1963 US Army Vietnam War Armor Operations ... - Survival Books

WWW.SURVIVALEBOOKS.COMCHAPTER 3COMMANDSection I. COMMAND AND LEADERSHIP55. General however, in the absence of such orders, he musta. The primary objective of armor tacticalbebepreparedpreparedtototaketakeactionactionononhishisown.own.command is success in combat. This requires c. Relations with Subordinates. The armorthe development, integration, and employment commander's relationship with his subordinatesof the unit's ability to move, shoot, and cor- should be direct and personal. He must keepmunicate. In preparing for armor command, them informed of the situation and of his dethearmor leader must understand thoroughly sires. He should encourage them to deal dithetactical and technical employment of his rectly with him whenever they feel that suchunit, and the operations and employment of action is desirable. He should frequently visitnormal supporting or attached units. In corn- subordinate units to obtain firsthand informabatoperations, the armor commander normally tion and to foster esprit de corps; this is particommandsa combined-arms force.cularly desirable in the case of newly attachedb. In cold war operations, particularly thoseunits.units.AttachedAttached oror supportingsupportingunitunitcommandersadvise and assist the armorcommand-commander ininvolving deployment in oversea areas, thetechnical matters pertaining to the employcommandermust have a thorough understand- menting ofof theirthe peopleunits.with whom he deals, and theability to adapt his concepts and thinking to d. Command Supervision. Supervision is thethe limitations that may be imposed on the use most difficult part of the order-execution patofhis force, political or otherwise.tern. The commander must use his subordinatesto the fullest extent during supervision.56. Armor Commander Supervision includes but is not limited toa.Responsibilities. The armor commander (1) Questioning subordinates and assistisresponsible for the training of his unit, itsants to determine understanding ofactions in combat, the health and well-being oftasks to be accomplished.its personnel, its supply, and the maintenance (2) Insuring that policies and orders beof its equipment. In short, he is responsible forcarried out in the highest militaryall that his unit does or fails to do. To dis-tradition.charge these responsibilities efficiently, he must (3) Making personal visits to suborditrainand use his subordinate commanders andnates to observe, offer advice, andstaff officers to the fullest. To encourage in-make corrections when necessary.genuity, initiative, self-reliance, and aggres- (4) Encouraging initiative and creativesiveness, he should indicate his policies to histhinking. Oversupervision will stiflesubordinates and then allow them maximumthese.freedom of action.b. Command. The armor commander makes 57. Succession of Commanddecisions, which are transmitted as orders. To a. The nature of armor operations requiresinsure that they are understood and executed a clearly understood procedure for successionsatisfactorily, he continually supervises and of command upon the sudden loss of the comcheckson the execution of all orders issued. mander. The succession of command should beThe armor commander will normally receive defined clearly, either through orders or in thehis orders from the next higher headquarters; unit SOP. As a fundamental of leadership, eachAGO 9139A 23