Everything One Needs To Know...

... from Russian TV5 network. This is an officer with the call sign Rav from the volunteer Brigade Wolves . 

Украинские боевики под руководством натовских инженеров создали в Донбассе столь серьезные укрепления, что их приходится оттуда буквально «выковыривать». Об этом в интервью «Известиям» рассказал замкомандира добровольческой бригады «Волки» с позывным Рав. При этом в плане ведения боевых действий инструкторы из армий НАТО, как правило, ничего не могут преподать украинским военным, добавил Рав. Об этом, по его словам, рассказывают сами взятые в плен боевики. Они говорят, что те же британские военные «воевали» только по книжкам, и многие украинцы, особенно воюющие с 2014 года, сами могут их обучать.

Translation:

Ukrainian militants, under the leadership of NATO engineers, have created such serious fortifications in the Donbass that they have to be literally “pulled out” from there. The deputy commander of the volunteer brigade "Wolves" with the call sign Rav spoke about this in an interview with Izvestia. At the same time, in terms of combat operations, instructors from the NATO armies, as a rule, cannot teach the Ukrainian military anything, Rav added. This, according to him, is told by the captured militants themselves. They say that the same British military “fought” only according to books, and many Ukrainians, especially those who have been fighting since 2014, can train them themselves.

Just today I spoke about it. Well, three days ago, reviewing US Army Tactical and Doctrinal Publications, too. In the OODA loop these first two "Os" critically depend on verifiable and reliable data--Observe and Orient. The army which thinks that Patton was great "tank commander" obviously doesn't do its homework in warfare. The value of those "Os" approach zero, in fact, they become a liability. Real strategic and operational thinking is NOT just about issuing prescriptions; it is about, even primarily so, these two "Os"--Observe and Orient.    

In Russian military system the term which is dreaded is shablon (шаблон), which is a template. God forbids for operational, let alone strategic level, officers have this term shablonnoye myshlenie (template thinking) being used by superiors in assessment in personal file--means stopping of promotions, let alone, getting accepted to the Academy of the General Staff. What I observed--it seems that the operational and strategic template thinking is the ONLY thing NATO planners can do. When the whole thing which is being taught is built around following shablons only, one gets SMO and looks on with the sense of dread and professional envy. Especially when it comes to military education in the West which, as practice of SMO shows unequivocally, is rooted in fantasies of the Gulf War and Wehrmacht and RSHA side narratives. It is the day of reckoning for the West and, yes, I agree with Rav--some surviving VSU officers can teach any NATO "adviser" how to survive modern war. Per how to fight and win it, the answers are in Russian military academies, war colleges and at this address:

Moscow, Vernadskogo prosp. (Ave) 100, Military Academy of General Staff. Russians used to accept even NATO officers there for courses on strategy, without classified part, of course. Not anymore. And now--never.