Originally posted by Micah Goodman
This is a very interesting discussion and I would like to add my two cents worth. Elite to me boils down to two simple factors, training and experience. What made the 101st Airborne Division an elite unit in Normandy 1944? The unit had no combat experience but their training was intense and they were an all-volunteer unit. Comments like, “the enemy has us surrounded. The poor bastards.” Reflect the training the unit underwent before it shipped overseas. They had trained to fight in situations where they would be cut off and with out help. When it happened they were trained how to react and acted accordingly.
National psyche to me does not translate into elite per say. The Japanese as a whole looked at military matters differently. They worked more along the lines of not disgracing your unit, your family, or most important your Emperor, who was in effect a god. This is a difficult concept for Westerns to understand fully. Most armies use a variation of not falling your buddy or your unit but the Japanese were able to use it to an extreme level. The Japanese officers on Guadalcanal upon being informed that they were evacuating decided initially to fight to the death or commit mass suicide rather than leave the island.. It was only when the messenger informed them that the Emperor had personally ordered their withdrawal that they followed through with the command. Does this make them fanatical or elite? In my mind it made them fanatical. And there is an important distinction between the two though at times the two may come hand in hand.
At some things the Japanese were better trained than the Marines. First, they were better night fighters. Second, they were better at camouflage. But almost without exception the Japanese did not organize their military into elite units. Were some units trained as shock units? Yes. That might have made them elite except for one thing. Japanese soldiers were never trained to take the initiative. Once a plan was decided it was carried through no matter what. Occasionally an officer might make a change in a plan or react differently than the plan dictated but that was a very rare occurrence. This factor more than anything else made it nearly impossible for the Japanese to have elite units. Elite units are the ones that fight harder and react smarter than their countrymen when the going gets tough.
This story illustrates my point, at the beginning of the Guadalcanal campaign the Japanese decided to send the Ichiki Detachment (named after its commander, who had been slated initially to spearhead the landings at Midway) to seize the Tenaru River and hold it against what was thought to be a small American detachment. After landing and engaging the Americans his unit was slaughtered for two main reasons first, he discounted local intelligence that indicated a larger enemy force than his and secondly, his orders were to size the river so that was what he was going to do.
By most accounts Col. Ichiki was a highly trained and motivated officer as were his men. They specialized in assault tactics. But were they led in an elite manner? Did they fight in an elite manner? The answer on both accounts was no. I remember seeing an interview with a Japanese Ace (I do not remember who) and one of the things he mentioned was that Japanese pilots did not place near the importance in being an Ace (shooting down five or more opponents) that Western air forces did. To do so was counter productive to the group as a whole in their mind. I think the whole concept of elite to the Japanese of the 1940’s has no comparison to Western militaries. Many would then ask what about the code of Bushido or the Samurai? The Bushido code as it was interpreted by the 20th century applied to all military personnel. If it applies to every one it cannot be elite. As for the Samurai tradition by World War two it had been expanded to cover the officer class of the Japanese military. Again, how could that make them elite if it applied to everyone of a certain group? So to ask if the Japanese had elite units would only work if the Japanese had a Western mentality. They did not. They had highly motivated and dedicated troops but that does not make them elite in a Western sense of the word.
Very Impressive and Enlightening. I guess I have to agree.