Here it is not only a case of consolidating the cohesion of the troops
by the agency of the discipline of the drill ground, or of teaching
the forms of movement and of fighting, although, of course, these
points of view cannot be entirely disregarded; but the essential is to
teach the methods of employment of the forms laid down in the
Regulations for the combat.
A regiment which can work through the Drill Book smoothly and with
precision is still far from being trained for battle, but at the most
has merely laid the foundations on which such a training can be
subsequently built up. The same applies to a Brigade or Division, each
of which has practised and made certain of the execution of such
movements as passages of defiles, deployments, attacks, changes of
front or of lines, and so forth. All these things are in themselves
necessary and useful, but they make no great demands on the skill of
the Leaders, only requiring an accurate knowledge of the book, and a
certain degree of routine in the application of its prescriptions; but
War makes quite different demands on their ability, and it is for War
that we have to be prepared.
First of all, in the purely formal side of the training, stress must
especially be laid on those forms of movement which can actually be
applied on the battle-field.
Then, the troops must be exercised to apply these forms not only on
the drill ground, but over every kind of country. Further, the
tactical judgment and independence of the Leaders of all ranks must,
be thoroughly developed. They must not only learn to act on
fundamentally sound principles, but to apply these principles
everywhere where circumstances require rapid decision, utilizing at
once the tactical advantages the ground may offer, and adapting
practically the few forms which can be employed before the enemy in
the field instinctively; and, finally, opportunities must be granted
to the Commanders to practise the combination of locally separated
bodies to a single tactical purpose.
In face of these requirements, it seems to me that our tactical
training remains far too elementary in character, and does not tend
with sufficient directness towards what is alone possible in War.
The blame for this state of affairs rests by no means only on the
shoulders of the troops, but is due to a variety of complex causes
which are difficult to disentangle. In the first place comes the
passive resistance, that moment of inertia which custom and tradition
everywhere oppose to changes, and it is not to be expected that the
troops of their own initiative will be able to abandon the accustomed
ruts, when more especially the methods applied in our inspections are
not always of a nature to encourage such attempts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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