AAR 6

On the weekend of 11 February 2000 at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS), a wargaming conference was held of the 1943 battle between the Soviets and Germans for the city of Kanev. The main objective for the event was to teach to the strategy, tactics, and objectives to people unfamiliar to this period of warfare. The many people participated in this event. Cadet Candidates from USMAPS, West Point Cadets, Virginia Military Institute Cadets, University of Connecticut ROTC Cadets, and others participated.

The events that made this a successful campaign for the Russians were tedious. The Soviet Staff Officers for the 3rd Guard Tank Army worked long and hard hours to gather intelligence and make courses of action to become successful at Kanev. The G-3 planned the gathering of intelligence, planning of logistics, and making the overall plan for the 3rd GTA. The G-2 gathered intelligence on surrounding Nazi actions, placements, and supply lines. In addition, this officer gathered Soviet intelligence to give the placements of surrounding Soviet troops. The G-4/5 rationed out supplies, planned supply lines, and gathered civilian intelligence. The execution of the overall main plan by 3rd GTA Corps commanders was excellent. These commanders followed the plans and allowed for adjustments in the battle. The effectiveness of these commanders and the plans allowed the Soviets to breach German lines at the bridgehead and to capture Kanev from German occupation. The success of this mission taught the Staff officers and Corps commanders many valuable lessons.

Among these many lessons, three stand out the most. The lessons were in intelligence, communication, and teamwork. The intelligence helped in knowing the location of our troops, what courses of action to take, the location of the Germans, their probable courses of action, and where their supply routes were most likely located. The communication helped in letting each commander know of changes in plans, and to allow the Staff to know what was occurring on the battlefield. This lesson would not have been possible if not for teamwork. The teamwork allowed us to converge our forces and to outnumber the Germans. Mistakes were made, however, that could have lost the battle. When planning for an airborne invasion of this great size and number, more time in planning is needed. In addition, the 3rd Guard Tank Army main supply base was too far from the advancing units. If this battle had taken longer than expected, many units would have been without supplies, and we could have lost the battle. Yet, our overall actions were more than enough to overwhelm the German army.

Preparation, execution, communications, intelligence gathering, and teamwork allowed the 3rd GTA and the Soviet army to be successful in this campaign. From all these elements, one important value can be learned. Duty can and will be a deciding factor in battle. Without this value, the German force would have been able to win and successfully invade Russia.