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Breaking the mold: tanks in the cities - Army University Press
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Foreword
Few lessons are as prevalent in military history as is the adage that
tanks don’t perform well in cities. The notion of deliberately committing
tanks to urban combat is anathema to most. In Breaking the Mold: Tanks in
the Cities, Mr. Ken Gott disproves that notion with a timely series of five
case studies from World War II to the present war in Iraq.
This is not a parochial or triumphant study. These cases demonstrate
that tanks must do more than merely “arrive” on the battlefield to be suc-
cessful in urban combat. From Aachen in 1944 to Fallujah in 2004, the
absolute need for specialized training and the use of combined arms at the
lowest tactical levels are two of the most salient lessons that emerge from
this study. When properly employed, well-trained and well-supported
units led by tanks are decisive in urban combat. The reverse is also true.
Chechen rebels taught the Russian army and the world a brutal lesson in
Grozny about what happens when armored units are poorly led, poorly
trained, and cavalierly employed in a city.
The case studies in this monograph are high-intensity battles in con-
flicts ranging from limited interventions to major combat operations. It
would be wrong to use them to argue for the use of tanks in every urban
situation. As the intensity of the operation decreases, the second and third
order effects of using tanks in cities can begin to outweigh their utility. The
damage to infrastructure caused by their sheer weight and size is just one
example of what can make tanks unsuitable for every mission. Even dur-
ing peace operations, however, the ability to employ tanks and other heavy
armored vehicles quickly can be crucial. A study on the utility of tanks in
peace operations is warranted, and planned.
Freebie
Foreword
Few lessons are as prevalent in military history as is the adage that
tanks don’t perform well in cities. The notion of deliberately committing
tanks to urban combat is anathema to most. In Breaking the Mold: Tanks in
the Cities, Mr. Ken Gott disproves that notion with a timely series of five
case studies from World War II to the present war in Iraq.
This is not a parochial or triumphant study. These cases demonstrate
that tanks must do more than merely “arrive” on the battlefield to be suc-
cessful in urban combat. From Aachen in 1944 to Fallujah in 2004, the
absolute need for specialized training and the use of combined arms at the
lowest tactical levels are two of the most salient lessons that emerge from
this study. When properly employed, well-trained and well-supported
units led by tanks are decisive in urban combat. The reverse is also true.
Chechen rebels taught the Russian army and the world a brutal lesson in
Grozny about what happens when armored units are poorly led, poorly
trained, and cavalierly employed in a city.
The case studies in this monograph are high-intensity battles in con-
flicts ranging from limited interventions to major combat operations. It
would be wrong to use them to argue for the use of tanks in every urban
situation. As the intensity of the operation decreases, the second and third
order effects of using tanks in cities can begin to outweigh their utility. The
damage to infrastructure caused by their sheer weight and size is just one
example of what can make tanks unsuitable for every mission. Even dur-
ing peace operations, however, the ability to employ tanks and other heavy
armored vehicles quickly can be crucial. A study on the utility of tanks in
peace operations is warranted, and planned.