As the culprit who introduced the CH-53E discussion
and the ensuing hijack down the path of vertical envelopment , I feel the need to redirect to the original track. Rifle Squad composition.
In the past pages a mention of the Marine Corps testing of a 12 man squad under combat conditions surfaced. The Marines were going to test the one man shorter squad in Afganistan in 2007-2008.
Did it happen? And has there been any comments on this "new" size aquad and its effectiveness?
Did the Marine Corps make the first fireteam leader the squad leader with responsibilities to lead his fireteama nd the other two in his squad?
Any comment or statement about how this concept was received bythe troops and what kind of problems stuck their ugly heads up during the testing period, would be appreciated.
That plus surprise targets and everything in between.
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Originally Posted by
jcustis
Was that success due to registered targets and shift from known point missions?
What I was basing my comment off of is the difficulty on the FOs end, especially if he is not a FO with those primary duties and commensurate degree of training.
Lot of calls for fire by unit NCOs not FOs. While their knowing what they were doing was definitely an asset, in my observation a good FDC could talk a poor FO or even Joe Tentpeg into getting stuff on target -- that's with manual calculation on an M16 Plotting Board, of course. A good FDC can fix all sorts of FO and weapon / ammo shortfalls. The best Computers were / are former FO /FIST guys.
Part of the 'good' FDC problem is automation which adversely impacts innovative ability and part is that, unless watched, the FDC Chief will use his best plotter for everything and the others don't get to develop the skills.
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How about rifle grenades Ken? Any familiarity with them?
Yep, they had some advantages but did require a hefty amount of training for 'accurate' use (accurate in quotes because they weren't consistent), the 40mm eased the training burden and works almost as well for most things and is at least as accurate. We're better off with the 40mm and the M79 /M203 / M 32 / M320. Not a fan of the Mk 19 though.
Where Are The Infantry Sergeants?
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc...f&AD=ADA509378
Where Are the Infantry Sergeants: An examination of the Marine Corps' policies and processes that adversely affected the availability of infantry sergeants to serve as squad leaders in the operating forces - Major Thomas M. Tennant
This is another thesis paper submitted for a military studies masters degree requirement at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. The historical section that details the history of the squad leader has a lot of researched detail about the employment of squad leaders as far back as the AEF in WWI.