Holland Smith believed passionately in lightning-quick operations, even at the expense of incurring high casualties. In his view, and that of many Marine and naval officers, the longer a battle dragged on, the more vulnerable ships became to enemy air and sea attacks. Though Army officers did not necessarily disagree in concept, they often did in practice, since they tended to favor a more deliberate pace if that might save lives (and allow time to employ supporting firepower, a key tenet of all Army training). Back in November 1943 at Makin, Smith had grown impatient with what he viewed as
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