THE STORY SO FAR: PART 167

THE FRENCH IN MALI ARE BACK TO USING SOME OF THE SAME HIGH MOBILITY TACTICS THEY USED IN ALGERIA ALL OF SIXTY YEARS AGO

THEY ARE AS EFFECTIVE AS EVER

It is common in the U.S. to disparage the French—and I really don’t understand why. Nonetheless, the sentence, “We saved their butts in two world wars,” is one I have had repeated to me on numerous occasions. We tend to forget that we had an interest in the outcomes of both wars, which had nothing to do with saving the French

We also tend to forget that without the French there might not have been a United States of America in the first place.

Personally, I love France. Its politics are no screwier than those of most other nations, and it has long had an admirable quality of life. That apart, its culture is extraordinarily rich; and the country, itself, is beautiful. As for the French people, they have endured much, and achieved much, and the world would be a vastly poorer place without them. Most people associate the French with food, fashion and sex—significant factors in our lives, to be sure—but are not aware that France, amongst its other attributes, boasts a remarkable tradition of producing fine engineers. It is no accident that Boeing’s greatest rival, EADS (best known for its Airbus range of aircraft) is located in France in Toulouse. And, by the way, a rather dramatic sequence in my new thriller, THE BLOOD OF GENERATIONS, is located there. Consider also the truly breathtaking Millau Bridge.

The French lost their war in Indo-China much as we would go on to do in Vietnam. Nonetheless, some of their military units learned a great deal from the experience, and went on to apply this knowledge and expertise against the FLN in the Algerian War in the Fifties and early Sixties. In particular, the French paras made something of an art out of high mobility warfare, particularly when tracking down bands of FLN infiltrators. Either by parachute or helicopter, they would insert blocking forces and then destroy the rebels by way of bombing or close quarters infantry combat. In short, the French were pioneers of helicopter warfare and were also the first people to use TOW missiles from rotary aircraft.

Observing their operations in Mali reminds me of all this—together with the weeks I spent researching the French Foreign Legion in Corsica in 1964. These were highly disciplined and scarily tough soldiers. The parachute unit I got to know was the 2nd REP based near Calvi, Corsica. It is now France’s cutting edge rapid response unit. I blogged about it a little time ago.

What will happen in Mali, I do not know. The French are trying to accomplish a prodigious amount with a very small force. Mali is huge. Nonetheless, a great deal can be accomplished through high-speed maneuver warfare – and the French have plenty of experience at it.

 

PRODUCTIVITY FOR WRITERS? THAT HAS GOT TO BE AN OXYMORON… OR DOES IT?

Image via Wikipedia

Department of Mindboggling Productivity: Enter ‘The Digiter.’

It’s rather hard to get a grip on an author’s productivity because such intangibles as ‘thinking’ come into the equation – and even then how can an observer detect what an author is thinking about, let alone the effectiveness of such thinking. Then there is the interesting fact that an awful lot of work is carried out by one’s subconscious (a tricky little fellow – or fellow-ess -  at the best of times) which seems to do its best work when one is asleep.  

Of course, a time and motion expert could count words; but that’s not as straightforward as it sounds since the quality of the words is a factor; and how does one judge quality since, all too often, neither author nor editor can agree? And how can you depend on measuring word-count when re-writing and polishing are so integral to the writing process?  

I rather like the idea of the languid lifestyle of a creative genius, and was brought up in an environment where a pre-lunch sherry was de rigeur, and lounging by the pool – drink in hand - looking at gorgeous women in Monte Carlo was just what one did every long and lazy summer, but the truth is that I work like a dog and take writing productivity very seriously.  Why so? Well, these days an author has to write, blog, market himself, and – for god’s sake - Tweet.  Hemingway would have had a heart-attack.

Enter ‘The Digiter, ’ the writer equipped with the range of skills and talents demanded by the digisphere – as much at home with multimedia as with wordsmithing, and with the talent for self-promotion and the thick skin of a Donald Trump. Is that a good thing? I’m skeptical but pragmatic. Writing is so demanding I suspect it needs total commitment, and every atom of air and molecule of blood you have left in your body. But I don’t make the rules and the current rules of the game in this Darwinian digisphere we are creating – but certainly not controlling - are demanding in the extreme. They remind me of the French Foreign Legion slogan: “March or die!” though in this case they might be better expressed as “Produce across the spectrum or be unrecognized.”

I’m far from sure all writers seek celebrity status – there are considerable disadvantages to that condition – but I’m fairly certain that all of us seek recognition. As to whether we are all prepared to pay  the price, I can only answer for myself. Suffice to say that: yes, I take productivity very seriously indeed.

Department of Unexpected Feelings & Three Legged Cats

Unending wars and economic gloom apart, by conventional standards my current situation might be regarded as extremely difficult at present, and I have never worked harder in my life; but I find myself strangely content and optimistic. Can writing, so associated with angst, have that effect – or am I under the spell of Charlie, The Three-Legged Cat, and her companion, Chester The Molester? Or am I enjoying morphing into a digiter?  

Digitate on that, and when I know the answer, I’ll tell you. Probably.