Given the protracted conclusion of the war, who would you consider its winners in 1953? How about 2017?

In 1953 the only clear winner I see from the situation is Red China as she proved that she is a force to be reckoned with. As Fehrenbach writes, even nationalist Chinese were excited at the fact that the Far Eastern power was winning against…[Read more]

HAMMER: Korea was the first war where the US Army rotated Soldiers in and out of theatre in significant numbers, a practice that has continued ever since. In doing practical and instructional knowledge is lost and lessons have to be re-learned, sometimes at great cost. How would you change the manner in which we now rotate Soldiers into different…[Read more]

HAMMER: In that chapter Proud Legions the Doolittle board and their effect on the Army’s ability to create disciplined units able to fight. Officers and NCOs were ‘stripped’ of their power. How are we still feeling the effects of those changes? What tools do we have now to overcome this? Are they effective? Later on in that chapter he states “…[Read more]

Charlie: What do you think soldiers thought of their leadership at this point in the war? Why?

In order to answer this question I will discuss leadership in terms of the different levels of echelons. At the company level, Army and Marine NCOs were now much more versed in terms of battle experience than they had been in the summer of 1950. The…[Read more]

HAMMER: As UN forces marched north, there was evidence of the Chinese joining the conflict. Despite the evidence, General MacArthur and his staff believed “the Chinese would not dare intervene” They assessed that they lacked the Military capability to bring significant forces into the conflict and even if that was possible the US air superiority…[Read more]

ABLE:  What is your response to the steadfastness of MacArthur’s insistence on the Inchon landing? How does it change, had the mission gone otherwise?

MacArthur’s insistence on the Inchon landing is an example of one of his greatest qualities, his decisiveness and his ultimate downfall, his stubbornness. Mac’s landing on Inchon was a…[Read more]

I chose the S3 question:

Multiple warfighting functions led to the defeat of American forces in the Summer of 1950 on the Korean Peninsula. First and foremost, mission command played a factor. The beginning of the conflict displayed that there was not an efficient division of reponsibility between the US and ROK forces as “Fat Chae” was soon…[Read more]

I chose the S3 Question:

Korea was vulnerable and appealing for military occupation for a number of reasons. First, in regards to its geography Korea presents an avenue into Southeast Asia, and if necessary access to the ever important state of China. Additionally, it possesses several ports that would be beneficial for many nations during the…[Read more]