Bear Went over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan [Paperback]

Lester W. Grau (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0788146653 | ISBN-13: 978-0788146657

To capture the lessons their tactical leaders learned in Afghanistan & to explain the change in tactics that followed, the Frunze Military Academy in Russia compiled this book for their command & general staff combat arms officers. The lessons are valuable not just for Russian officers, but for the tactical training of platoon, company & battalion leaders of any nation likely to engage in conflicts involving civil war, guerrilla forces & rough terrain. This is a book dealing with the starkest features of the unforgiving landscape of tactical combat: casualties & death, adaptation, & survival. Provides an intimate look at the boring but brutal business of counterinsurgency. Maps.

Product Details

• Paperback: 223 pages
• Publisher: Diane Pub Co (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0788146653
• ISBN-13: 978-0788146657
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > History > Asia > Afghanistan
  • #88 in Books > History > Military > Strategy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The foremost discussion of Soviet tactics in Afghanistan, September 25, 2008

By 

E. M. Van Court "Van, emvc (at) lycos.com" (Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bear Went over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan (Paperback)

"The Bear Went Over the Mountain" is a compilation of after action reports on tactical operations in Afghanistan in the 1980s, from the Soviet perspective. The descriptions of the action and Soviet after action observations are translated from Frunze Academy (Soviet War College) documents, and accompanied by commentary from the single most knowledgable American on the Soviet army, a man who spoke with leaders from both Russian and Afghan forces from some of these engagements.

No research of the Soviet-Afghan war is complete without careful consideration of the material here. As important as the documentation of the events of the war are the insights into the Soviet perceptions of the operations and the war, and the lessons that they drew from their experience.

This isn't really a book to sit down and read cover to cover, but rather to take a battle at a time and reflect on it before moving on to the next.

Brilliant work from a great man!

E. M. Van Court

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Russian Tactics in Afghanistan, February 6, 2010

By 

Richard M. Cavagnol "Covan1967" (Farmington Hills) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bear Went over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan (Paperback)

The book provides a series of first-person accounts of the tactics used by Russian forces from 1980 to 1988. I found the school solution interesting as well as the accounts of how the Russian troops responded to the Afghan insurgents. Having served with the first Combined Action Companies (CAP) in Vietnam and as an advisor with the Vietnamese Marines as well as more recently in Iraq, South Sudan and Afghanistan, I found the accounts provided interesting lessons learned that focused on the tactical training of junior leaders and the preparation of troops to fight counterinsurgency warfare. It seems that we quickly forget COIN lessons and have to relearn them again and again. As with our current situation in Afghanistan, although we have been here for almost 9 years, we do not have 9 years of experience - we have one year of experience 9 times. I suggest "The Other Side of the Mountain", a collection of Afghan tactics employed against the Russians.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Bear went over the Mountain..., December 10, 2010

By 

S. Casper - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bear Went over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan (Paperback)

o/~ The bear went over the mountain...The bear went over the mountain o/~
o/~ To see what he could see...To see what he could see...o/~

And this book is an analysis of what the Bear saw, experienced, and learned while on the other side of the Mountain.

If you've ever read more than one book about combat operations, planning, or war in general I'm confident that you've heard the expression "Armatures talk tactics and professionals talk logistics", which is true in the big picture of things. If you don't have the ability, the foresight, or the proper planning to get your bullets, butter, bombs, and personnel to the right place at the right time, you are never going to win a war of any sort, no matter how well trained or tactically proficient your soldiers are.

That said, unless your overarching strategy is one of unlimited men and material, your military's tactics are going to play a key role in how you achieve your victory, something that is often lost sight of in the modern era of combat operations. Emphasis is placed too much on the logistical and operational side of things, without enough focus being placed upon the ground.

The Soviet's recognized this, perhaps a little too late for it to really do them again good, but at least they learned from their mistakes in Afghanistan and this book is a product of that learning. It is a glimpse into the tactical side of Soviet operations, what worked, what didn't, and the importance of communicating those lessons to the frontline leaders.

Reading The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan (10th Anniversary Edition), it is easy to draw parallels and between the Soviet experience and the more recent experience of the American and British forces who are operating in the same areas. Its a little disturbing, in some cases, to see just how the American and British forces, had to relearn the same tactical lessons the Soviet's did, and I can say that as a member of the United States Army Reserves, I wish that this book was required reading for all frontline leaders prior to deploying to any modern battlefield.