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ARMOR March-April 2003 Once More Unto the Breach As we go to print, diplomatic efforts to resolve Iraqi disarma- fect or incomplete information, but the friction generated in the ment issues have almost reached the terminal stage. Unless a commander’s mind by uncertainty, exhaustion, and fear. Captain significant breakthrough occurs, U.S. Armed Forces will once Scott Thomson advises that heavy cavalry is designed to fight again act as the hammer. I know we are up to the task, but we for information. However, the distances over which the troop cannot become overconfident in our equipment, tactics, and operates, combined with the uncertain enemy situation inherent soldiers. Our leaders must stay focused on the basics and main- in being the first force to cross the battlefield, presents the com- tain our high standards. Good luck to all. mander with the most difficult situation in which to concentrate his firepower. This is what makes the cavalry mission a danger- The Battle of Kursk is considered one of the most epic tank ous and frustrating one. battles of all time. To the Germans, it was an opportunity to repeat their 1941 and 1942 successes, encircling vast Soviet Transforming the armor cavalry force remains a topic of consid- armies and destroying them in the process. The German losses erable discussion. Captain Ryan Seagreaves provides insight on are put at over 3,500 armored vehicles, with the true number how to effectively transform the Task Force Scout Platoon. Sea- unknown. To both sides, the salient around Kursk — 200 kilo- greaves proposes the critical limitations of the Task Force (TF) meters wide and 150 deep — was the single most obvious tar- HMMWV Scout Platoon can be corrected by a transformation to get for the Germans to attack. Captain Benjamin Simms’ analy- the light armored vehicle (LAV)-25 reconnaissance vehicle, the sis of the battle provides important lessons learned that are Coyote. applicable today. The Armor Association and community extend its deepest sym- In 1917, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Davis, U.S. Cavalry, was pathy and heartfelt condolences to the Abrams family on the sent by the U.S. War Department to the headquarters of Gen- recent death of Mrs. Creighton W. Abrams at the age of 87. eral Sir Stanley Maude to serve as an observer to the com- bined British-Indian Expeditionary Army — later renamed the Julie Abrams was a genuine rarity, a polished diamond. She Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force. This army waged a multi- remained connected to the Army and active in many of its or- front campaign against the Turkish army in what is now pre- ganizations even after the death of her husband in 1974. In the sent-day Iraq. During his assignment, Davis recorded his daily early 1970s, she and a group of other concerned women be- observations in a journal and later submitted these observa- came founding members of the Army contingent of Arlington tions as a report to the War Department. Although the informa- Ladies, a group of dedicated, caring women who still ensure that tion contained in the report may not have been “pertinent to no soldier’s funeral at Arlington National Cemetery goes unat- current operations then ongoing on the Western Front,” Davis tended. She cared about soldiers and families. She also pio- thought the report would serve as a useful primer on an ex- neered many of the programs now espoused through the Army’s tremely important area of potential military operations. Reading Well-Being program. For over 66 years, Mrs. Abrams graciously through the report, one can see the low-intensity conflict nature served and blessed our Army and this great country as a wife of the final phase of the Mesopotamian campaign where British and mother. and Indian troops carried out extensive combined small-unit operations were similar to the United States’ ongoing opera- One last thing, my well of articles for future issues is drying up. I tions against the remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. am hoping in the near future to receive some outstanding arti- cles and lessons learned from our latest deployments. Is technology the answer to battlefield confusion? The real con- fusion of battle is not the so-called fog of war created by imper- – DRM By Order of the Secretary of the Army: Official: JOEL B. HUDSON ERIC K. SHINSEKI Administrative Assistant to the General, United States Army Secretary of the Army Chief of Staff 0300704 The Professional Development Bulletin of the Armor Branch PB 17-03-2 Editor in Chief LTC DAVID R. MANNING Features Managing Editor 7 Analysis of the Battle of Kursk CHRISTY BOURGEOIS by Captain Benjamin R. Simms 13 Focused Reconnaissance and Developing Battlespace Commandant in the Armored Cavalry Troop MG TERRY L. TUCKER by Captain Scott K. Thomson 20 The Future of Scout and Cavalry Systems by Major Harold A. Buhl, Jr. ARMOR (ISSN 0004-2420) is published bi- monthly by the U.S. Army Armor Center, 25 The Mesopotamian Front! 1109A Sixth Avenue, Fort Knox, KY 40121. As Observed by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Davis, U.S. Cavalry, 1918 Disclaimer: The information contained in AR- Edited by Leo J. Daugherty III, Ph.D. MOR represents the professional opinions of the authors and does not necessarily reflect 36 Integrating Tactical UAVs Into Armor and Cavalry Operations the official Army or TRADOC position, nor by Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey R. Witsken does it change or supersede any information presented in other official Army publications. 40 Transforming the Task Force Scout Platoon Official distribution is limited to one copy for by Captain Ryan Seagreaves each armored brigade headquarters, armored cavalry regiment headquarters, armor battal- 43 Task Force Steel Tigers ion headquarters, armored cavalry squadron by First Lieutenant John DeRosa headquarters, reconnaissance squadron head- quarters, armored cavalry troop, armor com- pany, and motorized brigade headquarters of 46 Planning Scout Casualty Evacuation the United States Army. In addition, Army li- by Captain Geoffrey A. Norman braries, Army and DOD schools, HQ DA and MACOM staff agencies with responsibility for 52 2003 Armor Conference: armored, direct fire, ground combat systems, “The Cutting Edge to Victory — On the Ground for America” organizations, and the training of personnel for such organizations may request two copies by sending a request to the editor in chief. Departments Authorized Content: ARMOR will print only those materials for which the U.S. Army Ar- 2 Contacts mor Center has proponency. That proponen- 3 Letters cy includes: all armored, direct-fire ground 4 Commander’s Hatch combat systems that do not serve primarily 5 Driver’s Seat as infantry carriers; all weapons used exclu- sively in these systems or by CMF 19-series 50 Reviews enlisted soldiers; any miscellaneous items of equipment which armor and armored cavalry organizations use exclusively; training for all SC 12A, 12B, and 12C officers and for all CMF-19-series enlisted soldiers; and informa- tion concerning the training, logistics, history, and leadership of armor and armored cavalry units at the brigade/regiment level and below, to include Threat units at those levels. Material may be reprinted, provided credit is given to ARMOR and to the author, except where copyright is indicated. Periodicals Postage paid at Fort Knox, KY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Editor, ARMOR, ATTN: ATZK-ARM, Fort Knox, KY 40121-5210. Distribution Restriction: Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. March-April 2003, Vol. CXII, No. 2 USPS 467-970 DSN prefix – 464- Points of Contact Commercial prefix– (502) 624- ARMOR Editorial Offices U.S. Army Armor Center Editor in Chief Commanding General (ATZK-CG) LTC David R. Manning 4087 MG Terry L. Tucker 2121 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Managing Editor Deputy Commanding General (ATZK-DCG) Christy Bourgeois 4582 BG Robert W. Mixon 7555 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Editor Chief of Staff (ATZK-CS) Vivian Oertle 2610 COL Robert T. Gahagan 1101 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Staff Illustrator Command Sergeant Major (ATZK-CSM) Mr. Jody Harmon 3923 CSM William J. Gainey 4952 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Editorial Assistant Command Sergeant Major to DCG (ATZK-DCG-CSM) Kathy A. Johnson 2249 CSM James E. Dale 7091 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Unit of Action Maneuver Battle Lab (ATZK-UA) ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS: To improve speed and accuracy in Joe Hughes 5050 editing, manuscripts should be originals or clear copies, either typed E-mail: [email protected] or printed out double-spaced, with a 3½-inch disk in Microsoft Experimentation and Analysis Directorate (ATZK-UAE) Word, WordPerfect, WordStar, Rich Text Format, or ASCII (please COL Douglas L. Fletcher 7809 indicate wordprocessing format on disk or cover letter). Tape E-mail: [email protected] captions to any illustrations or photos submitted. Additionally, we accept articles as e-mail or attachments at: Cavalry and Armor Proponency Office (ATZK-CA) LTC(P) Timothy R. Reese 1050 [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] When sending articles via e-mail, please include a complete mailing address and daytime phone number. Office, Chief of Armor (ATZK-AR) Aubrey Henley 5155 SUBMISSION POLICY NOTE: Due to the limited space per E-mail: [email protected] FAX 7585 issue, we will not print articles that have been submitted to, and accepted for publication by, other Army journals. Please submit Special Assistant to the CG (ARNG) (ATZK-SA) your article to only one Army journal at a time.
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