I was making my spin around the internet when I came across American Mercenary's latest. Read it here, but consider this a hint at his thought process.
Think back to the experiments the Army did in the early 80's with Motorized Infantry (9th ID I believe...too lazy to look it up) but beef it up with much more firepower and much more lift and you have the idea.
Personally, I like it. On a purely partisan note. Imagine if the USMC had already proceeded with the Marine Personnel Carrier. How hard would it be to get the Army to buy enough to equip its Infantry Brigades slated for the Pacific? Not hard at all I imagine. You can bet that the US Army is already making plans to get its forces aboard JHSVs or AFSBs with a quickness. This plan by American Mercenary just sings to future possibilities for the big green.
Sidenote: How do these forces get ashore? According to AM by the Army's landing craft. Read about it here. 350 ton capability! If the Army gets inventive and teams the JHSV with these landing craft to form some type of Army Amphibious Force and base it in Singapore or Guam or even Australia, then they'd be cooking with gas.
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Well, as regards amphibious assault, take heart in the fact that no other country in the world, except WW2 Canadians or Brits have the same level of experience regarding amphibous assault. In fact the whole world actually looks at USA in many areas of fighting including Amphib and then form their own doctrines on how they must do it or...........counter it. Regardless of what you send across the ocean from however much distance, specific counters will always be developed by opposing forces. Think of them as the long pikes/lances used by Braveheart and the Scots to negate the overwhelming advantage of Longshanks Heavy Cavalry and Mounted Knights, a counter as simple as a long pointed stick. But i do think that the force combo that American Mercenary has put it across his blog is a nicestarting point. How any future Amphib marine landing takes place over contested territory ?........your allies, the neutral world and even your potential opposing forces are just as anxious to see how that unfolds. How well your offence doctrine gathers steam and how well their defensive tactics work.
ReplyDeleteJust dont let another Galipoli happen anytime soon.
Deleteanother Galipoli? won't happen. here's why. Marine Corps doctrine has become so polluted that we've started to equate forcible entry with what were once called raids. in a real forcible entry operation you're talking about at a minimum a Marine Brigade. that's an old Army division worth of forces plus tanks, artillery, aviation (fast movers and helicopters) as well as the logistical might to sustain those forces for 30 days. thats not even the big force. for a hardcore amphibious assault you're talking about a Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). that's 45,000 Marines and then you're talking about multiple Regiments, aviation wings, logistics groups etc to sustain them for 45 days.
Deleteand that's just what the Marines will bring to the table. if you're talking about a real forcible entry operation then the USAF will contribute bombers, fighters and transports. the US Army will at LEAST provide logistical support and more than likely you'll see paratroopers or stryker brigades participating. it goes without saying that the US Navy will provide multiple carriers, the amphibious ships to transport the Marines, probably a hospital ship to deal with the wounded, you'll see the Sea Bees deployed to rebuild the port or to build one once we take the beach and you'll also probably see Riverines wanting some of the action and lets not forget that SOCOM will want to take the credit from all involved.
a forcible entry operation is NOT just a Marine affair. its all hands on deck. the US Army won't admit it but the same probably applies to a division sized parachute assault. even if its "behind enemy lines" you're still going to need massive USAF support and you'll definitely need ground forces to link up with them as soon as possible. i believe the average paratroopers is equipped for 3 days sustained combat without resupply. they'd look like rag dolls if the fighting is heavy but thats to be expected. they're light infantry.
long story short everyone looks at forcible entry ops as single service affairs, even HQMC. thats a mistake. all the services have a role to play. thats the real meaning of joint ops. not doing it to be fashionable but doing it when the chips are down and lives are at stake.
Every amphibious assault is going to involve multiple services. I focused on the Army because that is what I know. If I had to hazard a guess as to what the Air Force is bringing to the table I'd say BUFFs and B2s with a whole lot of tankers. I don't see the short legged jets being particularly useful until forward runways are set up, and then priority for those would be C-17s and C-130s bringing in material for the grunts. However I could be completely wrong about that, I've never been an Air Planner. I certainly don't want to tell the Navy what mix of ships to bring to the fight.
ReplyDeleteI positied this before, but Navy, USMC and Army should sit down and actually plan an annual massive amphib exercise where each service brings out all the amphibious lift toys each service has just to get into the habit of working together and seeing what fits where similar to the old NATO Reforgers exercise.
ReplyDeleteRO/RO, Gators, LCU, JHSV, etc.
What does it take to move an MEU and follow it up with three or four BCTs. Switch coasts every other year so different USMC and Army units are exposed to the process, invite some allies like Australia, Japan in the Pacific or the UK, France, Italy,in the old world.
Maybe combine an airborne aspect by dropping a battalion in or near the beach head along with some allies airborne units.