XBradTC

The Armor Corps in the American Army is gone, it is no more.

The Army has become decidedly infantry centric. This wouldn’t be so bad if it was a fighting kind of infantry centered army.  But instead it is an infantry centric Army grounded in the principles of population centric counterinsurgency and Rupert Smith’s view of war in the future as “wars amongst the people.”

To be sure the American Army will be told to do lots of things from winning hearts and minds in the Hindu Kush, to passing out humanitarian relief in the troubled spots around the world, to nation building in Iraq.  But first and foremost it must be an Army grounded in combined arms competencies.  This must come first, and not second or third after fuzzy concepts as “whole of government approach” and building emotional relationships with local populations.  The latter may of course be important, depending on the mission, but those kinds of competencies must be premised on combined arms and not the other way around.

via usdefensewatch.com

I know Esli and others are striving mightily to return the full spectrum combined arms combat capability and mentality to our forces.

But I also recognize they are greatly hampered by a severe shortage of funds for unit training, and a shortage of units, for that matter.