what do you guys think is the best offensive action

[warchild1/27scout]

i would have to say the gulf war 2 and i'm not saying that because it just happenned. i was an inf. grunt from 91-94 and i have interest in the history of infantry. if some of you guys like that stuff who has'nt been in the military you should visit ft. benning,GA. home of the infantry. it is very cool. it is also where the huge jump towers are and airborne school.

[digrar]

Was there anything bigger that the normandy landings in WWII?

[ShotOver]

None of the landings in the pacific came close to normandy.

Gallipoli was pretty big :|

[BMF]

if you look at the number of ships, planes, troops, etc involved, okinowa and iwo jima were in some ways even bigger then the normandy invasions. in both cases the prepatory attacks by planes/naval guns went on for weeks, trying to soften up the dug-in japanese positions. but anyway back to topic.

both the gulf war offensives were extremely impressive. GW1 was probably the most lopsided military operation ever, in terms of casualties and equipment lost

[ShotOver]

I thought normandy with the sea and para force was the biggest used to invade in the second world war?

[Jooglae]

I believe that Normandy Campaign was the biggest amphibious mission in history.

[James]

Before we go any farther, someone should define terms. I think everyone can agree on what an offensive action is, but I see this thread turning into an argument - someone will say the SAS at Princess Gate was the best offeensive action, and someone else will say Operation Overlord, when the two really shouldn't be compared. What scale are we talking about? Are we talking conventional forces or SOF? What time period?

Thos are just a few suggestions for specifics. I think they will help.

[duck]

I'll stick to WWII, maybe the last war where the opponents were at the same level in technology and communications.

Patton's bold breakout from Normandy and drive up to the german border. Had it not been for interference from Montgomery, he might have been in Berlin long before the soviets.

The triple armored spears of Hoth, Hoepner and Guderian in the first phase of the Moscow offensive. The Vyazma-Bryansk pocket battles are an amazing display of Blitzkrieg on a huge scale.

Rommel breaking out from "the cauldron" and capturing Tobruk against all odds. Mobility and cunning...

The soviet counter-offensive at Stalingrad and the follow-up offensive against the 8th army across the river Don. No wonder the russians produce excellent chess players.

And the most cunning and tactically brilliant offensive campaign of the whole war, Von Manstein's counter-attack at the river Donetzk. Nobody does it better...

[USMarine3521]

german blitzkrieg on france :D

[Trigger]

I'd have to say farting in church would be an extrememely offensive action. :D

[James]

I'd have to say farting in church would be an extrememely offensive action. :D

Again, we need to define terms. Are we talking about sound or stench? Both? And during what part of the service? If you had a loud fart of faint smell during a hymn, it might go unnoticed, and thus be inoffensive. A loud one during the offering or communion would be pretty offensive, as would a vile stinker during the hymn.

As stated in my earlier post, we should limit this and define our terms.

[Zach R.]

Operation Fart alot: Feb 23, 2002
Time: 11:32
Casualties: 45
Cause of casualties: Refried beans
Over 50 people lost their lunch in that terrible bio-terrorist attack. After the building was evacuated, a brave few went in to brave the stench. Only 2 returned, the others were forced to blow chunks and run out the back. It took over 4 hours for air to recirculate through the building.
The perpitrator: Taylor Dunn
rofl

[Haiw]

Patton's bold breakout from Normandy and drive up to the german border. Had it not been for interference from Montgomery, he might have been in Berlin long before the soviets
actually patton's breaktrough from normandy was made possible by montgomery...

[warchild1/27scout]

yes, that was a pretty wide catagory. you guys done good to define what type of action as in small action or huge campaign. i like how people even went against political correctness and named some german offensive strikes because whatever you think of them they were some of the most modern tactics and highly and and motivated forces in history. being an american sometimes it scares me how close our forces resemble the german forces of ww2. just think about it. look at the kevlar helmets and the old m-60 resembled the german mg's. and look at how our forces looked like stormtroopers running over the weak iraqi lines. now i don't want to give ammunition to some anti-americans on here like howard dean or barbera striesand so i'll stop there. ;)

[a. enders]

Damn...stole the fart joke........ :(

[usa320]

I would say "Shock And Awe". I reckon GW2 will change the way we fight war in the future... We did in days what a few years ago would have taken months...

Instead of numerical superiority, you hit fast and with deadly prescision.

Though i think the hail mary sweep into Kuwait in the first gulf war was a notably good move, and the normandy landings were amazing simply because of the size of the invading force. But as far as a revolutionary assault that changed warfare, i think OIF was it.

[Kitsune]

@warchild1/27scout:



whatever you think of them ?? Aehem, what is that supposed to mean?


sometimes it scares me how close our forces resemble the german forces of ww2 thats quite a statement...piuuuuh. And hopefully it does not get worse...


I must say, in my opinion...Trigger has nailed it:

I'd have to say farting in church would be an extrememely offensive action. rofl

[FallenAngel]

I dunno about you guys, but as far as I'm concerned "shock and awe" = US version of Blitzkrieg. (Ya know, eliminate enemy airforce, attack everything from the air, punch through with tanks followed by mech. infantry ;) )It's nothing new. THe Germans used it to kick ass 60 years ago.

Saying as much, I would have to think that the German offensive in the spring of 1940 was magnificient. They defeated the Dutch, Belgians, French and English armies in what? Two-three months? Pretty damn good if you ask me :)

[FallenAngel]

Or...if you want to talk about size...how about Alexander the Great? He left Macedona in his early 20s with something like 30,000 greek hoplites and carved out an empire thats still one of the largest in history. :)

[warchild1/27scout]

hey kitsune i did'nt mean now. no offense. i meant during the nazi regime.

[US_Frogman]

You've all forgotten Korea. Two of the largest offensives of recent history took place during that war. The North Korean's first push across the 38th Parallel was massive. Only to be outdone by Operation Roundup and Thunderbolt launched by the Eighth Army, which pushed the North Koreans and Chinese all the way to the gates of Pyongyang.

[James]

How is everyon measuring success? Speed? Casualties? Taking the objective?

Example - when Germany invaded Belgium, Holland, and France in 1940, they suffered something like 27,000 casualties. I suppose that can be seen as successful, when one remembers that these generals cut their teeth from 1914-1918.

What do you think public opinion would be today if the calition in Iraq had suffered this many casualties? The U.S. has lost about 300 soldiers (killed) now, both in combat and from other causes, and maybe, what, 1200 wounded (that's a guess). About half of our dead and wounded were lost before May 1. In my mind, it is difficult to compare these two campaigns, especially when one thinks of our objectives in Iraq - the regime has been toppled, but where is the leader? Where are the WMDs? I am not saying this to start ANOTHER argument about the justification for GW2, but to point out the fact that one could argue tha our objectives have not yet been reached.

If anyone is interested, I'd like to post a series of topics similar to this one with specific limits on the subject matter. I think that will let us have a more focused discussion. Please advise.

[XASA]

[quote="If anyone is interested, I'd like to post a series of topics similar to this one with specific limits on the subject matter. I think that will let us have a more focused discussion. Please advise.[/quote]

Go for it. I was going to do an "Offensive" thread like the "Small Unit Defensive" one from last week, but warchild beat me to the punch. I think the forum could be a bit more "focused" than it has been lately :P

[Herrmannek]

James, go for it. I'm very interested in such topics but folks don't cast to much of them at one time, bcose discussion will blur on all of them. Stay cool and focus on one at time, wait with new topics for death of previous plz.