An Cosantóir

24 | BACK BY COMDT SEÁN MURPHY This article is about the Infantry School's Professional Reading Programme. So, why read about military affairs in the first place? When General George S Patton, Jr, Military History' Prof Sir Michael How- ard MC observes: "If there are no wars in the present in which the profes- sional soldier can learn his trade, he is almost compelled to study the wars of the past." Such reading will help the soldier to avoid repeating the mistakes wrote to his son at West Point, as the D-Day landings took place on 6 June 1944, he advised him that "to be a suc- cessful soldier you must know history". Many military leaders and institutions throughout the world continue to value the study of past military opera- tions as an aid to the development of military leaders at all levels in the full spectrum of military operations. As Jessup and Coakely write: "Weather, terrain and intelligence of friendly and enemy dispositions … are as important today as in the days of Alexander, Fred- erick the Great and Napoleon; human reactions in combat remain relatively constant." In his essay 'The Use and Abuse of to the an article titled 'Learning about Coun- ter-Insurgency', in which he reflects on the development of Gen Sir Rupert Smith's concept of 'war amongst the people' and the difficulties that the ever-changing circumstances of the battlefield in the early 21st century pose for modern western armies. Gen Kiszely addresses learning in of the past through ignorance and to refrain from unquestioningly following obsolete theories. In 2006 Lt Gen Sir John Kiszely wrote Future identifies the difference between training (preparing people to perform specific tasks) and education (the devel- opment of mental powers). He further states that training is for predictable events while education is required to help people deal with unpredictable events. Military leaders, he says, need an understanding of a wide variety of factors that will influence counter-in- surgency operations, including "politics, economics, anthropology, sociology and psychology". And "underpinning all of these is the study of history". An Cosantóir September 2012 www.dfmagazine.ie military institutions and the difficulties that the campaigns in Malaya, Cyprus and Vietnam posed the conservative cultures of various western militaries in the second half of the 20th century. One of the factors that he identifies as detracting from the ability of many militaries to learn about counter- insurgency has been "their tendency to forego [the] serious study of history and theory" beyond finding a text that tells the individual how to solve the problem immediately facing him/her. As part of his conclusion Gen Kiszely that it is impossible to expect that this level of education can be imparted through the formal training processes of the military. There are too many other demands on scarce resources. Instead, encouraging individuals to participate in "continuous self-educa- tion" is a key element of the solution. The Infantry School conducts a wide However, Gen Kiszely also identifies variety of courses aimed at the profes- sional development of the officers, NCOs and soldiers of the Infantry Corps, in particular, and the Defence Forces generally. In addition to profes- sional courses, it is widely accepted that participation in 'life-long learning' is a key element in the development

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