Military Leadership Portrayed In Stephen Ambrose's Band Of Brothers

Military Leadership Attributes portrayed in Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers

While reading Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers, I conclude that the recurring theme that is portrayed throughout the book is the value of brotherhood and amazing planning/action in military leadership. The book’s plotline follows Easy Company, 506th regiment, 101st airborne from their days at airborne jump school to the surrender of the NAZI’s in World War II, and the bond of brotherhood and comradeship that they developed over the period.

A major attribute of military leadership that is revisited time and time again is the value of treating the enemy prisoners and casualties the same way they treat their brothers in arms. In the battlefield, rank and personal

The preparation for the D-day mission was the first glaring example of how great planning at all levels to ensure that everyone knows the mission was suppose to take place. The first sign of how this took place over countless rock-drills, briefings and countless meetings within in the platoons of Easy Co. So when it came for the mission and how it didn’t go as how they had planned the men know the end game. They got separated during the drop and continued to drive on and gathered people from other units and made it to there intended objective. I truly believe that this is what made the NCO the backbone of the Army. The freedom these men had to train and punish their troops made them more effective as leaders. The trust that the officers had in the NCO’s and soldiers to train and carry out the mission they had come up with is evident throughout the book. One example of how the NCO’s took the job they had to do serious was here in this part of the book (Lipton was uneasy about leading 2nd platoon on an attack without knowing what was ahead, so he decided to go forward with a radio man to scout the situation in Noville) p 216. He didn’t have to do this but he was so concerned for the well being of his men that he did this and discovered that the Germans still had control of the town. This is not only

Military leaders must understand the enemy and enemy movements. With planning you must find not only the strengths and weaknesses of your own men but the enemy as well. This is must in order to achieve a strategic advantage by controlling strategic points or areas in war. For example, the first two operations for Easy Co., Operation Overload and Operation Market Garden where the mission was to drop troops behind enemy lines along the Normandy Coastline and the Netherlands respectively, to secure roads, bridges and areas considered by the Allies to be of tactical importance. A military leader’s first job is to execute planning phase where they must identify locations that must be controlled even before the first bullet is fired. If you are to win the battle controlling strong points for resupply is a must. With securing strong points you will put the enemy on its heels and taking away its strength. The second operation is very important in helping the Allies to take the battle to the Nazi’s by opening up the Rhine. The terrotizing of the enemies own battlefield played a huge part for the allies as it allowed them to minimize the destruction of the allied battle space. This is evident at the end of the war as Germany was left with the ruins of the war. The U.S. and its allies have continued to use this strategy as evident during Gulf War and most recently, during the U.S. invasion