Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Peer review/Military

Military
This article has been a subject of an important reorganization and reformulation since a couple of weeks now. I think most of the areas related to the subject has been covered but may be some more work is needed. -- FayssalF  - Wiki me up®  15:04, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Cla68
Broad, general topics such as this one are difficult to write about and I commend you for taking on this subject. You appear to cover all the areas of the subject, the "what, where, when, why and how". I think you might consider adding more info on the purpose of military forces, whether as instruments of state power, to secure national objectives, as self-defence, etc. Cla68 00:20, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Buckshot06
Second cla68's commendation: appears to be a lot of good material here. Some thoughts: Buckshot06 14:50, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Logistics could use a little more description, possibly with the ageless quote that amateurs discuss tactics while professionals talk logistics included.
 * The military zones map doesn't appear to serve any purpose
 * There could be a lot more citations throughout to back up your text.

Roger
Here are some initial thoughts. (I've not commented on sections I've been involved with.) I'd like to see the whole thing loosen up a bit, perhaps approach the subject with a little less earnest reverence (but that's probably just me).

2 Military science
 * Section intro could do with expansion. Perhaps putting into historical perspective, the siege machines of Archimedes and Leonardo di Vinci; development of chain-mail, invention of the stirrup (both these changed the battlefield immeasurably).

2.1 Organization
 * Reads a little like an extract from an induction lecture (perhaps that's where the editor remembers it from). More detail, more referenced anecdote.

2.2 Intelligence
 * Again, perhaps a bit stilted. More anecdotal stuff perhaps. Spies in history (Alfred the Great sneaking into his enemy's camp; Mata Hari); espionage methods: invisible inks, cyphers. No mention of great intelligence coups: Patten as a decoy for D-Day etc. Changing methods of intelligence, dawn of electronic surveillance etc

2.3 Strategy and tactics
 * Currently a bit bitty. Really needs a tighten up. I can probably do this, but not until September/October.

2.4 Logistics
 * No mention of food and drink; yet crucial factor in many battles. Food: "An army marches on its stomach" (Napoleon). Water: crusaders -v- Salah-el-Din Battle of Hattin. Weather and lines of communication: Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow, Hilter's Battle of Stalingrad. Petrol shortages: Battle of the Bulge, Afrika Korps at El Alamein. Ammunition shortages: Germany for most of World War One.

2.5 Technology and equipment
 * No mention of military inventions that have filtered across to the civilian world yet there are thousands of them. GPS and the Internet are of course modern examples. This is particularly true in medicine. Specific medical advances are often driven by a surge in specific battlefield injuries (plastic surgery for fighter pilots, prosthetics, blood plasma, knee reconstructions in Northern Ireland etc). This could probably be a separate sub-section Military medicine, which could also take about deveopment of field ambulances, MASH, Red Cross etc.

3 Military history
 * Strange opening sentence. Intimately connected with the study of tactics and strategy. Old battle scenarios often dusted down for modern use: Gen. Schwarzfkopf revisiting Guderian and Rommel to plan Operation Desert Storm.

4.4 Militaria
 * Needs creating, then expanding. Some focus on badges, ranks etc (we have people interested in that here).

5 Other uses of "Military"
 * A bit apologetic. Needs expanding

-- R OGER TALK 08:32, 29 July 2007 (UTC)