German General Officer Casualties in World War II: Harbinger for U.S. Army General Officer Casualties in Airland Battle

摘要

German general officer casualties in World War II with respect to possible U.S. Army general officer losses in AirLand Battle are discussed. Such losses adversely affect both command and control and morale in large unit operations. It is hypothesized that factors of doctrine, personal combat experience, training, and command rotation combined with battlefield lethality to cause extremely high senior officer casualties in German World War II Blitzkrieg operations; and will cause similar losses in future U.S. AirLand Battle operations. German general officer casualties, specifically 136 German general officer division, corps, and army commanders killed in action from 1939-1945 are examined. The monograph analyzes German war fighting doctrine, World War I combat experiences for these men, general officer training courses, and command rotation flaws which combined with the high lethality of the battlefield in World War II to help produce these significant losses. The factors of AirLand Battle doctrine, Vietnam combat experience for current U.S. Army generals, general officer training courses, and anticipated command rotation policies are examined for similiar trends in the U.S. Army. Factors examined for the German general officers did contribute to the high senior officer losses, and similiar factors looked at for American generals show the potential for similiar losses if the U.S. must go to war. Keywords: Leadership doctrine. (AW)