Cavalry In Force XXI

Cavalry is uniquely capable of providing the decisive force commander the assured means to gain information, secure the force, and control battlefield tempo necessary to concentrate overwhelming combat power against the enemy at decisive times and places.

As an enabling capability of the Army’s new capstone doctrine on information operations (FM 100-6), cavalry forces will be tasked to significantly enhance the decisive force commander’s ability to set conditions for success.

The ability for the combined arms force of Force XXI to achieve simultaneity and depth will be based on the success of cavalry operations. Cavalry provides a critical maneuver capability to larger forces conducting deep and simultaneous attacks. To rapidly defeat the enemy, commanders will employ cavalry to set favorable conditions for maneuver by gathering information and shaping the battle space. In this context, maneuver is used to attack the enemy’s vulnerabilities, such as flanks, rear, lines of communication, logistics, and combat support capabilities. Tactical commanders in the future will need an unprecedented, high degree of situational awareness to protect their forces and successfully maneuver. This awareness is acquired by reducing uncertainties on the battlefield through aggressive security and reconnaissance operations by digitally equipped cavalry units.

Information Age Warfare: Key Assumptions The Armor Center, in concert with our TRADOC partners and the Experimental Force (EXFOR), have performed extensive work to define future operating conditions and concepts for Force XXI and beyond. From this effort, key assumptions relevant to the role of Cavalry in Force XXI have emerged that shape our thinking:

• Reconnaissance and security tasks require specialized organizations, equipment, and training.

• Battlefield information collection and force protection are assured capabilities that tactical commanders must possess organic to their force.

• Tactical commanders require independent maneuver forces to shape the battlespace and facilitate movement of the striking force.

• Tactical commanders will require accurate, manned, real-time information that can be gained in all weather, terrain, and varying degrees of enemy threat to supplement and verify information gained by other sources.

• Tactical units will be required to fight for information and expand the battlespace in space, time, and purpose without the expenditure of combat power from the decisive force.

Future Battlefield Requirements Success in Force XXl operations will require unique capabilities which only cavalry units possess and can employ for the decisive force commander. With digital systems, cavalry units will provide information with unprecedented levels of timeliness, accuracy, and redundancy. Cavalry’s ability to provide confirmation for other information sensors, as well as to provide security for the decisive force, allows cavalry forces to fulfill vital battlefield requirements for the commander.

Provide Time and Space to Regulate Tempo. Tactical commanders will think and plan in terms of battlespace. Cavalry units will operate to continually expand the battlespace, which in turn provides more time and space for the commander to assess the situation, determine courses of action, and take action. Security operations will delay enemy movements and deny or deceive force information to the enemy, ensuring reaction time for any necessary follow-up actions. Further, cavalry possesses the lethality to destroy enemy ARMOR — 11 Cavalry In Force XXI by Major General Lon E. Maggart Photo by Greg Stewart reconnaissance and security elements, which is essential to setting the conditions to gain information dominance prior to engaging the enemy. Obtain Current Information. In the future, tactical commanders will have a wide variety of digital information assets available. However, the ability to use these systems may decrease on contact with the enemy. As a result, the force commander relies primarily on his cavalry to provide him the information that he needs to fight current engagements. Information gathering can then be focused on collecting information the commander will need in subsequent actions, or in other physical areas of the battlefield. Technical and procedural connectivity between cavalry forces and other units employing joint and Army reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition systems is imperative to the effective integration of all information functions supporting the commander. Thus, cavalry collects, confirms, and interprets real-time battlefield information, wholly dedicated to the tactical commander’s needs, and fills gaps left by other intelligence assets.

Preserve Combat Power. Sustaining and preserving the combat power of a smaller force will be critical to winning in the future. Cavalry units possess sufficient combat power to serve in an economy-of-force role. Cavalry units, when performing security operations (screen, guard, cover), protect the decisive force from prematurely engaging the enemy, thus preserving combat power and retaining freedom of maneuver. Furthermore, cavalry units exponentially increase the effectiveness of their parent organizations. For example, in many instances, a divisional cavalry squadron is the equivalent of another maneuver brigade to the division commander because it frees a brigade for use in other places, or relieves it of duties it would otherwise have to perform.

Facilitate Movement. We posit the future battlefield to possess non-linear or non-contiguous relationships among friendly and enemy forces. This condition places a premium on the ability to command and control unit movements. Operating within such a fluid environment will demand rapid establishment and security of lines of communications between widely dispersed units. Enabling the decisive force to execute continuous movement will require security and support of highly mobile cavalry forces.

Support Area Operations. The fluid nature of future combat also increases the criticality of locating and securing support areas. This requires allocating assets to establish and retain their use. Future adversaries may also be capable of attacking throughout the depth of the battlefield. Thus, support areas and our decisive force may be engaged simultaneously. While other capabilities exist to secure these areas, the versatile nature of cavalry units makes them suitable to perform critical reconnaissance and security tasks of support areas when required. These tasks may include several of the base reconnaissance missions (route, area, or zone), area damage control, restoring command and control, guiding movement of forces, and combat escort.

Cavalry and Force XXI:

Patterns of Operations The Force XXI operational concept centers around six patterns of operation that provide a conceptual framework that enable us to think about and develop future warfighting capabilities. We firmly believe that cavalry forces are fully suited to perform tasks and functions within all of these patterns. A brief description of the versatile nature of cavalry follows.

Project the Force.

Cavalry is uniquely organized as a self-contained, combined arms force suitable for early entry into a theater of operation to expand lodgments, and set the stage for ease of entry of the decisive force. Cavalry can also conduct combat operations directly from the port of debarkation upon arrival, also setting favorable conditions for the arrival and employment of decisive forces. Protect the Force. Cavalry will perform critical force protection activities for the decisive force. The performance of security and reconnaissance missions will be essential in providing early warning of enemy dispositions, capabilities, and activities. Moreover, cavalry units will be capable of physically guarding friendly forces from enemy contact, as well as providing the real-time information needed to effectively employ passive security measures to further protect the force.

Gain

Information Dominance.

Gaining and denying information has been, and remains, cavalry’score capability. Cavalry forces are capable of employing active measures to gain information in all weather, terrain, and varying threat conditions. Whether through raids or active security measures, cavalry can seek out and destroy the enemy’s capability to gain information. Cavalry is a dedicated force that augments, supplements, and verifies information collected throughout the information build-up period. It provides large-scale human intelligence that can only be gained through close contact with the enemy — validating the predictive analysis of threat intentions and capabilities. The performance of force-oriented reconnaissance will enable the decisive force commander to focus his cavalry on finding and staying with specific enemy forces, wherever they may maneuver on the battlefield. The cavalry force performing force-oriented reconnaissance will provide the updated information needed to set conditions and conduct decisive attacks upon the enemy from positions in depth. The dynamic and fluid nature of this type of operation will rely minimally on terrain-oriented control measures and maximize the use of situational awareness gained by digitization of the cavalry force.

Additionally, cavalry performs terrain reconnaissance and verifies mobility data bases prior to the commitment of the decisive force. This allows the commander to fill in the gaps in terrain data and to identify environmental changes due to natural and man-made factors over time.

Shape the Battlespace. The cavalry force will be operating to shape the commander’s battlespace in order to set the conditions for decisive operations. Cavalry can perform a multitude of tasks to alter the tempo and dispositions of the enemy, such as forcing the enemy to expend resources by having to cope with multiple threats simultane-12 ARMOR —