What the hell is maneuvers,circa1943. 1943 I circad No. Africa then Italy.CaptO just having a little fun.
Hey, I'm up on my history! While the 82nd Airborne (4 days older then the 101st) tromped around the Med with you guys, the first combat for the 101st was Operation Neptune (the Normandy landings. I shy away from using the term "D-Day" as I believe you gents had a few of those yourselves.)
It seems this could easily turn into a referendum on training. The one thing I will say is that the Army did you guys no favors sending you into battle with little training. I have heard you say that combat is the only real training. Whereas this is, of course, the best training possible, I think that with difficult, consistent, and realistic (as can be possible) training you can much more effective in combat. Then you can take those standardized TTP's (tactics, techniques, and procedures) and hone them into what people would commonly call being "battle hardened". Taking the Marines for example, the units that landed on Iwo Jima were more effective at the beginning of the campaign than toward the end. The replacements that filled the rapidly growing holes in the lines were only given minimal training, and many did not have the time to learn what they needed to survive. I'm sure this is the same as what you folks encountered over there. The fact of the matter is that you guys that were sent over for Operation Torch didn't have time for much training in the same way that replacements didn't later in the war. That was just the reality of the situation at the time.
To surmise, combat is the best training you can get. The amount of training you get up to that point will help you survive long enough to learn those lessons that keep you alive.
What do you think?