Combat Failure: Nightmare of Armored Units Since World War II
()
About this ebook
To determine the relationship between armored failure and physical forces on the battlefield, I first provide some theoretical and contemporary perspectives on the physical aspects of unit failure. Next, the causes and conditions of battlefield failure are identified and examined, followed by a discussion of the processes of failure. After laying a foundation of theory and the processes of failure, historical examples as well as recent armored NTC experiences are examined to determine the decisive causes of failure for US armor units since World War II.
My conclusion is that effective enemy maneuver, when complimented with overwhelming fires is the decisive cause of failure for US armored units since World War II. Maneuver sets the conditions for both physical and moral destruction. However, failure is difficult to isolate; it is complex and occurs most often because of a combination of actions rarely just one. Clearly, technology has a great deal to do with physical failure. Maneuver, firepower, and protection have increased the power and importance of physical forces in relation to moral and cybernetic forces. Ultimately, overwhelming enemy maneuver and fires rapidly destroy unit cohesion as well as the physical capabilities of the defeated unit.
Major William R. Moyer
See Book Description
Related to Combat Failure
Related ebooks
Task Force Butler:: A Case Study In The Employment Of An Ad Hoc Unit In Combat Operations, During Operation Dragoon, 1-30 August 1944 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFighting And Winning Encircled Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArdennes-1944: An Analysis Of The Operational Defense Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTactical Responses To Concentrated Artillery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPanzer Tactics: German Small-Unit Armor Tactics in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Special Marine Corps Units Of World War II [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBreaking The Mold: Tanks In The Cities [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Between The Rivers: Combat Action In Iraq, 2003-2005 [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Salerno To Rome: General Mark W. Clark And The Challenges Of Coalition Warfare Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGerman General Staff In World War I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlak in World War II Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Swinging The Sledgehammer: The Combat Effectiveness Of German Heavy Tank Battalions In World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fire Support in the Reduction of an Encircled Force - a Forgotten Mission Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBattlefield Air Interdiction By The Luftwaffe At The Battle Of Kursk - 1943 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Luftwaffe And Its War Of Attrition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Panzer Rollen: The Logistics of a Panzer Division From Primary Sources Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Assault from the Sea: Essays on the History of Amphibious Warfare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Development Of Tactics - World War I [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSt Lô (7 July - 19 July, 1944) [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Eighth Army: El Alamein To The River Sangro [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAt the Water's Edge: Defending Against the Modern Amphibious Assault Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5THE CAPTURE of MAKIN (20 - 24 November 1943) [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKleinkrieg: The German Experience with Guerrilla Wars, from Clausewitz to Hitler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRiders of the Apocalypse: German Cavalry and Modern Warfare, 1870-1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWithout Tradition: 2 Para, 1941–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 12th SS: The History of the Hitler Youth Panzer Division Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDEFENDING THE DRINIUMOR: Covering Force Operations in New Guinea, 1944 [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPanzerartillerie: Firepower for the Panzer Divisions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
European History For You
Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf: English Translation of Mein Kamphf - Mein Kampt - Mein Kamphf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of English Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKilling England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Celtic Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Sagas and Beliefs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jane Austen: The Complete Novels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Forgotten Slave Trade: The White European Slaves of Islam Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Discovery of Pasta: A History in Ten Dishes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Story of the Trapp Family Singers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Law Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Negro Rulers of Scotland and the British Isles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Combat Failure
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Combat Failure - Major William R. Moyer
This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com
To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com
Or on Facebook
Text originally published in 1991 under the same title.
© Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Publisher’s Note
Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.
We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.
COMBAT FAILURE: NIGHTMARE OF ARMORED UNITS SINCE WORLD WAR II
By
Major William R. Moyer, USA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
ABSTRACT 5
CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION 6
1. — INTRODUCTION 7
II. THEORETICAL and PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES 9
III. THE CAUSES OF FAILURE 14
IV. THE PROCESSES OF FAILURE 22
V. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES OF US ARMORED FAILURE 27
VI. FAILURE AT THE NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER 33
VII. CONCLUSION and IMPLICATIONS 38
APPENDIX A: Engagements in the HERO Data Base 39
Regimental Engagements 39
Divisional Engagements 39
APPENDIX B: Dupuy’s Causes of Defeat 41
APPENDIX C: HERO’s List of Causes of Defeat 43
APPENDIX D: Summary of Factor Assessments by Veteran Discussion Groups 45
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 48
BIBLIOGRAPHY 49
Books 49
Student Monographs and Theses 50
Journal Articles 51
Government Manuals. Report. Studies 54
ABSTRACT
This monograph examines the relationship between physical forces prevalent on the modern battlefield and the causes inherent to US armored battalion failure since World War II. Given the complexity of today’s battlefield in terms of technology, command and control, and lethality, examining the physical aspects of failure can offer the clearest understanding of unit failure as a whole; after all, physical actions and reactions in battle are more easily analyzed.
To determine the relationship between armored failure and physical forces on the battlefield, I first provide some theoretical and contemporary perspectives on the physical aspects of unit failure. Next, the causes and conditions of battlefield failure are identified and examined, followed by a discussion of the processes of failure. After laying a foundation of theory and the processes of failure, historical examples as well as recent armored NTC experiences are examined to determine the decisive causes of failure for US armor units since World War II.
My conclusion is that effective enemy maneuver, when complimented with overwhelming fires is the decisive cause of failure for US armored units since World War II. Maneuver sets the conditions for both physical and moral destruction. However, failure is difficult to isolate; it is complex and occurs most often because of a combination of actions rarely just one. Clearly, technology has a great deal to do with physical failure. Maneuver, firepower, and protection have increased the power and importance of physical forces in relation to moral and cybernetic forces. Ultimately, overwhelming enemy maneuver and fires rapidly destroy unit cohesion as well as the physical capabilities of the defeated unit.
CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
CAPTAIN JAMES M. BURT, U.S. ARMY COMPANY B, 66th ARMORED REGIMENT, 2d ARMORED DIVISION Near Wurselen, Germany, 13 October 1944
Captain James M. Burt was in command of Company B, 66th Armored Regiment on the western outskirts of Würselen, Germany, on 13 October 1944, when his company participated in a coordinated infantry-tank attack destined to isolate the large German garrison which was tenaciously defending the city of Aachen. In the first day’s action, when infantrymen ran into murderous small-arms and mortar fire, CPT Burt dismounted from his tank about 200 yards to the rear and moved forward on foot beyond the infantry positions, where, as the enemy concentrated a tremendous volume of fire upon him, he calmly motioned his tanks into good firing positions. As the attack gained momentum, he climbed aboard his tank and directed the action from the rear deck, exposed to hostile volleys which finally wounded him painfully in the face and neck. He maintained his dangerous post despite pointblank self-propelled gunfire until friendly artillery knocked out these enemy weapons, and then proceeded to the advanced infantry scouts’ positions to deploy his tanks for the defense of the gains which bad been made. The next day, when the enemy counterattacked, he left cover and went 75 yards through heavy fire to