Analysis of the Current Concept for Employment of the Airmobile Division Against Insurgent Forces in an Underdeveloped Area.

摘要

Commitment of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) to the war in South Vietnam in 1965 provided an opportunity to determine if the concepts developed in training and testing were valid. The division has eight infantry battalions, six of which may be supported at any one time by an assault helicopter company. Parallel radio nets, three air cavalry troops, pathfinders, reconnaissance platoons, infantry patrols, an aerial surveillance platoon, and heliborne commanders permit extensive reconnaissance. Vietnam is an environment hostile to the airmobile division. Insurgent doctrine describes the struggle in Vietnam as mobile warfare, a condition of war analogous to guerrilla warfare but fought by battalion size and larger forces. Insurgent forces have significant combat power and pose a meaningful challenge to an airmobile task force seeking to locate and destroy them. The air assault concept places emphasis on the offensive capabilities of the airmobile division, occasionally without regard for its limitations. Other levels of insurgent conflict and areas of the world are considered, and it is concluded that the concept is generally applicable to airmobile operations against insurgent forces in other areas.