About 20 years ago. Young leuatenant from Mediterranean country on his first abroad NATO exercise. Norway. Not huge exercise but plenty big for me. part of one of the top unit in my country'so army if not the top one. My platoon is made of really fit, very gung-ho young guys. Everybody is very pumped about this, been preparing for weeks on top of our normal training. Equipment is all in tip top shape, we are rested and really ready to kick some major Red Party ass. First day is briefings, first the huge one for the entire exercise and then more at lower level units. We get assigned to this Norwegian army counter-interdiction company. They are airborne on helicopters. Cool. Next day is actually go time. Our weapons are clean, camouflage is perfect, boots laced up and we can't freaking wait for some action. We look and feel just like there could be a photo shoot or an inspection and would pass with flying colors. Then the Norwegiansmall show up. We can't believe our eyes and think it's a joke: a ragtag band of people in half uniforms, unshaven with long hair, some are wearing jeans and hunting gear, they look like they just came from work at a plant or from jail. Their CO, a major, looks just like them. My English is poor but his is even worse. Ok, be professional and do your best. My men are looking at me like "really? Is this what we busted our assessment for the last month?" Try to keep a straight face and be all martial and by the book. All the platoon gets split in teams of 2 or 3 and paired with one or 2 Norwegians on helos, i go with the major... riding beind him on an old ass snowmobile. He just says something like "get on". We ride for what it feels like hours in the woods and I am sure we're lost. Then we get to a small, really small, hunting she'd and we get in. Inside is a chair, a bottle of vodka and an old style switchboard. A phone switchboard. Like in black and white movies, with the jack connectors and plugs. By now I'm totally wtf is going on. Then he starts drinking. That's when I think I must say something. So can you at least explain what we're doing, sir?" No answer for a few seconds and then "we wait". Wait for what exactly? Nk answer, just more vodka. By now I'm freezing and I'm pissed and I'm standing. I'm already trying to figure out what to tell my captain when he'll ask me where I was and what I was doing while the exercise was taking place. Hours go by, I'm super pissed and he's just drinking and waiting. No conversation, nothing. I want to frag this fucker. Then a light goes off on the switchboard. He plugs in the jack and listens for a few seconds. Well?!?! "That was Hans" or some Norwegian first name. "Who's Hans?" "a farmer". great. He plugs in another jack and talks to someone else. "Red party troops by Hans farm. "Well shit major, should we radio our guys?" "Radios are not safe". The rest of the day goes like that: a call comes in and he makes another call. Slowly he explains that he's calling someone who's telling the helos where the enemy troops are being spotted by local population who are all equipped with a direct line to the shed. We go back hours later in the dark, I'm frozen solid and tired from standing for some 10 or 12 hours, he's been drinking a bottle of vodka and feels much better. At this point I still don't know how the exercise is going. As we get back I meet my capt who congratulates me on an awesome job, our helos are picking up enemy troops everywhere as soon as they make a move. The exercise goes on like this for 3 days. We receive the complimentso from everybody. The morale of the story I got away from that is: knowledge of the local terrain and population is key. Equipment and training are important but secondary. Patience is a virtue even in war. An old switchboard in a shed in the woods might be your best asset. Drinking vodka keeps you warm. Learn from the locals. Don't fuck with a people who will protect their country to the last man and woman and who's been preparing for the invasion for decades. Be humble.