Strategic Deployment Quotes

The Marines have landed, and we now own a piece of Afghanistan.

How are you, G.I. Joe? It seems to me that most of you are poorly informed about the going of the war, to say nothing about a correct explanation of your presence over here. Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die.

The West has demonstrated its ability in the past to project power and move troops to distant regions.

When our new armies are ready it seems folly to send them to Flanders, where they will chew barbed wire, or be wasted in futile frontal attacks.

The military weapon is but one of the means that serve the purposes of war: one out of the assortment which grand strategy can employ.

An army must have but one line of operations. This must be maintained with care and abandoned only for major reasons.

There is not really any point in having a big squad if you don't use it.

Set the troops to their tasks without imparting your designs.

Gen. Tommy Franks told me the war was being compromised as specialized personnel and equipment were being shifted from Afghanistan to prepare for the war in Iraq - a war more than a year away.

The Iraqi military are able to deploy these weapons within 45 minutes of a decision to do so.

We are the nation’s force in readiness…. We are the nation’s expeditionary force.

To achieve victory we must mass our forces at the hub of all power & movement. The enemy's 'Center of Gravity'

[Napoleon deployed] every available resource to inflict all-out defeats on [his] enemies.

The success of our surprise attack on Pearl Harbor will prove to be the Waterloo of the war to follow. For this reason the Imperial Navy is massing the cream of its strength in ships and planes to assure success.

The People's Liberation Army should play the role of shock troops, overcoming fatigue and sharpening vigilance to make new contributions.

When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting men become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones. For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope; if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but if round-shaped to go rolling down.

The United States is sending its most powerful drone to Libya. That’s a long trip for Joe Biden.

If I determine the enemy's disposition of forces while I have no perceptible form, I can concentrate my forces while the enemy is fragmented. The pinnacle of military deployment approaches the formless: if it is formless, then even the deepest spy cannot discern it nor the wise make plans against it.

I am a Soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.

If you want to hear arguments against deploying a big U.S. ground force in Syria, just ask a general.

Never lose sight of this maxim, that you should establish your cantonments at the most distant and best protected point from the enemy, especially where a surprise is possible. By this means you will have time to unite all your forces before he can attack you.

Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve.

The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy

Tanks being deployed far forward is an indication of offensive action; tanks in depth is an indication of defensive action.

The minute Putin went into Crimea, what Obama should have done is sent 50,000 troops to NATO. He didn't have to engage them, just send them. That puts the fear of God into people.