The following is based on an article in the Military Review, The Professional Journal of the United States Army. It appeared in the October 1992 issue, and was written by Lt. Col. Jon H. Moilanen, the current commander of 2-72 Armor, and a former officer in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. It should be noted that this article was written prior to the American deployment to Somalia, which in turn highlighted the comments that Moilanen made in his article. (It has just been announced that the 2nd Cavalry will be the first of the new Light Cavalry Regiments, though the actual TO&E is still up in the air.) Comments, background information, and actual writing of the article was done by Greg Novak. Please blame him and not Lt. Col. Jon H. Moilanen for anything that you disagree with. For the benefit of our modem players, may we present some thoughts on the Light Cavalry Regiment of the 1990s. Since the beginning of the Cold War, the armored cavalry regiment has been part of the force structure of the Army of the United States. Officially, each active non-airborne corps is to have an armored cavalry regiment (hereafter referred to as ACRs) assigned. In practice, since the 1950s, one for each corps stationed in Germany, as well as at least one similar regiment in the United States, has existed, with the same basic force structure since the 1950s. During the 1960s, at the height of the Vietnam War, no less then five ACRs existed with the 2nd, 3rd, and 14th assigned to Europe, the 1 lth to Vietnam, and a new 6th ACR was created to cover the United States while the 14th rotated into Europe, and the 3rd returned home. (During this period, the US policy was to rotate units into Germany. Thus, to keep two regiments on duty in Europe, a third regiment existed in the United States.) In the reductions of the US Army after the Vietnam War, the 6th and 14th ACRs were stood down, and the 11th was assigned to Europe. The 2nd ACR was assigned to VII Corps, the 11th ACR was assigned to V Corps, and the 3rd was assigned to the III Corps. During the Persian Gulf War, the 2nd and 3rd were deployed to the Gulf and served in combat, performing their assigned missions successfully. The structure of the ACRs has been geared toward performing the traditional cavalry roles of screening and reconnaissance in face of a full Warsaw Pact offensive. As a result, they are perhaps the best armed and equipped unit of their size in the world. An ACR can take on any armored division in the world today, and bloody its nose as it back pedals in front of it! The massive armament of the current ACR, however, is one of its greatest problems in the current world structure. It cannot be moved quickly from any one point to another as needed. Though some elements can be moved by air, the ACR needs to be moved by sealift. Its structure was designed on the concept that it would be where it was needed at the start of operations, rather then sent into action afterwards. In today's world, the proliferation of armored vehicles can be seen on a worldwide basis. Armored vehicles are a major part of most Third World countries' basic arsenals, as witness the numbers of vehicles found in Somalia. Almost any deployment of American personnel worldwide in the future will be in an area where AFVs can be found in what may be hostile hands. Currently, the airborne, airmobile, and light divisions are tasked with these operations in Third World countries. While all three formations can be quickly moved by air transport, their ability to move once they land is very limited to leg power, except in the case of the airmobile division. Even then, the airmobile ability to move will depend on how quickly the supporting elements of the division can be brought in. Recently, in Somalia, the problem with the movement speeds of these formations was highlighted as world opinion was unhappy with the time needed to take over that country. After watching the US Army sweep across the desert in the Gulf War in no time at all, the operations in Somalia did not measure up. The fact that the operations were a comparison of apples and oranges was lost on the American public. Lt. Col. Jon H. Moilanen suggests that what is now needed is a new model cavalry regiment, the light cavalry regiment, henceforth referred to as the LCR. The LCR will be similar in basic structure to the current ACR, but the LCR would be designed for a use of air- and sealift. Molilanen sees the LCR as having two light squadrons, backed up by a single heavy squadron. The light squadrons could be flown in, and ability to fan out as needed. The heavy squadron could be brought in by either air- or sealift as needed  The basic light AFV of the LCR will be the LAV-25, which has been in service with the USMC, and which was used by elements of the 82nd Airborne during Desert Storm. Thus, the Army has prior experience with the vehicle, and can use a vehicle which has already been field tested. Based on the use of the LAV-25, the LCR will have the following organization: Light Cavalry Regiment Veteran, Morale: 10 Regimental Troops, with: Regimental Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 LAV-25 1 M 577 TOC Regimental Tank Company, with: 1 command M1A1 MBT 2 M1A1 MBT Regimental MLRS Battery, with: 1 command stand 1HMMV 1 M 577 FDC 3 MLRS Regimental Engineer Company, with: 1 command stand 1HMMV 3 engineer stands 3 LAV-25 with trailers 1 M728 CEV 1 ALVB 2 medium supply trucks 1 line charge trailer 1 towed mine layer Regimental Chemical Company, with: (Make-up not listed) Regimental Military Intelligence Company, with: 1 command stand 1 HMMV 1 HMMV TOC 1 HMMV with radar detection 1 HMMV with radio detection 2 HMMV with jammers 2 HMMV with GSR Air Defense Company (attached), with: 1 command stand 1HMMV 3 LAV-AA 1 LAV-L with trailer 1 support stand 1 maintenance HMMV with trailer 2 Light Squadrons, each with: Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, with: 1 command stand 1 LAV-25 1 M 577 TOC 1 LAV with 120mm mortar 2 support stands 1 maintenance HMMV with trailer 2 LAV-L with trailers 1 HMMV with GSR 3 Light Troops, each with: 1 command LAV-25 2 recon LAV-25 1 LAV-TOW Artillery Battery, with: 1 command stand 1HMMV 1 M577 FDC 2 gun crew stands (ds) 2 M-198 155mm howitzers 2 medium trucks 2 medium supply trucks with trailers Heavy Squadron, with: Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, with: 1 command stand 1 LAV-25 1 M 577 TOC 1 LAV with 120mm mortar 2 support stands 1 maintenance HMMV with trailer 2 medium supply trucks with trailer 1 HMMV with GSR 3 Light Troops, each with: 1 command M1A1 MBT 1 M1A1 MBT 2 recon LAV-25 Artillery Battery, with: 1 command stand 1HMMV 1 M 577 FDC 2 gun crew stands (ds) 2 M-198 155mm howitzers 2 medium trucks 2 medium supply trucks with trailers Air Cavalry Squadron, with: Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, with: 1 command stand 1HMMV 1 command OH-58D 1 recon OH-58D 1 HMMV TOC 1 support stand 1 HMMV with trailer 4 Air Cavalry Troops, each with: 1 command OH-58D 1 recon OH-58D  Air Transport Troop, with: 1 command UH-60 2 UH-60 Maintenance Troop, with: 1 command stand 1 HMMV 2 support stands 2 maintenance trucks with trailers 2 medium supply trucks with trailers 1 supply UH-60 Support Squadron, with: Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, with: (Make-up not listed) Maintenance Troop, with: (Make-up not listed) Quartermaster Troop, with: (Make-up not listed) Bibliography The Light Cavalry Regiment in Contingency Operations, Lt. Col. Jon H. Moilanen, Military Review, October 1992, pp. 65-75. Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Quarterly # 5 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com