Size 12 Leather Personnel Carriers: Tactical Mobility and the Light Infantry,
Abstract
This monograph examines tactical mobility doctrine for light infantry. Restoring mobility to the battlefield became the foremost theoretical issue in the aftermath of the First World War. Mechanization and the increased lethality of modern firepower had seemingly rendered the foot mobile infantryman superfluous. The foot mobile infantryman did not disappear however, and he did reappear in the US Army force structure in the four light infantry divisions formed between 1984 and 1987. Do recent examples of light infantry employment indicate our doctrine for our light infantry is correct? The monograph first establishes a definition of mobility and examines how we discuss and define mobility in our doctrine. From this process, it is possible to identify two distinct tiers of mobility: one which describes heavy force mobility, and one which describes light force mobility. The two-tier mobility model is used to examine the theories of employment of light infantry as discussed by J.F.C. Fuller, B.H. Liddell Hart, and Heinz Guderian. Included as a theory is the 'light infantry tradition', a body of thought which describes the characteristics and employment of light forces.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 15, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA239832
Entities
People
- John J. O'brien
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College