Very interesting article, although I feel I must (in relation to this thread comment on one of the authors' statements.

When they say
During the Plains Indian Wars, many of the tribes opposing America's westward expansion adopted decentralized hit-and-run tactics to terrorize settlers. In response to these threats, the U.S. Cavalry abandoned the large-scale tactics of the Civil War in favor of small-unit operations. Cavalry troops and squadrons conducted area security operations to protect settlers dispersed over wide areas of the frontier. Cavalry squadrons were combined-arms formations that contained intelligence collectors and cultural advisers (then called scouts) as well as maneuver forces and an organic indirect fires capability. This decentralized approach was necessary to ensure that these organizations possessed the tools they needed to bring security to the frontier.
this is only partly true. Of all the frontier army commanders, only Nelson Miles regularly took artillery with him, and he was an infantry officer by trade (colonel of the 5th Infantry) and not a cavalryman. In truth, the cavalry commanders tended to dislike taking artillery (combined arms) as they felt it slowed them down. Units also tended to operate in an "either/or" configuration: using either infantry or cavalry as the main striking arms. When infantry accompanied a cavalry column they were usually used to provide security for the supply trains and not as a main striking force. Scouts played a role, but it was most prominent with George Crook and less so with other commanders (one being Ranald Mackenzie, arguably the most successful of the frontier army officers). The strategy of force dispersal was also forced on the army by events (a very small base force and a large number of garrisons required for what were often political reasons - much like today... ). It was not so much a conscious choice as something that was required by events.

This "historical correction" aside, I am glad to see some officers finally looking to the frontier army for some historical context and examples. I've been working on an article about army operations in Arizona between 1860 and 1870 that ties in with some of this, and have also done something in the past regarding the operations tempo of a frontier army regiment. A very interesting field once you get past the Custer fans and foes....