Death Before Dismount!
Here are some of my observations about armored cavalry in the US Army:
1) The cavalry force has heavy firepower pushed forward. Doctrine says that in the advance, the recon element will push thru enemy resistance if possible. If you encounter enemy in sector during a zone or route recon, you have three options, hasty attack, bypass, or hasty D. Depending on whether or not it's screening for the main effort, a scout platoon may have a dedicated battery op-conned to it.
2) The battalion scout platoon in the defense screens to the front of the main trace. is tasked with locating and destroying enemy recon elements that penetrate into sector. Often, a tank platoon from one of the line companies will be chopped to the scouts for support. Esp at night, the scout platoon leader has on call fires dedicated to the platoon. When the enemy forward security element comes into sector, the scouts move to flanking positions and engage with long range TOW fire as the FSE moves into the task force Engagement Area.
2) We did most of our work mounted. Although it wasn't unusual to dismount, it was the exception rather than the rule in the attack. As a general rule. we practiced for three specific recon missions:
zone recon: recon in sector across the task force frontage in the advance. Generally, one scout section would run the left limit and the the other the right limit. The command section would pick up slack in the center.
route recon: An identified avenue of advance (road, cross country, etc). Dependent on what the mission was, we could do a route analysis, or just move along the route and clear during movement.
area recon: a specific location that needed eyes on the objective. This sort of recon was most likely to put boots on the ground.
3) Gunnery, esp. in Bradley equipped units, is THE end all-be all. Cavalry uses the wingman concept religiously. Army doctrine stressed all the time that we "fought for intel." PIR's were hammered home in the Op Order and it was scouts' job to make sure they were understood and acted upon.
4) In the defense, each scout section was usually assigned to overwatch an avenue into the task force engagement area. If the sector was broken and terrain prevented establishment of a TF E/A, a scout section could be chopped directly to the line company.
5) We drilled on templates that showed how Soviet/Russian trained armies were expected to fight the heavy force battle. At the combat training centers, this is still the centerpiece of the battle. I can still close my eyes and recall how a Moroized Rifle Regiment conducts the attack.
Well, this is a good start, and it brings back a lot of memories. It's amazing how military stuff sticks in your brain housing group. even years after the fact. I'm interested to hear how ya'll fight the cavalry battle and a little about your techniques, esp from the old days of the Cold War era. I'm sure a lot here have read Kenneth Macksey's book First Clash. I bought a copy at the Stars and Stripes book store in Graf about 20-some years ago and it's still on my book shelf. Also, my troop bought every copy of Team Yankee when it first came out in paperback. The copies got passed around until they all fell apart pretty much.
