When Hannibal met the Romans on the who were acclimated to the conditions and field of Cannae in the summer of 216 B.C., knew the desert, the guys with more than he established the standard and definition of 5,000 tanks, the guys who were not afraid to the ultimate victory. The classic double en- use chemical weapons, the guys who had a velopment became the dream of all bat- deep-seated conviction that Kuwait tlefield commanders for the next 2,000 years. belonged to them, the guys who ... But for modern times, since the invention of You have to deal in capabilities. We the internal-combustion engine, we have a rendered him third-rate with a good plan, new standard for the ultimate victory. The great leadership, and marvelous execution. 100-hour war has given us complete and ir- History books are stuffed with examples of refutable vindication of Airland Battle tactics, armies beating better equipped foes be- techniques, and procedures; good and cause they had the better plan, or better thorough training; application of technology leadership, or better execution. Our planners to the battlefield; the use of combined arms; and leaders ensured this would not be the and -- most significantly for the Armor Force - case this time. - the value of mobility, speed, firepower, and shock effect. The commanders of DESERT STORM played the battlefield and their assets like a Some will say that gizmology and gadgetry finely-tuned orchestra, each instrument hit- won the Gulf War, as if tankers suddenly ting the right note at the precise moment in awoke one day to find a battalion of MlAls the score. resting in the motorpool. These are the Same people who cannot set the clocks on their This was not as easy as it seems - to or- home VCRs. They forget that a human being chestrate air, sea, and ground forces from is behind or in every piece of equipment and many different nations, speaking several lan- must know how to use it. They forget that guages, with different equipment and dif- somewhere along the line someone in ferent methods of operation. The allied for- uniform said that to do X on the battlefield, ces of DESERT STORM simply overwhelmed we need Y with the capability to do Z. the enemy, and, in the end, spoke a com- mon language - VICTORY. Some will say that we faced a third-rate foe. Only a few weeks ago the hue and cry was And that’s the name of that tune. about the battle-hardened Iraqis, the guys - PJC ~ By Order of the Secretary of the Army Official: CARL E. WON0 General, United. States Army THOMAS F. SIKORA Chief of Staff Brigadier General, United State Army The Adjutant General The Professional Development Bulletin of the Armor Branch PB- 17-91-2 Zditor-in-Chief MAJOR PATRICK J. COONEY Features Managing Editor 7 Preparing for the Storm JON T. CLEMENS 11 Knowing Where You Are.. Commandant by Captain David D. Howard MG THOMAS C. FOLEY 14 M1A1 NETin Southwest Asia by Major Rick J. Edmond and Captain Kermit E. Steck ARMOR (ISSN 00042420) is published bimonthly by the U.S. Army Armor Center, 4401 16 Planning the Deliberate Attack Vine Grove Road, Fort Knox, KY 40121. by Captain John Scudder Disclaimer: The information contained in ARMOR represents the professional opinions of 21 The Triumph and Tragedy of Major General Maurice Rose the authors and does not necessarily reflect the by Dr. Ralph C. Greene official Army or TRADOC position, nor does it change or supersede any information 30 After Landing in Normandy, Spearhead Led the Way presented in other official Army publications. ARMOR Staff Official distribution is limited to one copy for each armored brigade headquarters, armored cavalry regiment headquarters, armor battalion 34 Speed and Power: The 4th AD’S Mobility Rolled Through Europe headquarters, armored cavalry squadron head- ARMOR Staff quarters, reconnaissance squadron head- quarters, armored cavalry troop, armor com- 38 Sniper Tank! pany, and motorized brigade headquarters of by Captain Pete Mattes and Sergeant First Class (P) Frank Monroe the United States Army. In addition, Army libraries, Army and DOD schools, HQ DA and 41 The Combined Arms Task Force: MACOM staff agencies with responsibility for ar- Shaping the Future of Armored Forces mored, direct fire, ground combat systems, or- by Lieutenant Colonel Craig B. Whelden and Captain Robert Kmiecik ganizations, and the training of personnel for such organizations may request two copies by 44 Disengagement - Avoiding the Point of No Return sending a military letter to the editor-in-chief, by Major Charles C. Otterstedt and Major Steven J. Mullins Authorized Content: ARMOR will print only those materials for which the US. Army Armor Departments Center has proponency. That proponency in- cludes: all armored, direct-fire ground combat systems that do not serve primarily as infantry 2 Letters 6 The Driver’s Seat 2 Contacts 50 Bustle Rack carriers; all weapons used exclusively in these 5 Commander’s Hatch systems or by CMF 19-series enlisted soldiers; 53 Books 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 information concerning the train- ing, logistics, history, and leadership of armor and armored cavalry units at the brigadelregi- ment 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. March-April 1991, Vol. C No. 2 On Brigade Reconnaissance perfect TOE for the mission, the lntegra- brigade HHC, like the scout platoons of tion of the eight- or ten-vehicle scout maneuver battalions? Having served in an Dear Sir: platoon, along with the required improve- armor battalion scout platoon, I can say ments to the HMMWV noted by that belonging to an HHC as a reconnais- Major Thomas' article, "Employing a Lieutenant Deal in his article in the same sance element is unsatisfactory. Such Brigade Scout Platoon," while right on the issue, would make it far more capable companies are already huge and spread mark concerning the requirement for a than the one platoon organization for- throughout the BSA, combat trains, brigade reconnaissance element, failed to warded by Major Thomas. UMCP, and TOC. Platoon sergeants of recognize the fact that such units already battalion scout platoons spend much of exist in Light Infantry Brigades (Separate). One platoon is simply not capable of ac- their time arranging for the logistical sup- The brigade is assigned one light cavalry complishing all of the missions that would port of their units, because the company troop with combat elements identical to be given to a brigade reconnaissance is much too large for the first sergeant those of the ground troop of an LID caval- unit. Its lack of logistic support would also and executive officer to handle. ry squadron, plus organic CS and CSS handicap such a platoon enough to inter- elements appropriate for a unit of its size fere with mission accomplishment. Where At brigade level, things would be at least and mission. While in no way is this the would this platoon be attached? In the twice as difficult, because most of the ~~~ ~ (Note: Fort Knox Defense Switch Network (DSN) prefix is 464. Commercial prefix is Area DIRECTORY - Points of Contact Code~2~2~)300(). ARMOR Editorial Offices U.S. ARMY ARMOR SCHOOL Editor-in-Chief Commandant (ATZK-CG) Major Patrick J. Cooney 2249 MG Thomas C. Foley 2121 Managing Editor Assistant Commandant (ATSB-AC) Jon T. Clemens 2249 BG James L. Noles 7555 Editorial Assistant Vivian Thompson 2610 Deputy Assistant Commandant (ATSB-DAC) Production Assistant COL Donald E. Appler 1050 Mary Hager 2610 Command Sergeant Major Contributing Artist CSM Jake Fryer 4952 SPC Jody Harmon 2610 Maintenance Dept. (ATSB-MA) MAILING ADDRESS: ARMOR A'ITN. ATSB-AM, Fort COL James R. Joy 8346 box, KY 40121-5210. Command and Staff Dept. (ATSB-CS) COL J. W. Thurman 5855 ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS: To imp- speed and ac- curacy in editing, manuscripts should be originals or clear copies, Weapons Dept. (ATSB-WP) either typed or printed out in near-letter-qualily printer mode. COL George R. Wallace I11 1055 Stories can also be accepted on 5-1/4" floppy disks in Microsoft Directorate of Training Development (ATSB-TD) WORD. MultiMate, Wordperfect. Wordstar, or Xerox Writer (please include a printout). Please tape captions to any illustrations LTC Craig S. Harju, Sr. 7250 submitted. Directorate of Combat Developments (ATSB-CD) COL Edward A. Bryla 5050 PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS: Report delivery problems or changes of address to Ms. Connie Bright, circulation manager, NCO Academy/Drill Sergeant School (ATZK-NC) (502)942-8624. CSM John J. Beck 5150 Director, Reserve Component Spt (ATZK-RC) UNIT DISTRIBUTION Report delivery problems or chan- COL Eduard Yates 1351 ges of address to Ms. Mary Hager. DSN 464-2610 commercial: (502)624-2610. Requests to be added to the free subscription list Directorate of Total Armor Force should be in the form of a letter to the Editor-in-Chief. Readiness (ATZK-TF) COL Dennis H. Long 7809 ARMOR HOTLINE - DSN 464-TANK (The Armor Hotline is a 24-hour service to provide assistance with TRADOC System Manager questions concerning doctrine, training, organizations, and equip- for Armored Gun System (ATSB-TS) ment of the Armor Force.) COL Eugene D. Colgan 7955 2 ARMOR - March-April 1991 brigade HHC Is even more removed from would be an excellent addition (so would both Soviet and U.S. doctrine and or- the A0 of a brigade reconnaissance unit.