US Army document: Korean War helped development of U.S. military tactics

The U.S. army has developed lessons learned from battles during the Korean War into systematic military tactics and principles, according to the U.S. military documents recently made public. Although there has been a theory that rapid development of America’s combat manuals in the 1950s was attributable to the Korean War, this is the first time to find documents that show how the U.S. military has developed manuals and tactics.

The Dong-A Ilbo obtained this U.S. military document from the Institute for Military History under the South Korean Defense Ministry. According to the document, the U.S. Army`s higher authorities received records and analysis results from their Military History Detachment on operation of American military units during the Korean War and ordered to make manuals from corresponding cases, with aims to train soldiers or deliver the manuals to related units.

Having seen combats and battles during the cold spell, the coldest season in 100 years, the MHD recorded and studied how a rifle company built defensive positions. Based on the on-site observation, the MHD has developed a recommendation to dig a separate hole inside the trench to store ammunitions, preventing them from being frozen. The U.S. military operation division said, “This study is not only useful for defense but also a valuable lesson that the munition division needs to know.” The MHD has served as a channel to develop useful lessons learned from battles and into principles and manuals applicable to the whole army force, rather than keeping the lessons inside a specific unit.

Established in October 1950, the eight MHD units under the U.S. Military’s Far Eastern Command had been in operation until March 1955. The MHD units operated with division-level units and worked as a historiographer on the battle field during the Korean War. MHD documents are regarded as the most massive and objective first-hand records among the U.S. military documents about the Korean War.