The Company LeaderWarfighting Archives - The Company Leader

Rate of Fire Against Men

Tony Formica & Eli Myers — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 21:03:34 +0000

A Quantitative Assessment of Fire Team Lethality

Live fire ranges must deliberately measure marksmanship if they are to achieve their purpose of training soldiers and junior leaders in the skills needed to win close combat engagements. Training Circular 7-9 describes marksmanship as “one of the most important” areas that live fire exercises (LFXs) train; we argue that it is the most important, full stop.^[1] Nothing else in a LFX matters, no other training objectives have any validity, if the rounds soldiers fire do not eliminate their intended targets.

5-20 IN conducts a grueling 36-hour exercise designed to test soldier readiness and war-fighting skills. (US Army Photo retrieved from 1-2 SBCT Facebook Page)

The post Rate of Fire Against Men appeared first on The Company Leader.

U.S. Army Watercraft Are Overlooked, Until You Need Them

Tyler Fox — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 01:51:33 +0000

In the Spring of 2024, a minor flotilla of Army vessels crossed the Atlantic. The eyes of Gaza watchers were held by the Army’s curious navy, and the utility of the flotilla was brought to full-light in the service of humanity. But one week prior to this mission, the demand for Army watercraft was near-invisible. Although employed as an instrument of peace, this deployment displayed a capability that large scale combat operations will demand. Army watercraft are invisible until they’re needed – and it’s often been that way.

USAV SP4 (LSV-6) underway on the James River on March 12, 2024. USNI News Photo originally found HERE.

The post U.S. Army Watercraft Are Overlooked, Until You Need Them appeared first on The Company Leader.

LSCO Ready

Tyler Fox — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 19:35:48 +0000

Organizing and Equipping for Airborne Medical Care in World War II

Late September, 1944—Nijmegen

Medical personnel shuffled litters in and out. Outside the doors, the courtyard teemed with humanity. Clusters of aid-men loitered in anticipation of the jeeps, which were operated by their casualty collecting detachments. Like foraging ants they traversed the division area, to and from the regimental aid stations, and they would return direct to the imposing walls of the seminary. The seminary looked like an institution of classical learning, if nothing else for the blanket of vines which clung in patches to the dull brick construction. It was the most suitable location they could find for a division hospital. Mostly because of its size.

Had one of the early developers of the American airborne been able to peer into the future and see this sight, it would have surpassed all comprehension. The scale, the efficiency were beyond anything they envisioned, which wasn’t much. If casualty care in Nijmegen could be considered near seamless, it was not a product of the vision of early airborne developers in the US Army.

It was a gradual acceleration to the display of efficiency on the grounds of the Nijmegen seminary. But the only question that mattered is did it work?

Based in Fort Liberty, North Carolina, the chorus represents the 19,000 Army soldiers that serve in the 82nd Airborne Division. (Staff Sgt. Javier Orona/Army)

The post LSCO Ready appeared first on The Company Leader.

The Battalion Battle Captain

Matthew Levengood — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 16:21:40 +0000

A Staff Lieutenant at JRTC

Life as a staff lieutenant has many demands. As the battle captain, you will be responsible for managing all of the information coming in and out of the Main Command Post (MCP) and control all current operations. Your command team, staffs, and company leadership will lean on you heavily for an updated status of the operation. You will have minimal guidance and instruction yet will be expected to perform at the level of a career course-qualified Captain. Too easy, right?

Life at a CTC for a staff lieutenant often means a similar surrounding of radios, maps, and trackers inside an command post tent or expando van. (U.S. Army photo submitted by author).

The post The Battalion Battle Captain appeared first on The Company Leader.

Urban Terrain Analysis

Ben Phocas — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 00:33:41 +0000

What makes urban operations so challenging is in the name: urban. The physical terrain itself has been built and altered, whether coincidentally or intentionally, to create an extremely challenging environment with its own unique challenges for defenders and attackers. When most think of urban warfare at the tactical level, Battle Drill 6 comes to mind. A team of soldiers moving from room-to-room, violently clearing each in a savage contest of wills with an enemy only inches away in the cramped, dark confines of desolate buildings. In this mental scenario, solid planning takes a backseat while violence of action carries the day. This is not reflective of the reality of urban combat operations.

Soldiers learn maneuvering tactics during training at the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, Nov. 5, 2022 (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Miguel Peña)

The post Urban Terrain Analysis appeared first on The Company Leader.

Parapacks over Holland

Tyler Fox & Tyler Vest — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 04:43:24 +0000

Operation Market Garden's Lessons in the Fight for Supply from the Sky

Since the release of the hit miniseries Band of Brothers and Hollywood-classic Saving Private Ryan, the story of American paratroopers in the Second World War has become cauterized in the minds of history connoisseurs and students. The story has all the elements of a homeric epic: young, fit men strapping on a parachute and leaping from planes to land amongst the enemy. They were a live military experiment in an entirely new form of warfare. The two Hollywood productions were followed by almost two decades of literature from historians and popular authors alike analyzing and dissecting the fire and brimstone shooting matches fought by these men. But little analytics have been devoted to the factors that made these battles possible.

U.S. Army photo retrieved from U.S. Army W.T.F! moments Facebook page.

The post Parapacks over Holland appeared first on The Company Leader.

Field Artillery – Beyond the Howizter

Jacob Halisky — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 02:48:17 +0000

A #BranchSeries Piece

The Field Artillery (FA) Branch is a great branch for junior officers to develop personally and professionally. The FA branch offers assignment diversity from the typical staff job or platoon leader position, as compared to other branches. It also offers lieutenants the ability to serve in positions that have effects at echelons above their peers. The FA branch is only growing as the U.S. Army focuses more on the importance of fires on the battlefield.

Soldiers conduct field artillery certifications at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Dec. 8, 2021. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Beggs)

The post Field Artillery – Beyond the Howizter appeared first on The Company Leader.

The Black Hornet as a sUAS Platform

Andrew Bordelon — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 03:31:56 +0000

Drones have become more prevalent among small-unit tactics recently, specifically nano-unmanned aerial vehicles (NUAV) such as the FLIR Black Hornet. The Black Hornets, or Hornets, are intended to be a Soldier-borne sensor (SBS) for Infantry units that can be deployed faster than a Raven or Shadow and quieter than both UAVs. We used the Hornets with success during a defense training exercise and an offensive company-level live fire exercise (LFX). There are limitations, as with any piece of equipment, but the benefits out-weighed limitations in both cases.

The Black Hornet PRS equips the non-specialist dismounted soldier with immediate covert situational awareness (SA). Game-changing EO and IR technology bridges the gap between aerial and ground-based sensors. It provides the same SA as a larger UAV and threat location capabilities of UGVs. It is xtremely light, nearly silent, and with a flight time up to 25 minutes. The combat-proven, pocket-sized Black Hornet PRS transmits live video and HD still images back to the operator. Image retrieved from flir.com.

The post The Black Hornet as a sUAS Platform appeared first on The Company Leader.

PS Magazine Roll-up

Steve Reeves — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 20:22:35 +0000

September 2022

U.S.Army Photo from 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment.

The post PS Magazine Roll-up appeared first on The Company Leader.

PS Magazine Roll-up

Doug Meyer — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 16:49:42 +0000

July 2022

Army Sgt. Justin Covert mans an M1A2 .50-caliber machine gun on a Stryker vehicle during training at Fort Irwin, Calif., as the Milky Way galactic center is visible overhead, May 24, 2022. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Stewart)

The post PS Magazine Roll-up appeared first on The Company Leader.