Category Archives: Warfighting

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Beware the Casual Clausewitzian

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Major General Carl von Clausewitz’s On War sparks discussions in military classrooms across the world. However, German General Gunther Blumentritt cautioned against handing Clausewitz’s work to the military, as it is like “allowing a child to play with a razor blade.”[i] It is certainly not an endeavor to be taken lightly, as Clausewitz’s difficult writing style, which is full of metaphors and philosophy, is challenging and prone to misinterpretation to those not ready to wrestle with his ideas. Overcoming this requires serious preparation, repetition, and reflection to develop a personal understanding of Clausewitz’s insights on war.[ii] As growing professionals, it is important to understand the business of our profession–war–and wrestling with his ideas is a great place to start learning about war’s nature, despite claims to the contrary.

A grenadier with 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, strives for maximum lethality on the battlefield. Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, April 3, 2019. T (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Geoff Cooper)
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Operationalizing the Battle Staff in Garrison

Part I: Train Like You Fight

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In the next Decisive Action (DA) conflict, we will be outnumbered, outgunned, and potentially matched in every other domain. If this is the case, then we can only win by synchronizing and massing combined arms at the decisive point faster than the enemy. We must anticipate the enemy’s scheme of maneuver, develop a collection plan to confirm it, synchronize fires and effects to attrit enemy forces, and provide subordinate commanders with a detailed plan to execute the enemy’s destruction–all while conducting protection and sustainment operations. To quote the 25thCommander of Operations Group, “We have to do this perfectly and continuously, every time.” Developing and retaining proficient and cohesive battle staff teams is essential to winning the next first fight.

1st Cavalry Division Troopers at NTC. Image retrieved from Twitter.
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Hitting the Mark

Teaching Unit Level Marksmanship

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Marksmanship in the Army is continually evolving, and everyone seems to be an “expert.”  Leaders at all levels tend to limit their teaching to the TTPs that they think work best. Individuality has its benefits, but we can’t rely on a “shooter’s preference” mentality when teaching marksmanship. Don’t become the NCO who says “this is how I did it,” or “this is how I was taught.” Learn the standard and know the doctrine. We need to balance hard-earned experience with an understanding of our constantly developing profession. TTPs and personal experience makes NCOs stronger as teachers and trainers. But if they aren’t built on a strong doctrinal foundation, we are setting our soldiers and future NCOs up for failure.

Soldiers with 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, prepare to qualify on the M240 and M249 in South Korea, Jan. 25, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Alon Humphrey)
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Deliberate and Measured

My Love Affair with Strykers

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Military folks love to argue myriad topics, but one that seems to stoke the vitriolic flame is Strykers. Whether it is their inception, their fielding, their maintenance issues, or the never-ending up-gun debate, the Army community is never short on opinions about Strykers. There are valid arguments on all sides, but I–for one–love Strykers.

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Counter-Attack (SBCT PLT Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 19-05

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The war against Donovia to secure Atropian independence rages. Donovian Forces launched another invasion into Atropia in early January in order to seize northern portions of Atropia. The Coalition response to the Donovian invasion was swift and effective, resulting in significant attrition to the invading force. The most forward Donovian elements, the 111th BTG, suffered a high casualty rate, as well as an 85%-90% attrition rate of armored vehicles. Your company will counter-attack along the international border and your platoon is the lead element.

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U.S. Soldier takes part in a training event, showcasing for the SECARMY the skills soldiers acquire at Fort Benning, GA. U.S. Army Photo by Patrick Albright.
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What’s So Hard about Cavalry Anyway?

Finding, Tracking, and Fighting in Depth

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What is so hard about cavalry? Nothing, especially. It’s just different. To be frank, cavalry is not more dangerous or more important than other tactical enablers. It’s not even that mystical. Becoming a good cavalry trooper and leader is pretty simple: be better and faster than anyone else at understanding when, where, and why you are, within your recon and security operation. In other words, you need to be able to quickly—and without orders—recognize how newly discovered enemy, terrain, and civil considerations relate to friendly troops and time available…and what all that means to your mission. Knowing when to switch between the fundamentals of reconnaissance to the fundamentals of security (and back again) is a developed instinct.

Idaho Army National Guard Soldiers conducts platoon live-fire gunnery qualification, Feb.14, 2019, at the Orchard Combat Training Center, Idaho. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Mason Cutrer)
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A Look Inside the Best Ranger Competition

Q & A with a 4-Time BRC Competitor

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The Army’s David E. Grange, Jr. Best Ranger Competition is a three-day (62 hour), two-man team gauntlet of physical, mental, and emotionally challenging events meant to test the mettle, technical skills, and tactical proficiency of the competitors. The first requirement to compete – being Ranger Qualified, meaning that you are a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School. The 2019 Best Ranger Competition begins on Friday, April 12. The Company Leader conducted an interview with Mark Gaudet, a four-time BRC finisher and member the 2016 5th Place Team. Below are his answers, insights, and recommendations.

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Attacking Razish – Part II

Getting Punched in the Face

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After seven hours of fighting our way through the central corridor the support by fire was set, obscuration smoke was out, our task force engineers were reducing the breach and my assault force began moving forward to quickly secure the far side objective and seize a foothold in the city. After months of preparation and midway through our combined arms breach the brigade was poised to take the largest city in the national training center and my battalion was about to lead the assault. That’s when things started to go wrong and failure ensued.

Paratroopers with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, participate in Exercise Rock Spring 19 at Grafenwoher Training Area, Germany, March 6, 2019. Rock Spring is an annual exercise to validate platoon-level proficiency at conducting offensive operations under live-fire conditions. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Henry Villarama)
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Attacking Razish – Part I

Top 5 Keys to Success

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Twenty-four hours after completing our assault on the National Training Center’s largest urban objective, Razish, I took two pages of notes on the things that I felt made us successful. Like all lessons in the Army, none of these are new or novel. And, like all lessons at NTC, just because you know what you need to fix doesn’t always mean that you can pull it all together in the face of the short timelines, harsh conditions, and the ever-present 11thArmored Cavalry Regiment. Here are my top 5.

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Call for Fire

The Company Leader TDG 19-04

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After a long night supporting your reconnaissance troop’s zone recon mission, you do a final radio check with your Fire Support NCO in his OP on hill 509. The scout platoons are settled in to their positions on the screen line, watching the valley known as the 15 tango for enemy movement. So far, the troop has encountered Skolkan alliance Special Purpose Forces in trucks, as well as wheeled recon vehicles from the enemy’s Brigade Tactical Group (BTG) recon company. The troop’s 120mm Mortars are sitting at 60% of their base ammunition load after suppressing those enemy Ops the night before, with 30 rounds of HE between the two tubes. The troop commander is huddled in the CP on his headset, receiving an intel update from the Squadron on the enemy’s anticipated attack. The call concludes, and he looks at you. “You’re going to be busy today”, he says, only half-jokingly.