1966 US Army Vietnam War ARMOR ... - Survival Books

WWW.SURVIVALEBOOKS.COMcharacteristics of the assault craft available shuttled across after the assault or movedfor the operation.around the shore for a linkup.b. The extent of participation by armorunits in the assault is limited by the number of 404. Preliminary Planninglanding craft available since the assault ele- a. An armor commander begins to plan for aments must be contained in a single lift.shore-to-shore movement in response to direcc.The relatively heavy requirements for lo- tive from a higher echelon or as an operationalgistical support of armor units must be consid- requirement in his own command.ered in light of landing craft available for this b. The availability of landing craft capablesupport on the far shore. Aircraft may be re- of lifting vehicles will determine armor's parquiredto augment surface craft.ticipation; therefore, the first step in planningis to determine the numbers of landing craft403. Planning Guidance that will be available.a. The general considerations in planning c. During preliminary planning the armorfor employment of armor units in a shore-to- commander must determineshoremovement are the same as those in plan- (1) The overall concept of the operation.ning an amphibious operation and the near (2) Any Navy or Air Force support inshore actions in a deliberate river crossing.the form of ships, landing craft, orb. The control of the waterborne movement aircraft that may be available.in a shore-to-shore movement is an Army func- (3) The objective area.tion; in amphibious operations, it is a Navyfunction. This responsibility will usually rest(4) The amphibious area and specific em-barkation points suitable for armorwith the engineer amphibious units (brigade,units on the near shore.group, or battalion) as augmented by transportationcorps units under the direction of the (5) The terrain and hydrography of theoverall tactical commander responsible for theobjective area.operation.(6) The task organization for support ofc. Critical factors such as terrain, weather, the assault landing and subsequentand hydrography of the far shore must be em-operations in the objective area.phasized when planning the employment of ar- d. Dependent on the determinations made (bmor units in the assault landing.and c above), the armor commander recomd.The armor commander must include all mendsaspectsof the deliberate river-crossing opera- (1) Embarkation points on the near shoretion in determining his concept of armor em-and landing points on the far shoreployment. He must plan for the assembly of ar-for armor units.mor units and their means of waterborne (2) Task organization of armor units intransportation on the near shore. The arrivalsupport of operations on the farof armor units in the embarkation area on theshore.near shore must be phased so that those unitsparticipating in the assault of the far shore ar- 405. Conduct of the Assaultrive first and are loaded first. Unnecessary The assault on the far shore is conducted inmassing of units in the embarkation area must the same manner as in an amphibious operabeavoided.tion with subsequent operation ashore being ase. Armored cavalry units, less their tracked in normal land warfare.vehicles, and mechanized infantry units, lesstheir personnel carriers, may participate in 406. Trainingshore-to-shore movements when landing craft a. Preliminary training for shore-to-shoreare not available for their vehicles. In this assaults can be conducted as an adjunct to amevent,the shore-to-shore movement will be con- phibious and deliberate river-crossing training.ducted as infantry in an amphibious operation Advance training must be conducted in a waordeliberate river crossing with vehicles either terborne training area and include training217