Yesterday, I was at Fort Carson to help honor brother in arms John Kurak at 1-68 Armor Battalion. It has been awhile since my last visit to Fort Carson and things had definitely changed. The combined arms battalion I grew up in had reorganized yet once again.
The Dark Knights of D/1-8 Infantry are gone as the battalions dropped the fourth maneuver companies. Team Steel C/1-68 Armor is now an infantry company. Fair is fair, as the tank company commander for D/1-8 Infantry, we hosted a bunch of infantry veterans from when it was an infantry company. There were many more changes, but those were the ones that had big meaning for me.
On the drive home, I mulled over the changes and dove back into a long time mini-hobby of mine: thinking of a better organization for the armored force. I got hooked on the concept at West Point when my capstone was analyzing the “new” modular brigade combat teams the Army was reorganizing into. Ever since, I have toyed on paper with ideas, even though I no longer have a voice or skin in the game.
It occurred to me, why not share my thoughts? So we are going to start a mini-series on my idea of a dream armored formation. I’ll share my assumptions, considerations, and rationals. Then we can dive into what I think would be a balanced, capable force. It is worth noting before we dive in that very little of this is original thought as I pick and choose various elements from existing or former organizational structures, US Army and others.
As we explore this mini-series, there are a few ground rules. 1) Not here to bash organizations. 2) Reorganizations are painful for all involved and not taken lightly, yet are often quite necessary to form a more perfect union. 3) The ideas must be applicable regardless of the technology. I will reference equipment already fielded (though I might make a few arguments for new adaptations of vehicles. 4) This is a fun exercise to push the mind to evaluate and create. The end goal of this exercise is a fictional unit for use in my next novel.
Strike Hard and Expect No Mercy 
It sounds like an interesting adventure.
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