Photo By Cpl. Sullivan Laramie | Maj. Gen. Brian Beaudreault, the commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, speaks to...... read more read more
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CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. - Staff and commanding officers with 2nd Marine Division, based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, took advantage of that opportunity during a battleground study in Chickamauga, Georgia, May 30-31, 2015
In 1863, more than 120,000 soldiers met on the rolling hills of Chickamauga, Georgia. Two days of vicious fighting and the clash of arms and personalities left 34,000 men dead, wounded, captured and missing.
The results of the Confederate victory changed little for the South, but do provide a learning opportunity to anyone looking to study warfighting, decision making, leadership and the human factors of war.
Staff and commanding officers with 2nd Marine Division, based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, took advantage of that opportunity during a battleground study in Chickamauga, Georgia, May 30-31, 2015.
“History is our greatest teacher,” said Brig. Gen. Julian Alford, the assistant division commander of 2nd Marine Division. “We can plan for the future by learning from the past. A military that loses its reverence for the lessons that history teaches us will most assuredly be its own stumbling block.”
The officers gave oral presentations about critical events, which occurred at various locations throughout the battlefield, and learning points taken from the men and commanders who fought there more than 150 years ago. They also participated in group discussions to gain more from the experience.
“Warfare during the Civil War required a far more intimate engagement with the opposing side,” said Alford, an Atlanta native. “Thus, thousands of men were forced into smaller engagement areas at closer ranges with weapons that left both noise and smoke interference that added to the friction and chaos on the battlefield. What an incredible sight it must have been to see such courage in the face of such death.”
Studying the battlefield and battle itself gave the officers a window into, not only the past, but the effect personality has on leadership and choices made in combat. The relationships commanders have with their troops remain vital to the completion of their missions.
While current battle tactics and technology is vastly different than it was in the American Civil War, the Battle of Chickamauga offered modern commanders insight into the minds of leaders when troops died by the thousands in only a few days of combat.
“It is always sobering to walk the ground where so many American lives were lost in conflict with each other,” Alford said. “It is imperative to bring together the men who form the nucleus of 2nd Marine Division’s leadership and allow them to build cohesion while sharing the best practices and learning from history’s example of what decisions lead to success on the battlefield.”
The group studied the importance of communication in confused settings, shared hardship and danger between commanders and subordinates, and courage in the face of almost certain death. Even though combat has changed, battlefields can still provide valuable knowledge and help leaders avoid the mistakes of the past.
“There is much to glean from the decision-making and leadership habits that both successful and unsuccessful leaders utilized before, during and after the Battle of Chickamauga,” Alford said. “The command relations among the military leaders whose decision making affected the outcome of the battle are monumentally applicable to our commanders as they train and execute missions amidst an ever-changing, hostile world.”
| Date Taken: | 06.04.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.04.2015 13:25 |
| Story ID: | 165494 |
| Location: | CHICKAMAUGA, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | ATLANTA, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 129 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Window to the past: 2nd Marine Division leaders learn lessons from Civil War battlefield, by Cpl Sullivan Laramie, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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