Giving small\u002Dunit commanders the autonomy to make decisions on the fly was a cultural transformation for the Ukrainian soldiers, but seems to be paying off in…
In place of the top-down style of leadership inherited from Soviet days, the Canadians and other NATO instructors tried to instill the idea of giving small-unit commanders the autonomy to make decisions on the fly.
“That all comes down to a platoon or section commander saying ‘We’re going to use the Javelin here and then we’re going to pull back and use the Javelin here,’” he said. “You multiply that thousands of times and all of a sudden you have a viable defence.” He was among the first group that set up the operation in 2015, and returned from his latest stint last October, as Russia began massing forces along the Ukrainian border.
Among his Ukrainian counterparts, Purdon said there was never much doubt that they would soon be at it again. There was also much interest in Canada’s sniper training, he said, given that the three main causes of Ukrainian casualties in 2014 were artillery, mines and sniping. “He said, ‘In 2014 me and my soldiers went to the front in school buses.’ And he goes, ‘Our soldiers will never do that again…. We’ll be better prepared for next time.’”
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