Operation Lightfoot: Difference between revisions
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From the beginning, Eddis emphasized that this campaign would be a "matter of hours, not days, and for the fighting man a battle of minutes and seconds." As such, all timings for the first 3 days of the fighting were to be referenced in planning as 'H-Hour +' to denote that they only had 72 hours in which to get soldiers onto the ground, supplied, led, and directed at the enemy. Eddis was confident that once Arco paratroopers were pointed at the Cape by their officers, "the NCOs would finish the job." It was with this in mind that the planning conference set follow-on dates and checks to ensure that regular staff coordination was maintained. The Air Force was assigned several Army liaisons and they provided their own to ensure maximum coordination between the two armed services. | From the beginning, Eddis emphasized that this campaign would be a "matter of hours, not days, and for the fighting man a battle of minutes and seconds." As such, all timings for the first 3 days of the fighting were to be referenced in planning as 'H-Hour +' to denote that they only had 72 hours in which to get soldiers onto the ground, supplied, led, and directed at the enemy. Eddis was confident that once Arco paratroopers were pointed at the Cape by their officers, "the NCOs would finish the job." It was with this in mind that the planning conference set follow-on dates and checks to ensure that regular staff coordination was maintained. The Air Force was assigned several Army liaisons and they provided their own to ensure maximum coordination between the two armed services. | ||
=== Preparations === | |||
While command of the operation was nominally under the commander of the Army, in all reality the deputy commander of the operation, Eddis, would oversee all planning and preparation of the actual conduct for the undertaking. Arcer forces began their preparation just weeks after the initial planning conference, forming up at the Dalfearn and Kinnaird garrisons and beginning company-, battalion-, and then brighade-level airborne exercises, as well as an increased emphasis placed on platoon- and company-level operations as these were the basic building blocks of the operation. | |||
=== The Airlift Problem === | === The Airlift Problem === | ||
==Battle== | ==Battle== | ||