Now lets look at a fleeting line in a recent New York Times report:
‘They Come in Waves’: Ukraine Goes on Defense Against a Relentless Foe (archived) - New York Times, Feb 4 2024
At the hot spots of the eastern front line, Ukrainian troops are outmanned, outgunned and digging in.
“They come in waves,” said Lt. Oleksandr Shyrshyn, 29, the deputy battalion commander in the 47th Mechanized Brigade. “And they do not stop.”
A normal reader, not well versed in military organization, will not stumble over that sentence as I did.
A Lieutenant at age 28 is likely a seasoned one. But in the role of a 'deputy battalion commander'?
What happened to the S3, the Major and nominal deputy battalion commander? What happened to the six Captains the battalion is supposed to have? All of them should be better trained and qualified to take on the role of a deputy battalion commander than a mere Lieutenant.
This small detail, a Lieutenant as deputy battalion commander, tells me more about the battalion's state that any flowery description of casualties.
Poster Comment:
The Ukrainians have so few officers that they rely British, Polish, French and American officers for planning. They have been promoting inexperienced female soldiers to be officers.