Tag Archives: Theory

Cold War Document Pack

For anyone wishing to explore the battlefields of the Cold War, we have probably the most extensive collection of material relating to the role of the British Army in Germany in the Cold War, including  a copy of the reading pack for Ex United Shield 2009.

wx united sheild reader

 Threat Posters Aide Memoirs and magazines

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Threat Aide Memoir side 1

I BR Corps Battle Notes

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Nuclear Operations – Tactics

Nuclear Ops

Exercise papers

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and more….

 US Army Staff Ride Policy

The US Army has been using battlefields and staff rides for over a century. The United States Army Combined Arms Centre, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas supports Military History, and publishes material on the US policy as well as staff rides to battles in the USA.  Their website has a lot of useful information

coverTheir view is that:-

• A staff‘ride is a historical study of acampaign or battle that envisions asystematic preliminary study phase, an extensive field study phase on the actual historic site , and an integration phase to capture the lessons derived from each.

• It is far more expansive than a tour or tactical exercise without troops (TEWT).

• It is a time and resource intensive event requiring a level of planning associated with major training missions.

• Poorly done, it wastes Soldiers’ time and taxpayer money.

• Well done, it is a powerful instrument for professional development and education of the Army’s leaders.

CSI_CMH_Pub_70-21 The Staff Ride by William G Robinson in 1987 set out how the US Army conducted staff rides. This influential pamphlet informed how the British Army’s approach to Battlefield Studies and Staff Rides. His pamphlet also demonstrates how they differ from battlefield tours,

Image3The Staff Ride Overview (2 AUG 13) is the advice for American  units planning a staff.ride

Guild of Battlefield Guides Study Day 5 February  2010

Other armed forces of other countries undertake battlefield tours of various sorts. The Guild of Battlefield Guides International Armed Forces Study day included presentations on the British, German and Dutch use of staff rides and how the RAF undertake air power staff rides.

Slide8Dr Peter Caddick Adams presented on The German Approach to Staff Rides The Germans invented the concept of the Staff Ride in the early 19th century as part of the training methods of the professional Great general Staff.

Slide1The Royal Dutch Army have a staff ride programme. They can also supply high quality mapping for many second world war battlefields in the Netherlands.

Slide1Chris Finn from  Kings College and RAF Cranwell

Stuart Brown Battlefield guide Major Stuart Brown Royal Engineers presented the client’s point of view. This was subsequently published in the Guild of Battlefield Guides Journal.

SCSI Occasional Paper Number 48 – The Relevance and Role of the Battlefield Tour and the Staff Ride for Armed Forces in the 21st century

SCSI Occasional Paper Number 48  – The relevance and Role of the Battlefield Tour and the Staff Ride for Armed Forces in the 21st century

scsi no 48 cover

This paper summarises thinking behind British policy towards Battlefield Studies and Staff Rides.  It includes the following:-

Introduction: Professor RG Haycock, Former Dean of Arts Royal Military College of Canada

Footprints in the Mud: The British Army’s Approach to the Battlefield Tour Experience Peter Caddick-Adams, Cranfield University Royal Military College of Science

’One of the Greatest Moments in My Life’Lessons Learned On the Canadian Battle of Normandy Foundation Battlefield Study Tours Mike Bechthold, Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

The Modern Model of the Battlefield Tour and Staff Ride Post-1815 Prussian and German Traditions Dr David Ian Hall, King’s College London Joint Services Command and Staff College, United Kingdom

The United States Army’s Historical Staff Rides History and Historiography Professor Eugenia C Kiesling, United States Military Academy

Contemporary Battlefield Tours and Staff Rides A Military Practitioner’s View Brigadier RAMS Melvin, British Army