Rogue One – A Tactical Analysis by a Staff Officer
Perhaps one of my favorite non-firearms blogs is Angry Staff Officer, a completely irreverent, passionate, off-kilter, and on-point blog of a US Army mustang who perhaps regrets the jump into officerdom. In his occasional musings, Star Wars frequently pops up as a favorite topic including his recent missive analyzing the Raid on Scariff as only an officer can. Replete with words like “plan”, “operationally”, and “command and control.”
As an enlisted man, ugh.
However, as a manager, the Angry Staff Officer has some very good points. While the raid was shot and executed primarily for the entertainment of an audience, not the satisfaction of armchair generals, the officer draws to a very succinct point – that the raid was unnecessarily costly due to poor planning and the usage of decision by consensus/emotion.
As the analysis opens up, the Army teaches today “No more Task Force Smiths” which in modern military terms is a close allegory to the Raid on Scariff. Task Force Smith was a haphazardly thrown together force during the Korean War when US Command thought the mere presence of US troops would be sufficient to show “…that American wasn’t messing around…”
For the full analysis, head on over to Angry Staff Officer. (Warning – Spoilers if anyone has not yet seen the movie).