Staff rides are an essential military training tool that entails the examination of historical war campaigns or battles, whose purpose is to envision or create a preliminary study phase for the officers, in the actual historical site. These rides also allow the soldiers to capture significant war lessons from the excursions and will enable them to integrate them into practice by applying the lessons learned. For this exercise, the focus is on the Battle of Fort Henry of 1862 in the Civil War. This historical campaign site is along the Tennessee River, where the Union government defeated the Confederacy by capturing the river highway that meandered straight into the South's heart. This paper will explore how a Sergeant Major could plan and implement a staff ride, address performance gaps, and explore the different phases of the staff ride to ensure that the officers learning understand and integrate the tactics learned.
Brief Overview of the Battle of Fort Henry Campaign
Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant in the Western Theater of the Mississippi River, commanded the Union army. This war campaign got fought in February 1862 in Donelson, Tennessee. The main tactic used in this campaign was the capture of the Forts (Henry and Donelson) by Grant, which made victory easy for the Union because people fled the city of Nashville after these captures (Smith, 2016). Additionally, Grant's strategy was to overpower the Forts built along the Tennessee River, by overwhelming the Confederacy soldiers and using superior and updated weapons. Defeating the forts was an automatic victory because of the Union government. Destroying the railroads used by the Confederacy soldiers was another effective strategy used during this campaign.
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Staff Ride to Battle of Fort Henry
The first step would be for the Sergeants Major to establish the significant lessons or tactics they intend the officers to learn. According to Robertson (1987), the officer in charge of the staff ride must be knowledgeable about the campaign extensively. In this case, extensive knowledge would include the tactics that the Union soldiers used during the battle described above. The next step would be to determine the logistical support required for this staff ride. In this case, it would be along the Tennessee River, for historical context too. Therefore, logistical support would include water vessels, compasses, among other critical study tools. Messing must be available for the officers to ensure a swift learning process (Robertson, 1987). Additionally, billeting facilities should be close by to ensure that the officers learning during the staff ride understand the war concepts taught, and how to integrate them. To embark on the study, the Sergeants Major should conduct it in three major stages: the preliminary step, the field study, and integration.
Preliminary Study
The purpose of this stage is to prepare the officer for a visit to the site, which is the Tennessee river, to study the Battle of Fort Henry campaign during the Civil War. The Sergeants Major should take into account the officers' interest in historical war campaigns to determine if they should get processed with the study (Robertson, 1987). To achieve this, the Major should combine lectures and group discussions to get the officers actively involved and interested in the staff ride and the historical background of the campaign. According to the Army Talent Management Strategy, the lectures and exposure to the historical sites are part of required training and education for talent management of army officers (2016). Conducting conferences during this phase is critical because it would pique the students' interests and educate them on wartime strategies used, especially in water bodies. The lessons learned during this stage prepare the officers for the field study.
The Field Study
The Sergeants Major should organize a physical visit to the Tennessee River for this field study. It is crucial that the officers visit the site, to visualize the lessons gained during the lecturers, and develop insights on how the tactics identified got implemented. Therefore, the Major should identify the route used and how the officers can backtrack if needed, and plan these routes in chronological order for enhanced understanding. Based on the requirements for talent management in the army, planning the trip is crucial in training and developing the army officers' skills and tactics in war and combat, especially along with water bodies. During this stage, the Major should stimulate student discussion to test their understanding of the concepts taught. For instance, they should explain why it is essential to capture the primary mode of transport of the offensive during a campaign, and how to achieve that on different water bodies. This stage would also reveal the officers' various talents and how the Sergeant Major could recommend them for talent matching within the army, based on their performance during the field study. According to the Army Talent Management Strategy (2016), talent matching is a critical aspect of talent management.
Integration
This is the last stage of the staff ride, where the officers get exposed to the study to bring their lessons together. The officers should reflect on each step of the staff ride and write down the lessons learned from each stage. In addition to this, the Sergeant Major should also consider conducting a mock campaign after the field study in a controlled environment to test if the officers understood the tactics used in the campaign and historical context.
References
Department of Defense. (2016). U.S. Army Talent Management Strategy Force 2025 and Beyond. [eBook]. Retrieved August 8, 2020, from
http://file:///C:/Users/eve/AppData/Local/Temp/416166Army%20Talent%20Managemen
t%20Strategy, %20Force%202025%20and%20Beyond.pdf.
Robertson, W. (1987). The Staff Rides [eBook]. CMH Pub 70-21. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=dSO5AAAAIAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=Robertson,+W.+(1987).+The+Staff+Rides+&ots=68A9S_W_iU&sig=Mx4CbJ9XnO7MhuR6m7G7vSQGeHI
Smith, T. (2016). Grant Invades Tennessee: The 1862 Battles for Forts Henry . University Press of Kansas. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/book/48810
