Existing comment:
Dispersed Operations:
Another notable departure from standard armored doctrine lay in the deliberate employment of tanks and mounted units in small numbers dispersed over broad areas. Armored doctrine was oriented toward fighting massed Warsaw Pact formations in Central Europe. However, the absence of any significant armored threat in Vietnam, coupled with the universal demand for the firepower and mobility of armor, resulted in the detachment of armor platoons and companies to conduct separate missions. Such dispersion, however, created difficulties for logistics and maintenance support. Many armored units, operating far from established American base camps, routinely conducted their own maintenance and vehicle recovery operations -- whether equipped to do so or not. |