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Think you'll find it hard to find a reliable generalist primer, but there are plenty of singular examples to consider and find interesting things.

1 - Book: A Bridge Too Far - until Cornelius Ryan wrote the book in 1974, operation Market Garden (WWII) was regarded with somewhat muted, neutral or positive outcome, the kind political leadership wanted to bury and did for decades. But his book detailed just how horribly disastrous it went and how out of touch commanders ended up being in their planning, tying confidence to their egos. An example of one thing that went wrong, they landed some 35,000 paratroopers in the operation and the British group's radios had an effective range of 3 miles, but the groups that needed to talk to each other were landed 8 miles apart. Another part of the plan called for a group to head down a road to join another contingent for the next step, but didn't accurately estimate the road's capacity or how clogged it would get and how long it would take for them to make it - which ended up being 3x+ times as long, obviating their combat role.

Takeaway: that muddy terrain thing you mentioned is pretty important. Also, a realistic sequence of events.

2 - twenty year-old commentary: a retired colonel's reflection on Arab militaries and ineffectiveness of military advisors/trainers in Arab countries. http://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2000/12/why-arabs-lose-...

Takeaway: western countries keep ignoring cultural differences, sending off military instructors and advisors in waves after waves and expecting a particular unrealistic outcome from the effort.

3 - find your own rabbit hole on various information and writeups about all-women antiaircraft teams in WWII. Short version, British women could do maintenance, spotlighting, loading and aiming but were not allowed to pull the trigger because only men were allowed to shoot at other men. By contrast, Russian AA all-women teams were allowed to. Here's a starting point that just barely touches on this very-fascinating subject and shows how wide it is - https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-vital-role-of-women-in-th...

Takeaway: German pilots had their opinion of the matter, and they much preferred the British solution.


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