Existing comment:
General George S. Patton, Jr.
(1885-1945)
As on of the first officers assigned to the fledgling US Tank Corps, Patton saw the potential for cavalry tactics as a basis for tank warfare. Ordered to organize the AEF Light Tank School, Patton attended the French Light Tank Training School and had the opportunity to observe the British use of tanks at Cambrai. Borrowing from the British and the French, Patton developed the concept of using heavy tanks for the breakthrough and the light tanks to assist the infantry in breaking through the enemy's forward positions. Once this was completed, the light tanks could "assume the role of pursuit cavalry." He pioneered the concept of using light tanks in depth and maintain a reserve. Patton's 58-page report to BG Rockenbach on 12 December 1917 provided not only the basis for the Tank Corps, but also became the foundation upon which US armor developed.
As recently as Desert Storm, one of Patton's concepts proved valuable. Patton preferred the light tank for the advantage that it could be moved by truck -- and was not dependent on rail. A key element of Desert Storm planning was for a last-minute shift of an entire Corps several hundred miles to the west. The heavy equipment transporters ran day and night delivering Abrams tanks to the new line of departure. |