What were the Top 10 Achievements that changed the face of war?

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 20:10:59 -0500

1. Atomic Bomb
2. Aircraft Carrier
3. Airplanes
4. Paratroopers
5. Submarines
6. Machine Guns
7. Cannon
8. Sailing Ships
9. The Sarissa
10. The Chariot

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-greatest-military-achievements-that-changed-the-face-of-war.php

Do you agree?

Top 10 Greatest Military Achievements That Changed the Face of War - Toptenz.net

There have been a number of military achievements throughout world history that have revolutionized warfare. Listed here, I have attempted to formulate th

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2015 8:11 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 20:11:35 -0500

That's right Paratroopers are on the list.

Response by SPC David S. made Feb 13 at 2015 9:15 PM

SPC David S. — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 21:15:03 -0500

Advent of spy satellites or intelligence (Turing machine)

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Feb 13 at 2015 9:39 PM

Capt Richard I P. — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 21:39:09 -0500

Outrageous comparisons. We need to put a cap on decades or something. Paratroopers over machineguns? So Paratroopers would be just as effective with muskets? And explain how aircraft CARRIERS can be more important than the aircraft themselves? Maybe gunpowder needs to be on the list somewhere? Or the bodkin-tipped arrow... Or penicillin? (first war where enemy killed more than disease...anyone?)

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2015 10:15 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 22:15:59 -0500

Atomic Bomb
Machine Guns
Airplanes
Aircraft Carriers
Combat Medicine
Paratroopers
Body Armor
Armored vehicles (Chariot/Tank/etc)
Rifled barrels
Gunpowder/cartridge advancements

Just my thoughts.
v/r,
CPT Butler

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2015 10:17 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 22:17:40 -0500

Long range missiles should be on the list. I feel like they've changed warfare forever.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Feb 13 at 2015 10:24 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 22:24:19 -0500

Allow me to introduce a new one: Communications

Generally, all belligerents have the same weaponry. Some may enjoy a momentary advantage if their's arrives on the battlefield first, but if an innovation is effective, it is quickly copied.

Generally, all belligerents have good leaders and bad, and even bad leaders have won battles. (As Napoleon famously said, he was more concerned that his commanders were lucky.)

Generally, air superiority is a desirable thing, however, it has never been decisive.

An advantage in communications/command and control has always been decisive.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2015 10:38 PM

PO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 22:38:16 -0500

The stirrup.

Response by SPC David Shaffer made Feb 13 at 2015 10:40 PM

SPC David Shaffer — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 22:40:48 -0500

The number 1 is and always will be the American soldier!

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2015 10:44 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 22:44:42 -0500

How come armored mechanized vehicles are not in the list?

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2015 10:49 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 22:49:24 -0500

The microchip should be in there as well

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2015 11:07 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 23:07:20 -0500

Couldn't live without it.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2015 11:49 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 23:49:10 -0500

Money.

Response by MAJ(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 14 at 2015 4:40 AM

MAJ(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 04:40:06 -0500

In no particular order:

- Cyberspace
- experience / lessons learned
- MISO (aka PsyOps) & Civil Affairs
- gorilla warfare
- IEDs
- better training
- better tactics
- alliances
- the NCO
- the PT belt

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Feb 14 at 2015 8:34 AM

Cpl Jeff N. — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 08:34:18 -0500

I would add radar. It made all of the difference in the Battle of Britain and the war in the Pacific.

The development of body armor. I can't imagine landing at Iwo Jima with only a herringbone jacket. A lot of lives have been saved with it.

Corpsman and Medics on the battlefield. They save a lot of lives too. Nothing is more assuring that knowing someone will come to your aid if you are wounded.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 14 at 2015 8:59 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 08:59:19 -0500

WWII Codetalkers.
Urban Warfare
General "Mad Dog" Mattis
And of Course...The U.S. Marine Corps!

Response by Cpl Brett Wagner made Feb 14 at 2015 9:06 AM

Cpl Brett Wagner — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 09:06:41 -0500

I would also include the crossbow, the tank and the sniper.

Response by MSgt Robert Pellam made Feb 14 at 2015 9:20 AM

MSgt Robert Pellam — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 09:20:00 -0500

I am going to toss my 2 cents in there and say, Formation fighting.. and Discipline. They go hand in hand.

Since humans started beating other humans with sticks rocks and other objects. Battle has been a part of our history. If you look back through the ages, the Army that usually wins is the better disciplined army. In the days of the Greeks and Romans, it was the feared Phalanx, that spread fear far and wide. For the Huns, it was the precision riding of light Calvary. All the way up through History, Staying in formation and having the discipline is key to accomplishing the mission. And it is just as true today as it was back with Armys were first formed.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 14 at 2015 10:05 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 10:05:03 -0500

The radio, ballistic rocketry, and the integrated circuit aren't on the list. Given the test of the American War of Independence, I'd also have to replace some of the ancient items with the rifle.

Response by PO2 Christopher Morehouse made Feb 14 at 2015 10:20 AM

PO2 Christopher Morehouse — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 10:20:22 -0500

I can't believe no one has mentioned the first true weapon designed solely for war, and that which reigned supreme for foot fighters and cavalry alike across millenia - the Sword. Elegant, but deadly, with variations that optimize its use in everything from single combat to legionary tactics to cavalry use. It became the symbol for war such that even today units across the world use it in their emblems. This should be number one.

I also disagree about the atom bomb. It did not change the way we wage war. It just drew a line in the sand and said cross this at your own peril. If anything, it has affected politics more than military tactics. Chemical and Biological weapons deserve a spot on the list above nuclear weapons, though I don't think they should make the list despite their widespread use for a time. In the end, they resulted in just drawing another line in the sand.

As someone else mention, I think the bow should be on the list. I think the chariot should come down, and despite my love of sailing vessels, it should come down too. The galley was still more effective at naval warfare throughout much of the age of sail. But, I would add steam powered vessels. The ability to go under power in the face of tide and wind direction, and the vessel be capable to cross oceans and seas with relative ease (as opposed to the galley) completely changed how we took to the seas, and thus how we waged war on it.

Response by PO3 John Jeter made Feb 14 at 2015 10:31 AM

PO3 John Jeter — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 10:31:11 -0500

Hmmmmmm.......I'm not quite sure how to separate 'achievement' from 'innovation' in this context. I believe I will have to cast my thought towards the establishment of formal military education institutions.

Response by TSgt Tim (lj) Littlejohn made Feb 14 at 2015 11:02 AM

TSgt Tim (lj) Littlejohn — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 11:02:10 -0500

Gun powder, without which, The Atomic Bomb
2. Aircraft Carrier
3. Airplanes
4. Paratroopers
5. Submarines
6. Machine Guns
7. Cannon, would be useless.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 14 at 2015 11:44 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 11:44:29 -0500

I can think of quite a few with arguably bigger impact:
1. Gunpowder
2. The Galleass (made Venice a world power)
3. Rifled barrels
4. The Long Bow
5. The Phalanx
6. Radar
7. Radio
8. The Laser
9. The Gyroscope (for guided missiles/ bombs)
10. The Jet Engine

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 14 at 2015 11:47 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 11:47:05 -0500

1. Gunpowder
2. The internet and other communications
3. Standardization/state-sponsored training programs
4. Development of a professional NCO corps granting tactical flexibility
5. Advent of dynamic generalship
6. Oceangoing vessels
7. Aircraft
8. Rifled weaponry
9. Smart munitions
10. Blitzkrieg/ maneuver warfare doctrines

I wouldn't even put nuclear weapons in the top 10, completely useless unless your end goal is to force an entire society to succumb in a total industrial war scenario. That has occurred one time in history, that makes them the equivalent of inventing the "rhino" out necessity to defeat certain IEDs. Great invention, but inly one purpose

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Feb 14 at 2015 12:53 PM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 12:53:44 -0500

Are you shooting, moving, or communicating? Well you should be!

It's either a weapon; bigger, badder, or sleaker.

Transportation; faster, bigger, or some other way to go (underwater, in the air, through the dirt)

Or some new fangled way to yell at a guy.

But I'm really surprised no one said GPS.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 14 at 2015 12:59 PM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 12:59:52 -0500

Stealing in order to make this more precise: We are talking about a "Revolution in Military Affairs" here. 'RMA claims that in certain periods of the history of mankind, there were new doctrines, strategies, tactics and technologies which led to an irrevocable change in conduct of warfare. Furthermore, those changes require an accelerated adaptation of novel doctrines and strategies.' That means that ANYTHING on this list must have been so profound that it changed the DOTMLPF systems that we understand as professionals. The capability of dropping infantrymen out of airplanes didn't make that vast of a change for example. While it was certainly innovation, their presence on the battlefield didn't require any special counter move on the part of warring militaries. It was just a way of moving them. You could have shot them out of cannons and got the same effect. NOT REVOLUTIONARY. We have to look at something that TOTALLY changed the way warfare was fought. Even the chariot didn't do that on a massive scale. The Phalanx was still applicable and ground warfare persisted. A good example is the bow, or more appropriately the English Long Bow. Until its invention, armored knights ruled the battlefield. To battle, you needed more knights who were politically driven and sworn to fealty, but who were paid with lands and power. Pretty expensive and cumbersome. Until we discover that instead of arming a peasant with a spear, we can give him a bow...which has enough power and enough mass (when fired in groups of 300) to blow through armor plating or frankly...kill every horse in a charge. This invention...this "RMA" changed the way war was fought...immediately. If you didn't have them, you lost. Everything changed. Keep that in mind as you make your list and don't fall for the "sexy modern change" which is the soup-du-jour.

Response by SFC Istvan Nagy made Feb 14 at 2015 1:28 PM

SFC Istvan Nagy — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 13:28:05 -0500

Well, I always loved History, so, this is my list:

1. Knife, sword, and the Lance
2. Bow and Arrow
3. Guns (Short and Long Range)
4. Boats and Ships (as in the Armada and Aircraft Carriers)
5. Airplanes (with Gunships and Bombs)
6. Submarines
7. Airborne and Air Assault Warfare
8. Chemical Weapons
9. Bio Weapons
10. A-Bombs
11. Drones

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Response by LCpl Mark Lefler made Feb 15 at 2015 11:56 PM

LCpl Mark Lefler — Sun, 15 Feb 2015 23:56:09 -0500

bronze weapons, long bow, gun powder, trebicha, metal hull, conscription, the pope, air plane, submarine, aircraft carrier. (soon.. the rail gun)

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PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 16 Feb 2015 03:58:52 -0500

For me, this guy changed 'face of the war'