Normandy Battle Staff Ride

A Battle Staff Ride (BSR) is basically a euphemism for "Officer field trip" or even more simply stated, a damn good time.  That's not to say that it is not an educational and professional event.  GEN George C. Marshall began taking his officers on horseback tours of the Civil War battlefields (namely Gettysburg) in order to allow the officers to relive the battles that shaped our nation's history.  They would be required to analyze the strategy and tactics of the day and develop their own plan to fight the enemy.  It is very much the same today, however, the Army doesn't feel it is appropriate to give us horses anymore.  I know--BS.  Anyway, it is an extremely unique experience and opportunity to learn about warfare--especially with the heavy budget cuts going on right now in the DoD.

The trip itself consisted of three days.  Day one was focused on the British 6th Airborne Division and their parachute assault on 5JUN1944 and amphibious assault of Gold and Sword Beaches on 6JUN1944.  On day two we visited the Utah Beach invasion sites of the US 5th Army, and the contributions of God's finest creation--the US Army Paratrooper.  On day three we visited Point du Hoc, the location where the 2nd Ranger BN made their famous assault on the heavily fortified cliffs.  The rest of day three was spent on Omaha Beach discussing the legendary and bloody assault performed by the 29th Infantry Division, 1st Infantry Division and the 2nd Ranger BN.  The "Dog Green" sector of Omaha Beach suffered the most American casualties and is the focal point of the movie Saving Private Ryan.  

We ended the day and the trip in the American Cemetery that overlooks Omaha Beach.  The groundskeeper at the cemetery gave us the tremendous honor of retiring our nation's Colors.  I was fortunate enough to be part of the detail that lowered and folded the flags that fly above the graves of over 9000 WW2 Soldiers that gave the ultimate sacrifice.  All in all, it was nothing short of spectacular.  I certainly can't do it justice from a few pics and a blog entry, but it puts everything in perspective--the American military is pretty badass.  Yeah, you're welcome World.

To add to your perspective, I think the following entry is required.  It is kind of a motto or mantra of my former unit, the 82nd ABN DIV, but it pretty much explains how American Paratroopers are able to survive against all odds--you know like being dropped 20 miles away from your actual drop zone, struggling desperately to find a weapon because yours was lost during the jump, and walking mile after mile just to link up with two other Paratroopers so you can go kill the enemy with your bare hands.  Anyway, we call this the rule of LGOPs (little groups of Paratroopers) and it's the basis for living a glamorous life of carnage and debauchery:

After the demise of the best Airborne plan, a terrifying effect occurs on the battlefield.  This effect is known as the rule of LGOPs.  This is, in its purest form, small groups of pissed off 19 year old American Paratroopers.  They are well trained, armed to the teeth, and lack serious adult supervision.  They collectively remember the Commander's intent as "march to the sound of the guns and kill anyone who is not dressed like you" - or something like that.  Happily they go about their day's work.

The following pics are mostly chronological in order of the sites we toured as I described above. 

Here rests the first Paratrooper KIA from the British 6th ABN.  They were assigned the very first objective of securing Pegasus Bridge which allowed the Allies to advance inland on the days following D-Day.

101st ABN DIV memorial overlooking Brecourt Manor.  This was the site of the battle portrayed in Band of Brothers where 12 men, led by LT Dick Winters, cleared the artillery cannons in the trenches.  It is interesting to note that the impromptu plan devised by LT Winters is still Army doctrine for how to assault and clear a trench.

Pretty self -explanatory I think...

Go Engineers!!  US Army Engineers were the first to step foot on the beaches to make sure that the Infantry cupcakes could advance through the minefields, wire and other types of scary shit that is too much to handle for soldiers outside of the Engineer Corps.  They didn't parachute in, but these guys are still good in my book.

Very famous church in Ste. Mere Eglise where many of the 82nd ABN DIV landed.  Needless to say, this was not the planned drop zone.  The movie The Longest Day depicts a true story where a paratrooper got hung up on the church steeple and eventually became deaf from the constant ringing of the bell tower.  If you look closely, there is a paratrooper on the steeple (not the original one though, but still pretty cool).

Just one of the many beautiful stained glass windows inside the church.  Many of the churches we visited honored the American paratroopers like this.  The people of Ste. Mere Eglise are incredibly grateful of their American liberators...too bad I can't say that for the rest of the country 

The concertina wire here at Point du Hoc is part of the original defenses emplaced by the Germans.

Views overlooking Omaha beach

Representations of both sides honoring their unknown dead.  (Right: Two German Soldiers)

SGT Niland was one of three brothers KIA by the end of D-Day.  The fourth brother was a Paratrooper with the 101st ABN whose whereabouts could not be determined.  Army Chief of Staff, GEN George C. Marshall, ordered a mission to bring him home so that his mother would not have to receive a fourth death notice.  This mission was successfully carried out by a small element of the 2nd Ranger BN.  The Niland brothers are better known to most as "the Ryan brothers" and the element that rescued PVT James F Ryan (Matt Damon) was led by CPT John H. Miller (actual name portrayed by Tom Hanks).

Like I said earlier, most of the Normandy region is very appreciative of the freedom given to them by American and British Soldiers.  I did however have a minor confrontation while enjoying adult beverages one night at a bar in Bayeux, France.  The short version is that he was pissed because a large group of us were apparently conversing too loudly in English.  We tried to compromise on perhaps a mutual language like German.  When we found out that his Deutsch was nicht sehr gut (not very good), we kindly reminded him that if weren't for the USA, he wouldn't have to worry about French or English. So with that I end this blog with a pic to the left honoring the brave fighting spirit of our non-German speaking Allies.  

Again, you're welcome.