In this second part of “Warrior Ideology”, I present to you the command guidelines General George S. Patton, Jr. issued to his commanders during World War II. These guidelines will benefit any and every one who occupies a leadership position.
The following list of dictates is from General George S. Patton’s instructions to his commanders presented in the same outline format used by the General himself. (See Endnote # 1):
Generals Brady, Eisenhower & Patton
I. GENERAL
1. This letter stresses those tactical and administrative usages which combat experience has taught myself and the officers who have served under me to consider vital.
2. You will not simply mimeograph this and call it a day. You are responsible that these usages become habitual in your command.
II. DISCIPLINE
1. There is only one sort of discipline – PERFECT DISCIPLINE. Men cannot have good battle discipline and poor administrative discipline.
2. Discipline is based on the pride in the profession of arms, on meticulous attention to details, and on mutual respect and confidence. Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of battle or the fear of death.
III. TACTICAL USAGES
1. General
a. Combat Principles.
- There is no approved solution to any tactical situation
(2) There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change. It is “To so use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wounds, death and destruction on the enemy in the minimum time”.
(3) In battle, casualties vary directly with the time you are exposed to effective fire. Your own fire reduces the effectiveness and volume of the enemies fire, while rapidity of attack shortens the time of exposure. A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood!
(4) Battles are won by frightening the enemy. Fear is induced by inflicting death and wounds on him. Death and wounds are produced by fire. …
(5) “Catch the enemy by the nose with fire and kick him in the pants with fire emplaced through movement.”
(6) Hit hard soon; … the idea being to develop your maximum force at once before the enemy can develop his.
(7) You can never be too strong. Get every man and gun you can secure, provided it does not unduly delay your attack.
(8) The larger the force and the more violence you use in the attack, whether it be men, tanks, or ammunition, the smaller will be your proportional losses.
(9) Never yield ground. It is cheaper to hold what you have than to retake what you have lost.
(10) Our mortars and our artillery are superb weapons when they are firing. When silent, they are junk – see that they keep firing!
VI. CARE OF MEN.
- Officers are responsible, not only for the conduct of their men in battle, but also for their health and contentment when not fighting. An Officer must be the last man to take shelter from fire and the first to move forward. Similarly, he must be the last man to look after his own comfort at the close of a march. He must see to that his men are cared for. He should know his men so well that any sign of sickness or nervous strain will be apparent to him, and he can take such action as may be necessary.
I hope the twenty percepts of Funakoshi-Sensei and the command dictates of General Patton have given you a basis for contemplation; in other words, “something to think about.” More to follow.
In closing, I remain,
Sensei John Szmitkowski, Soke, Jiriki Kata-Do
ENDNOTES:
1. These instructions are contained in Patton’s 2nd letter of instruction to the Third Army Corps, Division and Separate Unit Commanders dated 3 April, 1944. The letter may be found in, Patton, George, S, Jr., War As I Knew It: The Battle Memoirs of “Blood ‘N Guts”,Bantan Books (1980).
You may wish to peruse an article and video about the ancient Ryukyu “Fisherman As Warriors” on my Fly Fishing weblog, simply click this link http://flyfishingdojo.com/2011/03/20/fisherman-as-warriors/
You may wish to view my blog dedicated to martial protocol and ideology applied to fly-fishing by clicking the following link: WWW.FlyFishingDojo.Com
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