A quarter of a century after the end of the Border War, the SANDF’s institutional memory of the conflict is slowly fading. And yet there are several lessons emanating from the war, which are relevant to the Defence Force. This article attempts to map out some of these lessons. These lessons are as follows. (1) The need for combined arms units such as 61 Mechanised Battalion Group and 4 SAI, being a mix of mechanised infantry, armoured cars, tanks, artillery and support troops on battalion level. (2) The importance of logistic support, something that was not always sufficient during Operations Moduler, Hooper and Packer in 1987–1988. (3) Reserve force units must be adequately retrained when utilised in operations. (4) During the war, there was a gap in the Army’s anti-aircraft capability. This gap has not been rectified since. (5) In order to be able to command the air above a battlefield, an aerial refuelling capability for the SAAF is essential. (6) The Army needs a proper air assault and maritime amphibious capability. (7) When deciding to engage in a warlike operation, avoid the incremental commitment, which characterised both Operation Savannah in 1975 and Moduler in 1988. (8) While the field units fight on the battlefield, do not micromanage things from above. As long as the units keep within the political and operational parameters set by the politicians and generals, let the field commanders exercise their own initiative. (9) Make a renewed study of the Army’s mobile warfare doctrine of the seventies and eighties, as developed by officers such as Major General Roland de Vries. (10) Lastly, see to it that officers are not just trained, but intellectually educated about war as well
Ever since 1988, a war of words has been waged about the question who won the so-called Battle of Cuito Cuanavale -the SADF, or the Cuban and Angola forces. A lot depends, of course, on what the South Africans' strategic and operational objectives were, and whether they reached these or not. On a somewhat lower level, the debate has centred on the question whether the SADF wanted to occupy Cuito Cuanavale. If they did, it becomes easier to argue that South Africa was dealt a heavy reverse there; if not, such an argument becomes more difficult to sustain. In this article, South Africa's strategic and operational objectives are analysed, based on archival sources. The basic conclusions are that the South African government was realistic enough to see that it could not replace the MPLA with UNITA by force, although it was hoped this might happen through elections. As far as Cuito Cuanavale is concerned, the sources are unequivocal: Although the occupation of the town was indeed discussed, it was never seriously considered. The objective was simply to drive FAPLA over the Cuito River, to prepare the riverbank as a defensive line, to turn it over to UNITA and then to pull back. By far most of the South Africans' objectives were reached.
Oliver Tambo and communism Oliver Tambo, who led the ANC/SACP alliance throughout the difficult struggle era, is often portrayed as a religious Christian who, not being a member of the SACP, allied himself only for pragmatic reasons with that party. This is the narrative spread by the alliance itself, but also by his biographer, Luli Callinicos and certain other historians. Tambo's political views
Military commanders like Alexander the Great or Richard the Lionheart did not have to take public opinion greatly into account when they planned their campaigns in their day. Today it is a very different situation. In the light of the above this article starts with two somewhat startling quotes by the futurologists Alvin and Heidi Toffler: "The people thinking hardest about warfare in the future know that some of the most important combat of tomorrow will take place on the media battlefield." They also state: “[T]he media, including channels and technologies unimagined today, will be a prime weapon for Third Wave combatants in both the wars and anti-wars of the future, a key component of knowledge strategy.” In recent years, much has been made of the adversarial relations between journalists and the military. The media have, for instance, been blamed for the US defeat in Vietnam, for unthinkingly blabbing about tactical decisions in advance in the Falklands, etc. From their side, journalists have been blaming the military for not trying to understand the nature of their job, of covering up a number of bad things, etc.
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