(Amerika) Streitkräfte der USA - allg. Sammelthread

[Quintus Fabius]

In den USA beginnt zur Zeit ein zunehmendes Umdenken zurück zum konventionellen Krieg, insbesondere zurück zum konventionellen Bodenkrieg: Weg von Air-Only und COIN:

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After more than a decade of fighting lightly armed, irregular forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. forces face an increasing likelihood of combating more organized foes with heavier arms, a Defense analyst said.

The next enemy could be a hybrid group such as the Islamic State or Hezbollah with effective anti-aircraft and anti-tank weaponry, or a “state” group such as Russian separatists in the Balkans armed with tanks and long-range rocket artillery, said David E. Johnson, a retired Army colonel and senior researcher with RAND Corporation.

“We haven't actually fought these kinds of units since Vietnam,” he said. “We haven't fought something like Russia since World War II.”

In a recent RAND report, “The Challenges of the ‘Now' and Their Implications for the U.S. Army,” Johnson identifies several areas such as artillery in which the United States has fallen behind Russia and China. The Russian long-range rocket artillery has greater reach than the U.S. version.

Though it's unlikely the Army would end up in a direct conflict with Russian or Chinese forces, it likely will face groups with their weaponry, he said.

“They can essentially (destroy) six hectares from one rocket launcher,” he said. A hectare is about 2.5 acres, or roughly the size of an athletic field with a regulation running track.

In Ukraine, Russian separatists armed with that artillery destroyed Ukrainian units in a matter of minutes, Johnson said.

The Army has begun training units for battles against forces that have heavy weaponry and close air support, said retired Maj. Gen. Wesley E. Craig, former adjutant general for Pennsylvania and former commander of the Pennsylvania National Guard.

“That's what you see at their combat training centers,” he said.

Predicting the next battle is difficult, but it's likely that the Army will face armored units and “large doses of irregular forces,” Craig said.

The state's National Guard units are uniquely fitted for the entire range of scenarios, he said. Pennsylvania is the only state with three brigade combat teams, and consequently, it's the only state with each of type of brigade combat team: infantry, Stryker and armored, he said.

The Scranton-based 55th Brigade Combat Team has the tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles needed for heavy combat.

The Philadelphia-based 56th Brigade Combat Team has the lighter, eight-wheeled Stryker armored fighting vehicles needed for fast-moving expeditionary force operations.

The Washington-based 2nd Brigade Combat Team has the infantry needed for counter-insurgency operations such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

“You've got everything you need here,” Craig said.

When the 2nd Brigade deployed to Iraq in 2005 and 2006, that flexibility paid off when the commander realized he needed armored support in Ramadi, Craig said. He had the vehicles but needed troops to operate them.

Some of the armored and mechanized infantry units had been converted to light infantry units for the deployment, so he drew on them to man the tanks and Bradleys.

Without them, “he would not have been as effective and probably would have taken more casualties,” Craig said.

Another advantage to having all three units is that they can train together for combined operations that include air support from the Johnstown-based 104th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, he said.

The battalion's AH-64 Apache attack helicopters are at the center of ongoing debate over the Army's structure. The Army wants to move all the Apaches into regular units and give Black Hawk helicopters to the Guard.

Craig and Johnson agree that would be a mistake. The National Commission on the Future of the Army released a report last month recommending that the National Guard retain four attack reconnaissance battalions.

“I'm somewhat hopeful we might be able to keep at least part of the battalion in the state,” Craig said.

Because National Guard units do disaster and humanitarian relief work, there's often a misperception that they can be relegated to noncombat roles, Johnson said. In reality, the way the country keeps an adequate reserve force is to recognize what motivates Guard members.

“People don't join the Guard to sit in the motor pool waiting for the hurricane,” he said. “They join the Guard because they want to be soldiers defending the country.”

The pilots in the 104th joined because they want to fly Apache helicopters, he said.

“If there are no Apaches for them, they won't join the Guard,” Johnson said.