Bret Devereaux

...modern police shields do not handle like the scutum. Center-grip shields seem to have been used a lot more aggressively than strap-grip shields. You slammed, bashed, wedged, and levered with them more. You *can* do those things with an aspis, but in terms of...12/23

...fighting systems, you seem to see a lot *more* of that sort of thing with center grip shields (obligatory caveat on how limited the evidence is and how much we are guessing from late medieval fighting treatises, etc, etc). So probably the awkward grip is actually good. 13/23

What about the formation? It's not a phalanx or a testudo or anything like that. What is it? It's a hollow musket square. I am almost certain that's where this formation has been adopted from. Note that there's a LOT of space inside of the square for people to...14/23

...went with hollow squares to maximize firepower. The square might be just 2 or 3 ranks deep, making it larger with an open center in the middle, so that everyone could be firing at encircling cavalry. To be clear, that's what the square is for - defense against cav...16/23

...it's big advantage is that you cannot be flanked, which matters most against highly mobile cavalry (or evidently, highly mobile protesters). In this case, I'd think that a more pike-like square would be better at resisting shock (like a rush of protesters)...17/23

...but I'm not at all surprised that the version of a square formation that's in the doctrine - and thus the one that someone pulled out the field manual to perform - happens to be the last militarily useful form of square. Cause that's how institutional memory works. 18/23

I can't make out the patches, but these look like Army National Guard soldiers (#miltwitter can correct me, I'm sure), in which case, I'd bet this is the first time any of them have ever had to form square. I'd be surprised if they'd even trained it, but a version of it...19/23