Oof that is true. Turns out hardline centralised authority can result in an absolute clusterfuck on the battlefield, whereas units motivated by an intrinsic desire to do the right thing - like repel invaders - can be extremely effective despite a numerical disadvantage.
Actually one interesting thing I heard from an interview with a returned volunteer in Ukraine was that professional soldiers aren’t always the best volunteer soldiers. People with no background were easier to train, but if they trained in an imperial military like the US has for instance, they couldn’t understand why they didn’t have air support, to which the answer was, “You’re not the brass, you’re a grunt, you don’t get air support.” Apparently they tended to give up and go home when they were asked to fight without overwhelming firepower on their side.
Oof that is true. Turns out hardline centralised authority can result in an absolute clusterfuck on the battlefield, whereas units motivated by an intrinsic desire to do the right thing - like repel invaders - can be extremely effective despite a numerical disadvantage.
Actually one interesting thing I heard from an interview with a returned volunteer in Ukraine was that professional soldiers aren’t always the best volunteer soldiers. People with no background were easier to train, but if they trained in an imperial military like the US has for instance, they couldn’t understand why they didn’t have air support, to which the answer was, “You’re not the brass, you’re a grunt, you don’t get air support.” Apparently they tended to give up and go home when they were asked to fight without overwhelming firepower on their side.