View Full Version : The Five Biggest Disasters in American Military History
Invasion of Canada, Antietam, Operation Drumbeat, Across the Partition 1950, Disbanding the Iraqi Army.
Agree or disagree - some interesting points to ponder.
Richard
The Five Biggest Disasters in American Military History
TNI, 23 Oct 2014
Nations often linger on their military defeats as long as, or longer than, they do on their successes. The Battle of Kosovo remains the key event of the Serbian story, and devastating military defeats adorn the national narratives of France, Russia and the American South. What are the biggest disasters in American military history, and what effect have they had on the United States?
In this article, I concentrate on specific operational and strategic decisions, leaving aside broader, grand-strategic judgments that may have led the United States into ill-considered conflicts. The United States may well have erred politically in engaging in the War of 1812, World War I, the Vietnam War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, but here I consider how specific failures worsened America’s military and strategic position.
(Cont'd) http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-five-biggest-disasters-american-military-history-11536
Bataan and the PI, the surrender of the largest American Force in our history.
SouthernDZ
10-26-2014, 07:33
Kasserine Pass, Task Force Smith, and senior leaders who became managers who became politicians.
The Reaper
10-26-2014, 10:49
A number of deserving Revolutionary War battles left off the list.
TR
A few of my friends below Maryland would argue Gettysburg as a huge disaster. Recently, Operation Anaconda passed along a few lessons as well.
Golf1echo
10-26-2014, 13:25
Pearl Harbor, the Japanese plan was nearly identical to an American study and mission on the vulnerability of the harbor, all carefully observed by the Japanese military envoys that were aboard the American ships years earlier when those missions were carried out.
Little Big Horn, multiple failures.
What about the fall of Saigon and our declaration to not help slow the NVA's invasion of the South.
Also, our timeline for withdraw from Iraq, the date, the failure to leave troops behind, and the ineptness of this government to react.
Seems to me that both of the above are one of the same.
Pericles
10-29-2014, 13:00
A number of deserving Revolutionary War battles left off the list.
TR
And in 1791, the Miami Indians killed or wounded some 900 of the existing 1400 infantrymen of the US Army in a single battle. MG "Mad" Anthony Wayne was recalled from retirement to rebuild the Army.
nurse1911
10-30-2014, 05:26
Wounded Knee?
mojaveman
12-06-2014, 15:28
My Lai?
Obama's elections?
Fixed it for ya.
The Reaper
12-06-2014, 18:03
Battle of Mogadishu?
You see that as one of the top five U.S. military disasters?
TR
The political battle of caving to the French post WWII in Indochina?
Allowing/facilitating the French, British, and Dutch in Asia/Pacific post WWII to return to colonial rule to extract value to rebuild Western Europe had some pretty nasty consequences and cost in lives/national treasure for the US later.
It's my understanding Roosevelt wasn't keen on seeing the French return to Indochina.
Roosevelt died, Western Europe was broke, and the opportunity to broker a deal with Ho Chi Minh due to OSS 101's existing relationship with him at the end of WWII was lost.
Could it have avoided the Vietnam War, led to a different path for Vietnam as a country, and developed a stronger and more effective partnership to contain the rise of China today?
Woulda, coulda, shoulda armchair strategist perhaps, but it might be worth consideration.
The Reaper
12-07-2014, 10:29
Granted. Although successful, the outcome was still indescribably disastrous.
I don't think the participants saw it that way.
And in what way was it "indescribably disastrous"?
TR
The Reaper
12-07-2014, 12:07
The American death toll probably wouldn't have been nearly as high, had the brass not been negligent.
The brass requested armor and AC-130 support, which was denied by the civilian leadership.
18 Americans died (most in aviation crashes and on the Lost Convoy), and more than 1,000 Somalis were killed. Pyrrhic victory with strategic implications, IMHO.
One of the biggest disasters in American military history?
I don't think so.
History is replete with better examples.
TR
I'm not even 100 percent certain I ever even understood the reason for the gunfight in Somalia.
...Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid wasn't captured during the Operation but then again he wasn't the target during the Battle of Mogadishu, the target was two of his henchmen.
Both of the targets were captured early in the engagement unless my history is way off.
Two US helicopters were shot down, which is bad.
19 Americans were killed which is bad.
A few hundred enemy were killed which is better.
An American was captured and later recovered, which is good.
22 enemy were captured which is better.
70-80 Americans were wounded, which is bad.
Hundreds of enemy were wounded and left with SHITTY care. Lots probably died of wounds later.
Two Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
Hardly a shining example of surgical precision, but nothing near what I'd call a disaster.
We lost a helicopter in the Son Tay raid and folks call that a success.
The Navy SEAL that killed Bin Laden had to work through his support force losing a helicopter and yet HE still emerged triumphant.
Loss of a couple helicopters is bad, but I wouldn't call the overall mission a "disaster". I certainly wouldn't place it in a list of "top-five" disasters.
...just my two cents
Once a decision for military action has been made, half measures and confused objectives exact a severe price in the form of a protracted conflict which can cause needless waste of human lives and material resources, a divided nation at home, and defeat. Therefore one of the essential elements of our national military strategy is the ability to rapidly assemble the forces needed to win—the concept of applying decisive force to overwhelm our adversaries and thereby terminate conflicts swiftly with minimum loss of life.
http://warontherocks.com/2014/02/a-second-look-at-the-powell-doctrine/#_
Just one example of why the Powell Doctrine should always be our guiding principle.
http://warontherocks.com/2014/12/back-to-night-raids-counterinsurgency-or-counterbureaucracy/
Chris_31st
12-08-2014, 07:08
A few of my friends below Maryland would argue Gettysburg as a huge disaster. Recently, Operation Anaconda passed along a few lessons as well.
I don't think that was a disaster but that mission decidedly wasn't smooth nor were the cleanup missions.