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Branden Mews
HS315
Week 6 Discussion and Assignment
December 19th, 2021

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- Case study for leadership inflexibility.
- Had A major effect on military doctrine after the war.
- Mentored some of our greatest military commanders.
- Eventually recognized a shift in how combat is done.

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The US decides to enter WWI in 1917. Their choice of commander is General John J. Pershing. The military is very small at this time and under General Pershing grows to millions. This is the turning point of modern combat.

General Pershing has combat experience in the American West, Spanish American War in Cuba, Fought the Moros tribe in the Philippines, and led an incursion in Mexico to prevent the unification of Pancho Villa's forces.

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Positive
- Very calm individual
- Strict adherence to discipline
- Able to work around intense politics
- Sees the potential of others

Negative
- Military traditionalist, has difficulty adapting
- Does not see the combat situation as it is
- Subordinates fear loss of command or reassignment

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He noticed a lot of disarray in his forces and decided to split one army into two. This would allow him more time to focus on the whole war, and delegated the tactics to his trusted commanders.

General Pershing fielded the largest army in US history in his time.

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He failed to make use of the European's knowledge when he entered the war.

He stubbornly refused to see that the conditions on the battlefield did not match his tactics.

He did reorganize his elements in the late stages of the war to great effect.

He was not a great commander during WW1

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General Pershing was not very quick to adapt to modern warfare which included coordinated attacks from multiple elements. He favored solo infantry attacks. He felt that the superior fighting spirit of Americans would win without all that modern "fluff".

Sent an order that caused mass confusion and exposed troops to friendly fire at Sedan.

He firmly believed that the Europeans were fighting the war wrong and did not use their years of experience to his advantage. Rather he sent out troops not trained for combat in the theater of operations.