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

WWW.SURVIVALEBOOKS.COM(3) Occupation and defense of blocking coordinated by the brigade compositions.manders. Artillery or mortar ob-(4) Delaying action. servers are employed with elements(5) Offensive action within their capabili- that provide the best observation ofties.the area,(2) Fixing forces.170. The Reserve (a) Brigades in the fixing force receivea. General. The reserve is the decisive ele- the attachment of combat maneumentin the mobile defense. It consists of thever battalions in the number andbulk of the combat power of the command andtype best suited for the accomplishisstrong in tanks. ment of the mission. Balancedb. Mission. The reserve destroys the enemy forces (infantry-tank) may be rebyoffensive action.quired to provide adequate antitankdefenses when the enemy possessesc. Actions of the Reserve. The reserve ac- dern mechanized forces Howcomplishes its mission by attacking within, tothe flanks, or forward of the FEBA.ever, when possible, such brigadeswill normally be mechanized in-171. Considerations of the Mobile Defense fantry heavy. The reserve of thebrigade, if established, is usuallya. Organization of the Ground. Organization tank heavy.of the ground consists of use and optimum improvementof the natural defensive features ofthe terrain with the men, materials, and timeavailable. The specific location of the units inwithanan analysisaof the factors ofMETT The anticipated mission ofthe defensive area is determined from the fol-elow~Ing: . . ~~~~the task force or team is a majorconsideration in determining the(1) Unit missions to be assigned and the size and composition of the force.maneuver room required to accom-Normally, frontages occupied byplish them.task forces in the fixing force pre-(2) Enemy capabilities, known and as- elude their withholding a reserve.sumed.(3) Reserves. The reserve is organized(3) Military characteristics of the ter- with as much combat power as possirain,particularly the defensive ble, is tank heavy for maximum offenstrengthof obstacles, all possible en-sive power, and is employed under aemy avenues of approach, and thesingle commander.area trafficability.(4) The capabilities of friendly forces, in- 172. Planning for the Mobile Defensecluding all available combat support a. Covering Force. The plan for the coveringunits. In this connection, the relative force is prepared as outlined in chapter 5.mobility of all units and their responb.Fixing Forces. The plan for the fixingsiveness have considerable bearing on forces makes the most effective use of theforces available to develop the situation. Comb.Organization for Combat. manders at all levels express clearly their in-(1) Security forces. tentions to their subordinates.(a) The covering force is organized as (1) Brigade. Based on the division order,a highly mobile, self-contained brigade commanders assign defensiveforce in keeping with the fundamentalsof security discussed insectors to battalion task forces. In as-signing sectors, the commanders conchapter5.sider the forces available and the en-(b) The observation and listening postsemy avenues of approach into theestablished by the fixing forces arebrigade sector. Boundaries, coordi-96