Che
 

I've started reading Che's Guerrilla Warfare (or Gorilla, for you scixelsyd), and was wondering why he failed to implement methods which he suggests in his book when trying to subvert the Bolivian government?
IMO it seems that he chose his location geographically as opposed to trying to find a base of people which he could co-opt, and that this lack of public support in his AO made him far easier to catch.

Solid

He didn't choose the location. He was set up for failure - mostly to keep him out of Argentina and Cuba.

EG had a specific idea of what he wanted for location, but he gave in. The location of the base in the backwards southeast was chosen by the Bolivian Communist Party leader Mario Monje.

The BCP was much less cooperative to the guerillas than the PSP (Partido Socialista Popular) had been in Batista's Cuba.

Thank you for the clarification. I was very much surprised by how easy-to-read Guerrilla Warfare was, and that for the most part it lacked out-and-out political rhetoric (other than naming the guerrilla's the 'people's army' etc).

To an outsider, it seems that much of the tactics and concepts written about in GW are similar to those used by USSF. Was there an omni-directional flow of information, did one concept feed off of the other, or did they develop seperately? Noting the date, SF had been around officially for one year (10th Grp).

Does anyone know approximately the time when the helicopter-insertion warfare techniques used by Air Assault and Cavalry in Viet Nam was first coined?

Thank you,

Solid

I believe the Air Mobile concept was developed in the 63/64 time frame and deployed around '65 with the 1st Cav. But don't quote me on that.

You need to read "We Were Soldiers Once, and Young".

TR

Also came out as a Movie. Mel Gibson lived with General Moore for several months and the General was there during the filming. I saw an interview with the two of them and Mel was amazed when the General took him to the Post Cemetary at Benning and introduced him to several of his Troopers !!

We Were Soldiers Once... And Young is a great book... I don't remember it having hard information on Air Mobile Warfare, but then again I read it in seventh grade. I figured that 'Air Mobile' was coined quite a bit after GW was written.

The movie was good, but IMHO not as good as Black Hawk Down, largely because it took so much from Brave Heart in terms of plot rhythm. I also really dislike the fact that for these movies, actors go to 'school' to learn to 'fight like soldiers'. It seems that they then leave and believe that they actually understand what soldiering is about, although they have hardly even completed 1/10th of Basic training. BHD is good in that the Rangers went to a course which taught them how to look and act like Rangers, but nothing more. No pretenses.

Was there any relation in the development of SF UW techniques and Che's writing?

Thank you,

Solid

How do you figure one year?

Whoops! I got the date he finished medical schol (53) and the date he published GW (1961) switched. 10th Group was established in 1952... So, more like 9 years. I'm not too good on dates without memorisation, will not make that mistake again.

Does the codified doctrine of Guerrilla Warfare originate in Mao, or were there works published after the Peninsular war?

If there are books which would help me on the matter, I'd much rather self-educate than lean on you guys. I know I've ordered a few already, but they're taking their sweet time to get to me!

Thank you,

Solid

Small Wars by Caldwell - If you can find it

Clausewitz' works

Thank you.

I still haven't gotten through Clausewitz- while I KNOW it's the better translation (Paret and Howard), it's still pretty tough to absorb 100%, especially with school work.

Solid

Guerilla warfare has been around since the beginning of warfare itself. As for modern times I believe Mao Tse Tung and Ho Chi Minh codefied the principles in writting. In my day in Training Group (1963), a lot was taught from the works of Chairman Mao.

The 10th SFGA deployed to Germany in 1953.

Batista fell in 1959. I'm not a historian but I believe Che would have started compiling his book at this time.

Kennedy was not elected President till 1960, and took office in 1962.

The beret was formalized by President Kennedy in 1962:


"It was President Kennedy who encouraged the wearing of the green beret by the Special Forces. Preparing for an October 12, 1961 visit to the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the President sent word to the center's commander, Brigadier General William P. Yarborough, for all Special Forces soldiers to wear the uniform as part of the event.

The President felt that since they had a special mission, Special Forces should have something to set them apart from the rest. In 1962, he called the green beret "a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom."


HTH.

TR

Thanks for recommendations

Caldwell's book is available on Amazon for $18 used