Advice for Advisors: Suggestions and Observations from Lawrence to the Present

摘要

While always a mission for some Army units, advising indigenous forces has become a major task for many Army units and for thousands of Soldiers, both Active and Reserve. The Combat Studies Institute is publishing this occasional paper as a supplement to Occasional Paper 18, 'Advising Indigenous Forces: American Advisors in Korea, Vietnam, and El Salvador.' In that study, Mr. Robert Ramsey distilled the insights gained by the U.S. Army from its advisory experiences in Korea, Vietnam, and El Salvador. In this anthology, he presents 14 insightful, personal accounts from those who advised foreign armies in various times and places over the last 100 years. Unlike most of the monographs in the Global War on Terrorism Occasional Paper series, this volume is an anthology. The articles are from past and present advisors, and they are presented without editing or commentary. Ranging from World War I to the present, this collection of articles, after action reports, and a RAND study was assembled from documents written for advisors by advisors and experts in the field. With one exception, the readings are in chronological order. The first reading, a list of suggestions T. E. Lawrence wrote for his fellow advisors during the Arab Revolt, is often referred to today. The next six readings from the Vietnam era include articles from military publications and a 1972 after-action report. An article and after-action report from El Salvador follow the Vietnam readings. The next four articles address recent advisory efforts in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The last reading is a RAND study on advisor- counterpart relationships from 1965 that deals with military advisors in Vietnam.