dictum of keeping it simple, and letting everyone know the part they are expected to play.. The power of suggestion! I awakened this morning with an indescribable yearning for Rice Krispies - honestly. I had to sit and think back what may have caused the need and recalled the above comment. So my Rice Krispies had sliced bananas atop. Thanks for the 'suggestion'.
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Post by quincannon on Jan 25, 2014 16:10:56 GMT -6
I am always happy to oblige.
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