ARMORED INFANTRY IS DIFFERENT

by CAPTAIN C H A M W. KOBURG€R teamed, not dono-mounted, not afoot-mobile, not stationary armored battalion has a greater p- podon of automatic weapons in the and sand- a d infantry differ greatly in mission. organization. and mounted in armored personnel car-The purpose here is to examine sme of the ourstding tactical differences between &e two. Before we can ?xgn this. however. we must -au& on the other factors mentioned --mission and arpization-ske they mamially &ea w subject. -3crical cmplo)ment.- Armored infmq. is not snlply regular infantry riers. The mission of the armored infancy httalion is to close with and de-SJOV the enemy by h e and maneuver. :J repel hostile assaults in close com-ht: and, mo6t impartant, to support the tank units of the a d division. The krnrlammd d i b be-meen d and other infan? &e vaxious infantry divisians the tanks are thew mget the infantry for- w a r d : m I h e d & i s i a n t h e i n - ma: be nunmed up b. staling that in battalions in an armored division. The division's three medium tank bard-ions are the division's main striking force; it also has one h e a q tank bat-tabon. .hnored infantry is designed lower units, but has no recoilless weapons at all. Lastly. it has four, not three, rifle compmies. bur lacks the dismounted batulion's hea\ y weapons company. Tadcul-d to accomplish one p r i m mission: infan-support for these tank units. There is no other reason for armored infantq in the division. .Gmored infantry bat:Jlions arc highly mobile. lightly armored tactical units capable of executing most standard infantrv missions and some ow@-- To accomplish its mission the armored infantry battalion-the largest armored infan-unit-now has a headquarters, headquarters and senice company. four identical rifle companies. and a medical detachment. As to differences. organization-tie, firstly. the armored battalion. unlike itsstandard counterpart. is administra-tivelv independent. I: is mounted en-tireIr on tracks or wheels; the regular battalion is not (riflemen walk:. The unique ones. The]; can accompany tanks in offensive action-either in armored personnel carriers. dismounted. or mounted on the tanks-to close wi:h and destroy the enemy in c l w combat. They can absorb reinforcing units to form a team of combined arms. and can furnish armored infantry companies t o other units for the same pu'pox. They can a h reducc and establish obstacles. supported b! tanks and other arms. and organize and defend qound. supprted by tanks and other arms. Some of the outstanding tactical . team in dl1 operations. There are 31- ways some tanks with the infantq and some infantry with the tank. This is not the case with standard infantry. <.Ah!;

2. Armored infantry in the attack rides from the attack position to the assault position. while regula infm. try moves on foot.

3. Armored infan? uses a mobilc t y p defense: standard infantry U X ~ J sustained-type defense.

4. .hored infantry defends JW nues of approach; reguhr infantry defends a main line of resistance. Let's dims these a little. .Armored infantry is meant to be used as an integral part of the armor4 fighting team-tanks, infantry. and engineers, closely supported by artillery and air. The poticy of exchanging companies between tank and armored infantry battalions, often one for one or two for two, is usual for normal armored operations. A reinforced armored infantry battalion could. there fore, consist of two rifle companies. two tank companies and its own headquarters, headquarters and --ice company. T d G U l I 8 k V O Where you see armored infantry units of even the smallest size you will see tank sections or platoons. This explains why there are no recoilless weapons in armored infantry T 0 and E's: they are not needed: tank guns serve instead. This also explains why armored infantry does not perform m e m e independent (lons-range infanmy-only) missions as well as lighter-footed standard, mountain. or airborne infantry armored infant? is heavy infanv. and that greater pronortion of automatic weapons eets to be quite a load. (On the other hand. neither do the other types work JS well with tanks.) There are exceptions to the d e . naturally. Sight patrols. breachino; of minetields. river crossings. 2nd night attacks all involve dismounted armored infantry acnnp in :he traditional infantry manner. either because of the necessity for stealth and surprise, or because obstacles absoluteh prevent any vehicles from accomnanj-ing them. These are swcial operations. limited in rope. They are overwatched bv the guns of the tanks. However. it should be noted. there are surprisingly few places a tank can-

A R M O R ~ O ~ U ~ - F ~ ~ ~

1951 not go. .is was pruten in 1~11: and KOrea. General. George Pdtion. uho proved it. raid. "There 13 no such thing as 'wnk count?' in a re;ric:i\ i' sense. Some t y p of Ltmntn arc better than others. but tank, hate operated and c u l operate an\\rhcrc." .\nnord infant? i3 busy infant?. T h 0 A I I D o l b d p . c . o p p . I ~ To increar its &ccti\cness in ,up port. armored infmtn rolls-all of it -on hack or whc.1,. Ihc armorrd personnel carrier utth which it \ti11 be equipped is full-tracked. liyhrh armored top and sides. and Jrmtd. I believe. with one .1: 50 caliber and one 1: 34: caliber mxhinr gun. It is @veri to the infantry to enable it to accompany tanks an\: time. anywhere. and under all circumstances. It is. however. almost n a e r used as an assault vehicle; the infantry helops to full power only on foot attacking with rifle and grenade. \%%ere the infantry dismounts. the personnel carriers may be used to form or supplement the base of fire or to supplement the defensive fire plan as the situation requires. Th? may also be used for pmtection of the flanks and rear of mall units. Their considerable firepower is. in any case. not allowed to go unused. The-It is the tincan doughboys' job to aid-and abet armor's speed (mobility: and violence :firepower: and to exploit the resulting shock to the utmos:. The possession of an armored personnel carrier for the combat rroops enables amored infantry, in the attack. to ride from the attack posi:ion to the assault psition. under the cover of and usually right behind attackino, tank units. .Again. armored infan:? then dismounts and assaults on font. There are at least three distinct ad vantages to this: Firstly. armored infan? arrives fresh and on time. Secondly. more d it gets there. Lastlv. the attack is made at :he speed of the vehicles. not at the speed of walkin,: infan-rv. Some astronomical perccns-age of infantry15 casualties is normdlv incurred moving the 1.ooO or more yards from the LD tn within assaulting distance of the enemv. This Ins is minimized by riding the distance at I5 mph (not walking at 1.5 mph' in armored vehicl-makinp maximum use of the fire of tanks and of S U P ~ K - ing amllery and air to keep the enem! s mind 1)n other thinp. m l h i b hiLh p ~ t t c c r l bdcbcld 1 l k 3 bllit: til ~ T I ~ W L ~ intintn a l u m a b h I:. tiyt*:hc*r \rich it. Lxmvpcrating : r n L t o d c t t d i n arc3 b\ hrc and m n c u ter. I'hi, mobtk-t\ ddtnu. +O *mall infmtp tank . m an ~ i ' LK. holding kc? trrrrin tcaturn r r d h l t ~ r b . crih>r.,a&. ctc.. u hik :hr hulL ~ ) f the IlJfLC including nr ,\r rhc :anL rcmains in nxtbilt. rtunc \\hen thc mcm\ h3s commi::td him .elf at a dt-hnirc pm:. thir unk hca\ \ rest-ne countcrJttxL. hitting thc tlank;5: of the a:txL. with Jn trb;r.c five forward of the OPLR where pb sible. to demo? rhe m n ? . If q u h r infantry should tn- thir and the en em]; has anillen in any strength. rhr counterattack would be umtherrd in short order. .bmored infant? uses a mobile- p-pe defense p a ~ l : baause of the extended frontages it must ordinarih hold. and this in turn prohibits it from defending e v ~ inch of the ground. U l a t armored infantn. does is figure a calcuhted risk and defend only the likely avenues of approach. covering the rest of the ground bv ob m a t i o n and fire or w-ith patrnls. Regular infantn-. denied maneuver. holds its battle position at all cous: its defense is based on an N L R with an FPL (a continuous band of grazing fire: placed along its front: limited counterattacks are made only to re store the battle position. .Armored infant. defends bv fire m d -newer. and makes no atrempr to hold merything in is assigned sectors. It defends only likely avenues of approach. and then only to locate the enemy's main effort. canalize his 3t- tack. gain time and s r w for the decisive counteratrack of the reserve. .bored infantn can accomplish 99 +t 100 per cent of the missions it should be called on to handle at least as well or. in most cases. much better than s:andard infantrv-but not always in the same way. The continuous cooperation of large numbers of tanks and the possession of an armored personnel camer together increase the battlefield mobiliv of m- mored infan? to many times that of regular infantry. Ulen this d i h - ence is understood. armored infantry really +ns to realize its full pten-tialities as a k q member of the armored fighting team. 41