The Soldiers Load and the Mobility of a Nation

The Soldier's Load and The Mobility of a Nation

Originally written in 1950, by then Colonel S.L.A. Marshall, this book criticizes the strain we put on the modern day soldier and an evolving social perception that nourishes the importance of luxuries and a "sense of security" that goes with loading him down with materials he might need as opposed to carrying what he truly needs for battle and the consequences that it has on him as a result. The speed at which we move on the battlefield has been affected by the equipment and the gear that has been introduced to the modern battlefield and the ineffectiveness of the logistics and planning that goes into getting the fighters to the fight. In the closing pages of the book he calls for a reform of the way we think in terms of the necessities of the soldier to win the battle and the logistics in getting him resupplied after the battle so that he can stay fresh for the fight and carry only what he needs. A result of their heavy loads was, if the soldier was smart, a discarding of gear on the soldier's part to make themselves more mobile. And what happens as a result of that? Now we need to resupply the soldier with what we've already supplied him with only at the wrong time. His observation is that our military has put too much burden on our soldier's by loading him down with unnecessary luxuries and gear he doesn't need for the fight therefore directly affecting in an adverse way The Soldier's Load and The Mobility of a Nation.

Drawing mostly on his experiences from World War II he mentions at first some of the weapons that were used. For example, the bayonet of today was rarely used in combat during World War II and quite possibly could have been replaced. Not to say it wasn't used at that time. On the contrary, I'm sure it was used just not in battle. I'm sure, much like today, it was used more for cutting 550 cord or opening MRE's or K-Rations at that time. I agree with him that the military needs to reevaluate the needs and probability of use for the K-bar which could be substituted for a lighter and smaller pocket knife. Something I'm sure that was meant to be comical was the example he used of the standard gear list during World War II which included enough gear for three days in the field. Some of the more humorous things included were 4 chocolate bars and 12 C-rations or a pipe and pipe tobacco. Eye witness accounts of the actions at Normandy and Omaha Beach described a soldier that was so exhausted from dragging their gear onto the invasion that, should they be lucky enough to make it to the sands of the beach, they fell back into the waters only to drown if they hadn't yet been hit by enemy fire. I can't imagine myself sacrificing mobility on the field of battle for chocolate bars and tobacco, should I be lucky enough to get through the battle alive in order