Armor lessons.What a prescient pre·scientadj. 1. Of or relating to prescience. 2. Possessing prescience. [French, from Old French, from Latin praesci leader was the former U.S. Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki Eric Ken Shinseki (born November 28, 1942) is a retired General in the United States Army and served as the 34th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1999 - 2003). He is the first Asian American in U.S. , when he proposed transforming his service with a mix of heavy and medium armored vehicles. The wisdom of his approach is demonstrated in Roxana Tiron's article on the use of armored vehicles in Iraq ("Heavy Armor Gains Clout in Urban Combat," July 2004). Shinseki was criticized roundly for wanting to equip light brigades with the medium-weight Stryker armored vehicle. At the same time, advocates of transformation denounced him for insisting on retaining a significant number of heavy armored combat vehicles. It looks like he was right on both decisions. As the article correctly points out, the Army needs a mix of vehicle types, particularly for stability and counterinsurgency coun·ter·in·sur·gen·cy n. Political and military strategy or action intended to oppose and forcefully suppress insurgency. coun operations. The new Stryker medium-weight brigade has proven to be highly effective in Iraq, maintaining security over an area that took an entire light division to patrol, while providing enhanced survivability sur·viv·a·ble adj. 1. Capable of surviving: survivable organisms in a hostile environment. 2. That can be survived: a survivable, but very serious, illness. for crew and passengers. Units from that brigade have participated in intense fighting in both open and urban terrain. If not for the industrial base limitations, the Pentagon would probably be shipping more Strykers to Iraq instead of armor kits for Humvees. But heavy armor also has a definite role to play in modern urban warfare Urban warfare is a modern warfare conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. As a distinction, warfare conducted in population centers before the 20th century is generally considered siege warfare. . This is a lesson the Israelis learned several years ago and the United States should have learned after Mogadishu. Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles provide superior protection and firepower. It is no wonder that Iraqi insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. focus on attacking light-skinned Humvees and trucks. They are far easier and safer targets to attack. Moreover, those Abrams upgraded to the M1A2 SEP 1. SEP - Someone Else's Problem. 2. (tool) SEP - A SASD tool from IDE. configuration have proven especially effective in Iraq due to their enhanced sensor and targeting capabilities. Shinseki's vision of the future Army also served as the base for the effort by the current chief of staff, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, to build combined-arms modular brigades. These new "units of action" will consist of a mix of heavy, medium and light--even robotic--vehicles. Daniel Goure The Lexington Institute Arlington, VA |
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