Engage, Destroy, Survive: Characteristics of U.S. Army Pistol, Carbine, and Rifle Direct Fire Engagements in Modern Combat
Abstract
With an increasing concern for hybrid, multi-domain, and even near peer threats, coupled with the complexity of urban warfare and subterranean operations in mega-cities, the U.S. Army must reevaluate and change its pistol, carbine, and rifle marksmanship training strategies, and their subsequent qualification standards, to enable Soldiers to effectively engage and destroy threats in a direct fire engagement, across the range of military operations, and win. After a comprehensive review of publications on marksmanship, 22 characteristics or marksmanship skills (variables) were selected and analyzed against 133 direct fire engagement narratives collected from 46 scholarly publications. A collective case study analysis of the Korean War, Vietnam War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom concluded that several variables were present across all case studies but were found to not be emphasized in current training strategies. Based on the gaps or shortfalls identified, the thesis provides recommendations to change certain aspects of U.S. Army marksmanship training strategies to better prepare Soldiers to engage, destroy, and survive in modern combat.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 15, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1085602
Entities
People
- Matthew L. Simon
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College