Danger Close: What history teach us for tomorrow’s conflict

Having seen the movie titled ‘Danger Close; The Battle of Long Tan (2019)’, I thought of dedicating this Newsletter for an episode in my analysis on combat management based on true incidents from ours and for someone else’s warfighting elsewhere! The battle of Log Tan southeast of then Saigon in the South Vietnam was rather an obscure epic battle that had taken place in the American led Vietnam war. Despite my learning of many battles of Vietnam, mostly under American narratives in books, magazines, and publication, and of course the Hollywood movies, the battle of Long Tan was unheard to be a significant one till this Australian movie narrated the scenario.

This battle took place in 1966, and the Australians were in Vietnam from 1962 to 1973 to support the United States of America in their longest battle ever at that time. There are several documentaries in YouTube that vividly explain the Australian involvement in Vietnam, and I am sure there are several books already in stores too. But what matters is that when the deployment started in 1962 with the so-called Military Advisors, when the Australians were tasked to govern a province in the South Vietnam, amidst expanding conflicts, the Australian Army was compelled to use volunteers and conscripts. Their average age was reportedly 20 years compared to the Americans of 19 years! (See the song ‘19’ by British musician Paul Hardcastle, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJN850qHklw )

This demonstrates why age matters, and the experience matters in the military when the Governments wishes to deploy the military for their political aspirations. In a time where Sri Lankan former Government under Ranil Wickramasinghe were harping on military reforms (as under that leadership there always had been a less attention and down-look on military affairs), we are yet to see how the new Government dealt with military reforms to meet the island nation’s future conflicts. I hope all those who are responsible for these military reforms would learn from history and give due considerations for age and experience. In one of my previous Newsletters on Kokavil Attack in 1991, I pointed out that the Officer Commanding the besieged small Army garrison of 40 odd soldiers fought bravely even though he has not yet completed a year in the Army! What do you expect from a young officer who were compelled to fight alone and abandoned, whose only backup is his sheer personal bravery! (Read https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/retrospective-kokavil-1990-yn-jayarathna-uezkc/?trackingId=cyPinFK7QS6jGforqRvBbA%3D%3D )

The movie Danger Close also illustrate some of these traits; tough decisions on the battlefield and superiors’ hesitancy to adopt to the ground realities. I used several of movies as listed below during my tenure as the Training Commander in the Sri Lanka Navy’s Fast Attack Craft (FAC) Flotilla in 1999-2000 and in 2006-2008 during my ‘Roadshow’ sessions to bring out several traits for all; officers and men in fighting a warfare at sea that is not being trained at formal academies! Through these examples the FAC crew were able to improve on their situational awareness and Command competency to fight at sea next day too!

These Movies include as follows and the traits I brought out were as indicated therein:

1.???? We were Soldiers (2002): This was my favourite as it encompasses all aspects of military leadership, as demonstrated by then Lt Colonel Hal Moore. (In fact, Lt General Hal Moore remained to be one of the iconic styles of leadership in US Army and many documentaries are available in YouTube)

In 4th Fast Attack Flotilla, we used to have ordinary crew posting till about 1997 when then Flotilla Commander Manoj Jayasuriya adopted mostly an unmarried and bachelor crew concept except for the Command of the Fast Attack Crafts as a mean of lessening the burden of the social life in an event of death of crew member. But by 2000 he and I felt that we need to change that pattern and go for married men! The reason was the responsibility; the feeling of responsibility and commitment to the crew and to the flotilla was much more needed than a renegade or irresponsible nature of attitude in close quarter dog fighting at sea. And the movie We Were Soldiers was an ideal piece as Hal Moore being a father of five young children, preplanned and studied enemy much more than any at that time before going to the battle.

Then the second factor I bring out was the relationship of Commanding Officer and the Seargent Major (in the movie), but the Coxswain of the FAC, as the senior most sailor. I emphasised on better Command and Control (C2) onboard and that cannot be achieved without the close relationship of the Officer-In-Command and the Coxswain. As sometime Coxswain is more experience that the Second in Command, the Coxswain’s role in battle management is crucial and lifesaving for the Commanding Officer!

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2.???? Saving Private Ryan (1998): Another Steaven Spielberg masterpiece based only several true incidents of World War II, combined to bring out the ferociousness of an amphibious assault landing to very human nature of us! The two most prominent traits I brought out always from the movie are the empathy/consideration for own troops (illustrated by General George.C.Marshal’s decision to evacuate the fourth and only son alive of the Ryan family from the war efforts, by reading a citation from Abraham Lincoin, in which the latter part of the letter is spoken in memory to spell his directive to ‘bring Ryan form where the hell he is now’! (See Video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUpNEpES8wA) In fact this clip demonstrate several traits; from an ordinary desk clerk (who remember typing letters to same address earlier, and bring the third letter to the attention of her superior), from the Chaplin who visit Mrs Ryan’s farmhouse to disclose the deaths of sons; how in that particular movie shot was made very realistically, as ?based on my personal experiences of visiting fathers and mothers of dead sailors and seeing the same response; in this movie the mother having seen the Chaplin dismount from the Army Car, sits down on floor due weaken knees, has been the exact response of my incidents!) and the Captain Millers shaking hand when he brief his team of seven soldiers on the final destination knowing the danger and risk involved in the assigned mission. The team notice the shaking hand of the leader, and this is captured in this video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9phnAlJxico )

This is what exactly I felt in front of my crew; I was afraid, but that fear was kept within me as such would have a negative impact on the crew who believe on me! But I was prepared, I studied enemy, I studied the sea and the environment, and I studied my boat; from Stem to Stern (This is another newsletter!) The moment you know yourself and your enemy, and the environment you fight, you will not be defeated! The old Sun-Tzu wisdom still prevail! When your FAC is being chased or encountering an enemy suicide boat (rather a missile with human control!), its very natural to get overwhelmed by fear; the fear factor will determine loss of your Command and Control (C2)! The moment you lose the C2 you are finished, this has been the case at fighting asymmetric at sea.

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3.???? Black Hawk Down (2001): This is by far the best illustration of urban street fighting! Although exaggerated as common in all Hollywood movies, the lessons to learn are more significant than the illustrations! No urban street fight is to be treated lightly in today’s context, as Command and Control is the first casualty when bullet start criss-crossing over the head! The need of communication among the same team, fir discipline and the fact that all plans in combat bound to get disturbed, forcing men on ground to adopt and orient themselves to the changing dynamics are beautifully illustrated in this movie. The next war will be sure to have one unchanged fact; the need of physical fitness in the battlefield! At same time the movie demonstrates the amount of coordination needed in modern day battle fields; whether in urban terrain or otherwise, where all surveillance, even that real time surveillance is a must for better management of battlefield. The men on ground matters, there age matters and their experience matters, and this is why men in uniform need to be either training or getting real-world experiences in someone else’s fighting grounds. I compare these to present day North Korean soldiers fighting in Ukraine, where their real combat efficiency will be tested and analysed.

The soldiers, sailors and the airmen need experience, and it take time to built up combat efficiency. The USA has able to maintain their combat efficiency because they are involved globally, whereas the Chinese and North Koreans not. These are the lessons for military reforms, the Governments must be careful enough to handle. My thesis for China’s National Defence University (2016) for the fulfilment of Masters Degree made me study these in depth and to realise why Great Britain today struggle to be a global player despite once being the global power. And this island nation can not afford to repeat the mistakes of the past, as our existence and economic revival depends on our military’s professionalism to manage, handle and contain the national security threats emanating both internally and externally! There is no economic development without security and there is no security without economic development!

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