Photo By Cpl. William Jackson | Marines with Company B, 1st Tank Battalion, train along side Australian Army soldiers...... read more read more
Subscribe
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Tanks were first introduced to the battlefield during World War I due to the consistent deadlock of trench warfare.
They were designed to counter machine gun fire and barbed wire that caused horrific casualties from trench warfare. Tank platoons of that time were never properly trained with infantrymen. They learned on the fly, on the battlefield to cooperate with their infantry counterpart.
United States military leaders debated throughout the war over the best way to employ tanks alongside the infantry. When the tank moves, the infantry remain at its side and protect the tank from enemy soldiers.
In order for this to work correctly, the tank crew and infantry needed to communicate, which was a hard task if radios went down and even harder if there was no previous training together.
The available tanks were spread too thin and they quickly outran the infantry, a constant problem for the American forces. Although they flattened concertina wire, crossed the trenches and effectively neutralized German soldiers, without infantry support, the tanks were eventually destroyed.
“We bring the shock effect, the direct firepower, which is the 120 mm main gun,” said 1st Lt. Alex Barron, platoon commander, Company B, 1st Tank Battalion. “We bring a stabilized .50-cal machine gun and a stabilized coaxial machine gun, which is basically an (M240). We also bring our optics, which allows the infantry to get 10-digit grids to the targets. Basically we extend their range and capabilities.”
From the lessons learned in WWI and WWII, the Marine Corps has been incorporating tank and infantry training for combat deployments.
“Tank-infantry-integration is the key word,” Barron said. “Not just speaking of the capabilities, but the limitations, because you can’t just send us forward and expect us to do everything. They have to be involved in our protection and we have to be involved in their protection and how we use each other to ultimately accomplish the infantry’s goal.”
Prior to the Marine’s participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the only training between tanks and infantrymen were during the Combat Center’s Combined Arms Exercise, a previous version of predeployment training.
Currently, training equates to Range 210, a company-sized, live-fire mechanized assault in an urban environment and Range 220, which is a patrol-based exercise through an urban terrain environment.
The training focuses on company and battalion level training to better prepare deploying units with the knowledge on how to properly assault fortified positions. The main effort is to see infantry successfully integrate their course of fire with the movements of the tank units and effectively advance on a target.
“The biggest thing I want (infantry) to know is what I can bring to the fight for them and how to use me,” Barron said. “It boils down to the capabilities and limitations of the tank. When we roll up you can’t expect me to push up to a five-story building and hit the top, you can’t expect me to roll over certain terrain or get up close to tall buildings, because that creates a hazard. At the same time, if they don’t want to go through a door I can make a door. If they don’t want to go through a wall I can make a hole in the wall. Ultimately, they need to know we’re not invincible and that we do have to be protected by them. That’s the whole point, we have to work together as that tank-infantry team.”
Communications, security, maneuver and firing capabilities are taught to the tank and infantry units.
“It’s pretty unimpressive to see a tank roll through the streets when they’re not shooting,” Barron said. “But the second they see that main gun go off it’s like, ‘OK, I know what they can bring to the fight.’ It’s a huge force multiplier for us. (Range 220) is where it seals the deal and sells it to them that we are an asset to be used, that we can actually be that offensive-firepower shock effect.”
| Date Taken: | 07.12.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 07.12.2013 16:52 |
| Story ID: | 110134 |
| Location: | TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 224 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Brothers in Arms Tanks maintain asset to infantry, by Cpl William Jackson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
