Cluck U wrote:Good on ya'!
Now, before kkklean loses his perspective (again), this was, supposedly, written by a Frenchie.
“We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while – they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army...
http://inmilitary.com/a-french-soldiers ... %20-%20AMU
Apparently, the French guy fell in lust with the U.S. Army.
Great article, thanks for posting.
There were two statements that I find interesting
1)
They have a terribly strong American accent – from our point of view the language they speak is not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever State they are from, no two accents are alike and they even admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other.
I find that funny and a testament to how (trigger warning) diverse we are. What's fascinating is that the military doesn't try to correct the accent like other militaries(sp?) do. I know for a fact that the Japanese military train anyone that will be a radioman or has the potential to interact with American/English-speaking forces to speak perfect, clear and accent free English. I've heard it and you wouldn't know that the person you're speaking with is a native Japanese soldier or sailor. The Australians started doing that before I left a Joint program in 2011.
2)
‘In the absence of orders, take a defensive position.’ Indeed, virtually every army in the world. The American soldier and Marine, however, are imbued from early in their training with the ethos: In the Absence of Orders: Attack! Where other forces, for good or ill, will wait for precise orders and plans to respond to an attack or any other ‘incident’, the American force will simply go, counting on firepower and SOP to carry the day.
The author wrote a an ethos that is one of the reasons that Americans are seen as both brave and rash. It was one of the reasons that our enemies in wars (like the British in 1778 or the Germans in WW1&2) were ultimately defeated. That "ethos" of waiting for precise orders is an old methodology that has obviously failed. IIRC, Montgomery loathed that spirit and Churchill admired it.
