{Armaments and the Man}[2nd April 1970]

[Redbook1:138][19700402:0000]{Armaments and the Man}[2nd April 1970]

Thursday 2nd April 1970.

                        It does seem to me that one of the many reasons for the Americans' general failure in recent years to succeed in battle i.e. in Vietnam, as compared to the relative success of the British forces in, for example, Borneo and Malaysia, is that the American serviceman has become an operator of machinery, whereas the British serviceman remains its controller.  In case this is not quite clear, it means that the American soldier relies on his machinery to do the dirty work for him -- and is disappointed if it doesn't -- whereas the British soldier is prepared to tell his machinery how to assist him in detail on the basis of his own judgement of such details, and to carry on by himself is the machinery does not live up to his expectations.  This is partly declared policy of the British Army -- or has been -- but it is also part of the penalty, on the other side of the coin, for technologically advanced and wealthy nations with many overseas commitments.

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