Icarus
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Please explain the difference?
Does an army soldier fight better than say an Afghan or Vietcong fighter?
To put it very roughly:
Military: Full-time soldiers, thoroughly trained, strong hierarchy, division of responsibilities, self-contained and self-sustaining.
Militia: Not professional soldiers, only stop-gaps, basic (or less) training, loose hierarchy based on social status/charisma rather than competence, responsibilities assigned arbitrarily, not-self sustaining, needs patron for fiscal support, training, armament, etc.
As for whether a conventional Army fights better than the Afghan Taliban or the Vietcong? The answer is, they may and may not, depends on what you mean by fighting better. The Afghan Taliban or the Vietcong have been successful in their campaign because of a variety of reasons, arguably most significant was their understanding of a very unforgiving terrain. Then there was the ready supply of man power, little to no cost of maintaining fighting forces, the use of guerrilla tactics and also the inability of the French, US, NATO , ISAF and ANA to adapt to their enemy's style of fighting.
So in a nutshell, does an Army soldier fight better than a militiaman? Yes, but that does not mean he will always win. That being said, he will probably be able to put up a valiant fight in both the ragged hills of Afghanistan and the dense jungles of Vietnam but the same can probably not be said if the Afghan Taliban and the Vietcong had to exchange positions. Their fighting styles are effective only in the confines of the system in which they were developed. The Vietcong's human waves would be seen at distance and mowed down before they even get close in Afghanistan whereas the Talib suicide bomber would probably never reach his target in Vietnam.
I hope I have been able to offer some insight into the matter.