Paul Johstono

Ancient Military Historian; tweets are my opinions only; RT ≠ endorsements

[Freddy🇩🇪 @FreddyLA7]

We found a German village in the mountains of North Georgia lol

I feel right at home😍

[Lost Weapons @LostWeapons]

It may not seem like much but really these Ukrainian middle strike logistics campaign might be the biggest shift in the Ukrainian war in a long time. It’s almost completely separate of their 30k infantry death goal. Russia was already struggling just hitting their frontline units

[Oliver Alexander @OAlexanderDK]

She is significantly worse off than I expected after originally seeing the satellite images.

If they decide to attempt repairs, it will take years and could end up in a Kuznetsov 2.0 situation.

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

Great discussion of a difficult, famous passage of Thucydides, from the Melian Discourse

["Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @BretDevereaux]

Take Thucydides' famous line at 5.89: δυνατὰ δὲ οἱ προύχοντες πράσσουσι καὶ οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ξυγχωροῦσιν.

Ultra-literally, "the possible things, on the other hand, those placed forward achieve and those weak ones make way."

Hideous! & risks readers missing the meaning! 3/

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

And another image, clearer view of the prow, ram, and inscription

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

The Nike of Samothrace influence on the Missouri monument at Vicksburg is unmistakable. A rather boring ram design but good chance to explain triremes to my kids, and point out the Classicizing with the aspides as well.

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

And one of the best examples of a geographic strategic point you'll find (even if altered today by the Mississippi's altered route).

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

Greetings from the USS Cairo at Vicksburg National Military Park

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

But executing ethics programs, the right way, at the right time, for the right ends, is challenging. And frustrating when it goes wrong.

Anyway, it's America's 250th, I'm on leave, and I'm taking the kids to a national park.

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

You make moral judgments in your posts constantly but object to ethics? If you have warrior ethos then you necessarily have warrior ethics. If your ethics are unexamined your ethos will be unprofessional.

There's a larger ethics question the military professional needs though /

[InfantryDort @infantrydort]

Ethics ethics ethics what is this fucking obsession with ethics?

I was talking to some officers about testing leadership in simulations recently.

The first question I got from some major after talking about LARGE SCALE COMBAT was “the first thing we should look to test is ethical decision making”.

I was beside myself.

This overly feminized society that has become brittle from political correctness is obsessed with ethics and virtue signaling.

To the point where they don’t even realize that the main thing the military needs to do is throw a punch.

Like we’re talking about testing because we question the ability of many officers to be able to throw that punch. And yet still we get met with ethics ethics ethics.

Are we unethical or something? Are there mass US war crimes I’m unaware of that actually fit the definition and not just how some soy latte drinker feels?

You want to talk about “ethics”? Start with fucking readiness and the metrics you lie about every single day in an effort to not rock the boat and keep your jobs.

Spare me.

War on the rocks is a filthy rag anyway. I’m just here to point it out.

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

Then there's a problem in how the military teaches and inculcates ethics and ethos, both for building and refining professional character and for managing just application of violence. I suggest it is good to make officers wrestle with dilemmas moral and tactical/operational /

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

Turmoil has gripped the Late Bronze Age Aegean. Trade routes to outlying palace cities are in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of black-bellied ships, the greedy Achaeans have stopped all commerce to the principality of Wilusa...

[sententiae antiquae @sentantiq]

Let’s argue about the historicity of the Trojan War

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

@IndrekVil @rshereme

[Saint Javelin @saintjavelin]

Imagine spending 18 months preparing one operation.

Then imagine watching dozens of Russian strategic aircraft burn because it worked.

One year of absolutely meticulous planning, intelligence work, logistics, and operational security led to this moment.

Operation Spiderweb will be studied for years.

[Paul Johstono @ProfPaul_J]

@McCainJack The ghost of Roger Trinquier lives on

[Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 @IAPonomarenko]

One of the most terrible things we will have to face in the future is learning, one way or another, how many people died in Mariupol in the spring of 2022, when Russia was leveling the city to the ground along with its inhabitants.

Among them were my former classmate and the father of a good friend of mine.

And how many more remain unknown to us, lying in the vast anonymous mass graves on the outskirts of Mariupol, visible even in satellite images.

[Rob Lee @RALee85]

Given the shortage of Patriot PAC-3 interceptors, Ukraine's recent successes targeting Iskander TELs and bases is an important new development.

[Clément Molin @clement_molin]

Since the year started, Ukraine 🇺🇦 launched more than 1 000 mid-range drone strikes (only geolocated ones).

The intensification of strikes against russian 🇷🇺 logistics (150 vehicles, 30 trains, 400 warehouses) is a real game-changer in the war.

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