World War II US Armored Infantry Tactics

by Gordon L. Rottman, Peter Dennis (Illustrator)

Overview

Little has been published on US armored infantry units and tactics over the years. However, their contribution to the war effort was hugely important. There were a total of 57 armored infantry battalions and two regiments that served throughout the war and in all theaters. Equipped with halftracks, they fought as part of combined arms teams and combat commands alongside tanks, tank destroyers and artillery battalions. Significantly, they were not simply standard infantry battalions provided with halftracks. Their company and platoon organization was very different from the standard infantry unit and these highly mobile, heavily armed battalions fought in an entirely different manner. Using period training manuals and combat reports this book provides an exclusive look at the unique tactics developed by US armored infantry units including movement formations and battle drills.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780960838
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/20/2011
Series:	Elite , #176
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Gordon L. Rottman entered the US Army in 1967, volunteered for Special Forces and completed training as a weapons specialist. He served in the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam in 1969–70 and subsequently in airborne infantry, long-range patrol and intelligence assignments until retiring after 26 years. He was a Special Operations Forces scenario writer at the Joint Readiness Training Center for 12 years and is now a freelance writer, living in Texas.

Peter Dennis was born in 1950. Inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn he studied illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects, including many Osprey titles. A keen wargamer and modelmaker, he is based in Nottinghamshire, UK
Gordon L. Rottman entered the US Army in 1967, volunteered for Special Forces and completed training as a weapons specialist. He served in the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam in 1969–70 and subsequently in airborne infantry, long-range patrol and intelligence assignments before retiring after 26 years. He was a Special Operations Forces scenario writer at the Joint Readiness Training Center for 12 years and is now a freelance writer, living in Texas.
Peter Dennis was inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn, leading him to study Illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects, including many Osprey titles. A keen wargamer and modelmaker, he is based in Nottinghamshire, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction 4

Organization 8

The armored division

Combat commands

Armored infantry regiments and battalions

Anatomy of the Armored Infantry Battalion 17

Companies

platoons

squads

Weapons & Equipment 26

Individual weapons

crew

served weapons

The halftrack

Tactics: Theory, and Capabilities 30

Lack of doctrine

Lack of training

Movement formations

The squad and platoon: life in the halftrack

dismounted formation

Mission capabilities: the rifle company

the armored infantry battalion

the armored infantry regiment

Fire support

Practice: Tank-Infantry Coordination 48

Understanding and exploiting the balance of strengths and weakness 48

Communications

Units in Action 55

Failure and Success: CCA, 12th Armored Division, January

February 1945

dismounted company action without armor

tank-infantry team clearing a town

Assessments & Conclusions 61

Select Bibliography 63

Index 64

Editorial Reviews

Author Gordon L. Rottman covers the organization of these units, the weapons and equipment they used as well as what tactics, theory and capabilities were developed as these units were used in combat. Then there was the understanding and exploitation of the strengths and weaknesses of these units and how they performed in action. Bolstered by a well done selection of period photographs and the superb artwork of Peter Dennis, it makes into an excellent book on the subject. One in which I learned a lot and can easily recommend to you.” —Scott Van Aken, Modeling Madness, modelingmadness.com (November 2009)

“A solid pick for such [military history] collections... Gordon Rottman's World War II US Armored Infantry Tactics, telling of lessons applied between divisions when the nation entered the war and underestimated the ratio of mechanized infantry to tanks.” —The Bookwatch (January 2010)

From the Publisher