Well, the Falklands seems to be popping up in the news every so often now. Back in 1982, few people anywhere knew where the Falkland Islands were let alone how contentious they were. Anyone interested in current affairs in that Hemisphere could benefit from knowing a little about the history there. If someone is interested in military history or, more important still, if someone is in the military, then I think that war is very relevant today. The Falklands War stands out in history because of its uniqueness. No nation has ever projected military forces so far away with so little wherewithal. How Britain did that remains very impressive. For the past two decades we Americans and our allies have been focused on the Middle East. Those areas evolved into theaters with robust infrastructures If you were a logistician, you deployed into these areas and supported forces from fixed facilities after offloading ships in deep-draft ports or unloading fully loaded planes or trucks arriving in theater. You had airfields for large aircraft and roads to move supplies forward to units. Moreover, you rotated into theater in all likelihood on large commercial aircraft into airports as well. Clearly the work was tough and achievements many. But such a situation is quite different from providing support over beaches into austere areas with little or no infrastructure and perhaps few or no good roads, especially when an enemy is trying to stop you. In the 1980s and early 1990’s, our military prided itself on being able to deploy quickly and prepare to fight in a variety of environments. Our readiness for that is not what it used to be now. A generation has grown up in the ranks focused on established theaters. I would suggest that history now becomes very relevant to create new mindsets. And toward that end, the British experience is the Falklands becomes especially enlightening.
