Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee. Middleweight Units and the U.S. Army.
Abstract
With the end of the Cold War, the U.S. Army faces a dynamic world of shifting threats and challenges. To support the National Military Strategy of selective engagement, the Army's conventional warfare force structure must accomplish its missions of power projection, combat operations on land, and operations other than war anywhere, in any conditions, and in the face of an uncertain set of well-armed potential adversaries. Overall, none of the Army's heavy or light divisions provide a rapidly deployable but combat powerful force. Heavy divisions have tremendous combat power but lack deployability. Light divisions are deployable but lack combat power. A middleweight corps created by converting both light infantry divisions into light motorized infantry divisions and two armored cavalry regiments into light armored cavalry regiments will provide a force to fill that gap. Such a corps will be highly deployable, tactically- operationally mobile, and have sufficient firepower and survivability to successfully engage adversaries across the entire spectrum of conflict, This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses, organization, and uses of such a middleweight corps.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 05, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA300505
Entities
People
- Bradley M. Jacobs
Organizations
- Naval War College