Task Force Smith Failure Essay

Throughout my twenty-five year career I have been witness to many mistakes that I have seen time and time again. It can be hard for some individuals to learn from these mistakes and then keep making them. One experience we cannot allow to happen again is the failure in leadership that allowed Task Force Smith to go into combat and not be able to complete its mission. In this paper, we will examine what lead to the escalation of force in Korea, the poor readiness, leadership, training, and equipping of the Soldiers of Task Force Smith. Task force Smith was not a failure because of its men, it was a failure at many levels due to the lack of funding and foresight into our future enemies, and where our Soldier would fight our nation’s battles.

5 When World War II ended the military devised a plan that awarded points to troops that had been in the Army the longest and had seen the most combat. With this, the most seasoned veterans left the military and headed home to restart their lives. This left a void of combat harden troops with the most experience and leadership. The North Korean troops that Task Force Smith would face were composed of Koreans that fought with the Chinese and the Russians during the war against the Japanese forces in Korea and China. “The best defense against a tank is another tank” (Garrett, 2000) this term is the one of the best ways to describe one of the shortcomings of Task Force Smith and not having a full Regimental Combat Team. The 21st Infantry Regiment, during the Battle of Osan was no match for the North Korean forces it would face. The American would face an enemy without the support of American armor. The North Koreans had Russian T-34 tanks that were battle tested and used to stop the mighty German war machine. The Task Force was equipped with 2.36” bazookas and 75mm recoilless rifle that could not penetrate the armor of the T-34’s. The army had developed the 3.5” bazooka that could penetrate the armor but it had not been field

The numerically superior North Korean Army caught the South Korean army of 38,000 and the American off guard. The North Koreans captured the South Korean capital of Seoul within a few days and were driving south. The United Nations voted to send military forces there to help out and the United States started to mobilize its forces. The 24th Infantry Division was the closest force, which happened to be in Japan. They quickly organized an undermanned and under equipped Regimental Combat Team that they would fly to Korea to help stop the North Korean hordes from making their way south while the rest of the 24th I.D. would ship the remainder to the division’s equipment and men to Pusan to help fight the North