Armchair Military: Difference between revisions

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== Anime and Manga ==

* In [[wikipedia:Patlabor 2: The Movie|Patlabor 2: The Movie]], the civilian government and police act this way, undermine their control over the military, and allow the terrorists to attack Toyko.

* In ''[[Maiden Rose]]'', every administration that we see has its own armchair military. In Vol. 2 the brass from Taki's country are particularly [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|obstructive]] and serve as a contrast to the type of frontline leader Taki is.

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== Fan Works ==

* By definition, the Battle Commanders in ''[[Tiberium Wars]]'' have to command in this way, standing far off from the battlefield and issuing complex, often micromanaging orders to their units in the field. Both of the Commanders, however, get brushes with front line action and are no slouches in personal combat, and the GDI Commander, Karrde, deliberately goes out into the field with his troops and commands close to the front to earn their respect.

== Film ==

* Marshall Murdock in ''[[Rambo]] 2'' was an armchair general.

* Some movies show generals in British High Command during [[World War II]] as heartless armchair generals.

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== Literature ==

* ''About Face'', an autobiography by Colonel David Hackworth, proposes that the war in Korea and Vietnam was undermined by academic 'experts' and military commanders with no understanding of what was happening in the field.

* David Halberstam's ''The Best and the Brightest'' is about the decisions of America's military and foreign policy experts under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations that led to the US getting bogged down in Vietnam.

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* One of Bill Mauldin's cartoons had [[Old Soldier|scruffy veteran infantryman]] Willie fasten a map of Europe to the remnants of a brick wall; sitting on the ground in front of it, he began drawing movement arrows and the like on the map, possibly trying to figure out where the brass intended to send him next. The caption was his friend Joe calling him an "armchair strategist!"

== Live Action TV ==

== Live-Action TV ==

* In ''[[Star Trek]]'', almost anybody in Starfleet Command has been away from the sharp end for far too long.

** In the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "The Maquis", Sisko complains that his superiors back on Earth will never understand the grievances of the Federation colonists because Earth is a paradise.

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== Video Games ==

* The trope name is often used as an insult for obsessive strategy types in online shooter games like ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''. "All hail X! Our fearless armchair general!"

* ''[[Brütal Legend|Brutal Legend]]'' has an achievment called "Armchair General". It can only be obtained if the player {{spoiler|wins a battle by only giving orders.}}

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== Web Original ==

* A frequent target of the satirical ''[http://ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com/ spEak You're bRanes]'' blog is people who go onto news blogs and smugly lecture on military tactics, warfare and the need for martial solutions to social problems while simultaneously making it clear that they're both lacking in military experience and as far from the fighting as it's possible to get. Fittingly, the tag used to identify examples of these people is 'Armchair Generals'.

== Real Life ==

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* Subverted by [[Leon Trotsky]], the Russian Bolshevik who founded the Red Army and ensured the survival of the [[Soviet Russia, Ukraine, and So On|Soviet Union]] against the Mensheviks, foreign invaders, monarchist forces, and pretty much everyone else who wanted to destroy the Bolshevik regime. Despite having no military training or experience before this, Trotsky proved himself to be a remarkably skilled organizer and commander, building the ragtag Bolshevik militias into a formidable fighting force. All this in spite of [[Surrounded by Idiots|the rather incompetent]] [[Josef Stalin]] continually trying to undermine him.

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* Subverted by [[Leon Trotsky]], the Russian Bolshevik who founded the Red Army and ensured the survival of the [[Soviet Russia Ukraine and So On|Soviet Union]] against the Mensheviks, foreign invaders, monarchist forces, and pretty much everyone else who wanted to destroy the Bolshevik regime. Despite having no military training or experience before this, Trotsky proved himself to be a remarkably skilled organizer and commander, building the ragtag Bolshevik militias into a formidable fighting force. All this in spite of [[Surrounded by Idiots|the rather incompetent]] [[Josef Stalin]] continually trying to undermine him.

* The clash of ideas between General Shinseki and Donald Rumsfeld, Shinseki's ideas were based off traditional military tactics on how to control a country such as Iraq while Rumsfeld's thoughts were [[Ass Pull|pulled out of his ass]]. Rumsfeld simply didn't understand that defeating Iraq's military was the easy part, controlling Iraq's people enough so Iraq could be rebuilt was the difficult part.

* As a lighter example of [[Interservice Rivalry]], the US Air Force is frequently referred to as the "Chair Force" by the uniformed personnel of other branches. Airmen with a self-deprecating sense of humor have also been known to toss the term around themselves. Ironically, in the Air Force, it's ''only'' the officers who are supposed to get shot at - unless one is in Combat Control or Pararescue.

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[[Category:Military and Warfare Tropes]]

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[[Category:Military and Warfare Tropes]]