Dr. Alexander S. Burns

I never served in the military. As a civilian, I did a 2 week instructor course at the CGSC so I could teach ROTC cadets.

The instructors, and my fellow students, 95% of whom were in uniform, kept repeating, "the enemy gets a vote."

I guess I need to update my slides.

I don't know if anyone cares but Re Iran:

I am not sure if the US Gov't has a defined endstate in mind.

I am not sure if the US Gov't knows what means should be employed to reach the unknown endstate.

That could make for a short war. Iran gets a vote.

I'm not sure it means a successful war.

I miss my father, but I'm a historian because of him, and we can mourn the present while delving into the grief of the past. I wrote a thing about a document I found @mhs1791.bsky.social and about how much the emotional weight of the journal meant to me--give it a read, if you're interested.

My advice is show the advanced trait of mercy fr fr

BOMBING TO WIN Air Power and Coercion in War Robert A. Pape

Pape is out in media noting that aerial bombing campaigns have never (not once) produced regime change in favor of the side doing the bombing

If you all have followed me for defense news, I'll take this opportunity to highly recommend starting on these reading lists.

Lots of people are surprisingly my speed

Ahhh ok. Thanks so much.

I've gained a ton of followers in the past couple of days: welcome everyone.

At the risk of sounding ungrateful, does anyone know why?

Mostly to my mental health

bsky.app/profile/kabi...

Absolutely- hopefully I didn't come across like an -sshole

Here are links to free resources
bsky.app/profile/kabi...

Here are links to free resources
bsky.app/profile/kabi...

Please, tell your friends. 6/6

In short, 18th-century armies (like the redcoats, Frederick's Prussians, or Washington's Continentals) weren't just a hopelessly outmoded force waiting to be swept aside by the armies of the French Revolution and Napoleon. The 18th century was a tactically dynamic time 5/6

-took cover from enemy fire
shorturl.at/7YKxM
-fought as skirmishers in certain armies and circumstances
kabinettskriege.blogspot.com/2018/02/how-...
4/6

-moved at speed on the battlefield (jogging or running) when the situation required
shorturl.at/SJmsk
-engaged in melee (hand-to-hand) combat infrequently.
shorturl.at/TyNTl 3/6

Instead, we should be focusing on the way that these men:
-engaged in small arms firefights at 100-200 yards.
shorturl.at/j5oU8
-frequently fired without orders from their officers (rolling fire)
shorturl.at/yUd1u 2/6

The narrative that eighteenth-century soldiers were slow moving, ineffective automata who were only capable of engaging the enemy at insanely close range and quickly moved into hand-to-hand combat is one of the most widespread and damaging myths in military history. 1/6

bsky.app/profile/kabi...

This gives some, more in a second.

This gives some of it,
bsky.app/profile/kabi...

Yes, it's all on twitter though, I'll port it over in a second.

I hope the lecture went well, but this is definitely not what eighteenth-century infantry combat was like.

Me when the messaging goes from:

"This is a great economy, what are you talking about"
to
"This is Joe Biden's economy"

That is totally up to Helion and I have no control over it. I hope it is soon as well.

If you haven't read it, I'd highly recommend Duffy's Military Experience in the Age of Reason, followed by Spring's With Zeal and With Bayonets.