View Full Version : Looking for a quote.....
Oldschool45B
09-30-2009, 17:35
Something about manuals being the refuge for the un-imaginative or lazy. I just had a feeling this group would know who said it and the exact quote.
TIA! :D
As quoted in the HBO Series GENERATION KILL:
"Doctrine is the last refuge of the unimaginative" - LTC Ferrando quoting GEN Mattis
OSCAR WILDE said:
"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative"
longrange1947
10-01-2009, 12:11
OSCAR WILDE said:
"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative"
but it is required to be a good shot. :munchin :p
"Doctrine is the box you need to know it before you can think out of it"
Me to SUT students :P
Oldschool45B
10-01-2009, 19:41
Thank you gents.
I am quick to say, however, that when I hear that line used during training events, it's normally used by an individual who doesn't know doctrine in the first place.
I agree wholeheartedly with 7624U; You have to understand doctrine before you can, based on the situation and your experience, deviate from it.
"Doctrine is the box - you need to know it before you can think out of it"
The former Soviet Union used to teach its Officers that the difficulty and danger in dealing with the American military was that - although we understood both US and Soviet doctrine - we were situationally wont to ignore our own doctrine and unpredictable on the battlefield. ;)
Richard
Kingfisher
10-05-2009, 14:16
The former Soviet Union used to teach its Officers that the difficulty and danger in dealing with the American military was that - although we understood both US and Soviet doctrine - we were situationally wont to ignore our own doctrine and unpredictable on the battlefield. ;)
Richard
Beat me to that one!
The former Soviet Union used to teach its Officers that the difficulty and danger in dealing with the American military was that - although we understood both US and Soviet doctrine - we were situationally wont to ignore our own doctrine and unpredictable on the battlefield.
I remember reading " Panzer Commander" by Wehrmacht Col. Hans Von Luck. The Colonel fought on the Eastern Front, at Normandy, and Arnhem and so faced troops from all the major allied combatants. He felt each army had it's strengths and weaknesses, but noted one difference between the British or Russian platoon and the Americans was evident when their officers were killed. He said the American enlisted troops besides being creative, didn't accept their officers were of any higher social status, and were thus more likely to think for themselves and keep fighting instead of waiting for another officer.
...American enlisted troops besides being creative, didn't accept their officers were of any higher social status, and were thus more likely to think for themselves and keep fighting instead of waiting for another officer.
SLA Marshall wrote about that - how the one common factor which has affected more battles favorably for the American military than any other he could find has been when someone gets pissed off or just tired of the way things are going and decides to take it upon his own to do something about it - he acts, his friends won't let him go it alone and act with him, and things just happen. It seems to be something we develop in our collective psyche - and nobody's been able to define exactly how it comes about.
Richard
I remember having all the Bill Mauldin books as a kid. There was one post war cartoon where either Willie or Joe (indistinguishable) is a businessman in a suit checking into a hotel. He recognizes the bellhop in the little hat, and says something like, " Oh Lieutenant, nice to see you again sir."
Snaquebite
10-06-2009, 09:32
Sheepdom is the refuge for the unimaginative. author unk.