HAMMER: During the battle of Osan Soldiers of TF Smith talk about how their bazooka rounds “burned out against the thick Russian Armor without penetrating.” The narrative Fehrenbach gives us is the equipment was too old and the Russian armor to strong. Challenge this. Look at the steps required to put a bazooka into operation and the armor stats on a T-34 tank. What else could have caused the bazooka rounds to have no effect? What parallels can you draw between the Soldiers of TF Smith and our own Soldiers/Leaders?

The battle of Osan was over before it began. Task Force Smith (TF Smith) was sent to war understrength, underequipped and underprepared. TF Smith had six 2.36 inch bazooka rocket launchers. On the other hand, the North Korean Army had T-34 Tanks. The tanks were equipped with sloped armor, which has very effective protection against anti-tank weapon systems. The armor was 2.76 inches thick and was the perfect defense for the old and ineffective ammunition of TF Smith. It didn’t matter that TF Smith Soldiers fired the 2.36 in bazooka at the weak parts of the T-34. They needed a more powerful round to punch through the armor of the T-34. That round was the 3.5 inch bazooka round, paired with the M20 launcher. Unfortunately, there were none in Korea at the time the battle of Osan took place. There are several similarities between Task Force Smith and our Soldiers. Mainly that we are asking them to face a difficult problem set (CBRN threat) but we are not equipping them with the necessary tools for their survival. Critical medicine like ATNNA and CANA are not readily available in large quantities and Soldiers haven’t received proper training in administering the drugs. All leaders should be proactive to ensure that our Soldiers are trained and properly equipped to face this dangerous situation because those who do not learn for history are doomed to repeat it.