Best U.S Army

[ABWorsham]

Which historic army was the best?

[ABWorsham]

Please express your thoughts if you vote other. I'm curious to see your opinions.

[MrMalachiCrunch]

Equipment wise western allied tanks in WWII sucked compared to soviet or german.  Training wise, I doubt anything can beat a modern volunteer army like that of desert storm, combine that with the best equipment by far at it's a slam dunk me thinks.

[Clyde85]

Joe Stillwells forces in the Burma during WW2. Merrill's Marauders and other similar US combat units in that theater managed to do amazing things with minimal supplies in horrendous conditions.

[MrMalachiCrunch]

Clyde you make a good points/examples, those forces were heroic in the epic sense.  But when I think of an army, I am thinking of a force of multiple divisions including logistical and combined arms support.

[Clyde85]

That is what the CBI was I thought? I know this is supposed to be about the best US army, but dose that mean an independent US army? The forces the US contributed to the CBI fell under the command of a US general (Stillwell) and were made up of various divisions, Merrill's marauders were just the tip of the spear so to speak. Numerous others took place, not to mention a construction batallion made up entierly or african-americans, the only black troops to fight in pacific theater. I know there were all part of and subordinate to, the allied forces in that theater, so maybe that excludes them?

[dinosaur]

The problem is that these armies are being judged by their competition.

We were better prepared in the Gulf than any of the others.  I don't know how we could come to a real value on any of these.

[ABWorsham]

The problem is that these armies are being judged by their competition.

We were better prepared in the Gulf than any of the others.  I don't know how we could come to a real value on any of these.

I'm surprised so far by the voting.

[ABWorsham]

Lee's Army of Northern Virginia is the only Army on the list that faced a vastly larger force and better supplied both in quanity and quality of equipment and repeatly defeated or checked the enemy.

[dinosaur]

I agree that Lee did a fantastic job with his resources, but I can't say his Army was better.  It is just that his oponents army was so poorly led.

I guess you have to have been in the army around 1990s to appreciate what a phenomenal crush Schwartzkopf gave the Iraqis.  On their turf, with a fantastic number of political constraints, he whacked the Iraqis so bad that General Powell felt he had to call an end to it (in the first quarter, instead of letting Schwartzkopf have a whole game).

[Imperious Leader]

The speed of which the 5th or 6th largest army was destroyed and the lack of loses is really incredible. The economy of force and overall efficiency of this campaign is second to none.

That has to be the best army in terms of execution of a strategy. As far as quality of troops based on what they had and the level of technology of the time, you might stay with Washington's army as the best.

[ABWorsham]

I agree that Lee did a fantastic job with his resources, but I can't say his Army was better.  It is just that his oponents army was so poorly led.

I guess you have to have been in the army around 1990s to appreciate what a phenomenal crush Schwartzkopf gave the Iraqis.  On their turf, with a fantastic number of political constraints, he whacked the Iraqis so bad that General Powell felt he had to call an end to it (in the first quarter, instead of letting Schwartzkopf have a whole game).

I can still remember my older step brother gone oversea to fighting in Desert Storm.

[GrizzlyMan]

Even though the US Army during Desert Storm utterly overwhelmed the Iraqis in terms of training, leadership, and equipment, I think that an army that can emerge triumphant despite insufficient supplies and training clearly proves its effectiveness. That's why I voted for Washington's Revolutionary Army, which was outnumbered, outgunned, and lacked basic supplies, and even though it was defeated a majority of the time, its victories were descisive enough to disillusion and defeat the British.

[Octospire]

Even though the US Army during Desert Storm utterly overwhelmed the Iraqis in terms of training, leadership, and equipment, I think that an army that can emerge triumphant despite insufficient supplies and training clearly proves its effectiveness. That's why I voted for Washington's Revolutionary Army, which was outnumbered, outgunned, and lacked basic supplies, and even though it was defeated a majority of the time, its victories were descisive enough to disillusion and defeat the British.

The American Civil war wasnt won through breaking British resolve, there wasnt a great deal of resolve in the first place to fight for a land that at the time only had 25% of the GDP of the island of Jamaica. For the first time in centuries the British were fighting the British regardless who's banner they served under. The British parliament had no apetite for a war where British citizens were killing each other, the resolve of the loyalist colonists was unwavering they wanted to continue the war long after British support was gone, instead the decided to go to Canada which made Canada a safe bet for staying part of the British empire for centuries to come.

Its a myth that somehow the United States defeated the might of the entire British empire, at the time of the American war of independence the United States was a insignificant colony compared with Jamaica or India, the tax revenue was literally insignificant and actually 10-20 times lower than that in mainland Britian. The United States won the war for the same reason the United States lost the war in Vietnam, the powers that be couldnt be bothered winning a war for a country that at the time was considered a economic non event. Never was even a small portion of the might of the British empire brought to bare against the American independence movement had the British committed a large number of its forces, a bloody massacre would of ensued which people on both sides had no desire for.

[ABWorsham]

Even though the US Army during Desert Storm utterly overwhelmed the Iraqis in terms of training, leadership, and equipment, I think that an army that can emerge triumphant despite insufficient supplies and training clearly proves its effectiveness. That's why I voted for Washington's Revolutionary Army, which was outnumbered, outgunned, and lacked basic supplies, and even though it was defeated a majority of the time, its victories were descisive enough to disillusion and defeat the British.

The Revolutionary Army needed French aid to end the war.