Joint Task Force Pope

[panzergator]

The 82nd's armor changed to 4-tank platoons when everyone else did - around 1980, for the J series TOE. It would be unusual for a battalion to receive more than a platoon of armor. Infantry divisions in WWII had an organic tank battalion whose elements were parceled out in accordance with the mission, which is from where the doctrine is descended.

You could make a separate cavalry troop using 9 M551s. Then, give the 82nd battalion a platoon, which gets you down to two surplus 551s. AND gives you an extra recon troop!

But the best course is likely to give the battalion a full company and be done with it.

I have a Booker company to do something with. It will support two Stryker battalions, but I only have one, so far, so it will just be parked at the back to make up a task force. I don't like Strykers OR Bookers. I likely will combine them with the Marine tank battalion (M60A1(AoA), the LAV battalion, and the V150 battalion to form a brigade, add a separate cavalry troop, and arty support, maybe a M119 battalion. Right now, the Marines have a towed M198 battery, bureality.ow towed is passe. If GHQ will make the new Marine amphibious personnel carrier, I'll add a battalion of those. I had intended to put together an AAVP bn, and may still, but the Marines are getting rid of them. The LAV carries only 6 dismounts and cannot carry the whole Marine infantry battalion. The LAV serves in recon missions, in reality

[redleg]

I would like to get my hands on the new Marine ACV as well. I have been perusing the #d printing sites looking for stls, but nothing that would work yet. I only have platoons of AAVs and LAVs since I am building MEUs. I have a battalion of M198s without support vehicles, but my MEUs will be equipped with M777s. I gotta keep the M198s around for nostalgic purposes - I have many fond memories from FAOBC when I thought I was in great shape until they put us on the M198. That's a back-breaking gun!

PG, do you have MRAPs in your collection? I have one pack each of the 4 wheel and 6 wheel versions, but not sure how to organize them.

[panzergator]

Five 6-wheeled MRAPs for division hq.

M198 battery supporting Marine unit. Future support likely HIMARS, M119, or RCH. Everything I read these days says towed art is not agile enough and even the M109A7 is too slow to get out of position. RCH fires on the move, coordinating individual vehicle movement to converge rounds on target. I personally don't think CAESAR and ARCHER are maneuverable enough. As impractical as the large AAVP is I may end up with some. Hopefully, GHQ will give us a glimpse of them on the horizon this year.

Meanwhile, I'm TRYING to concentrate on my artillery - 2 more M109A7 battalions, 2 more HIMARS battalions, and a battery of M119s to support the Stryker bn. Dragoons should be in the mailbox to switch into platoons to give them 2 Dragoons and 2 plain Strykers each. That frees up 18 Strykers to start a new battalion!!! Pumas to finish the German battalion should be there, as well. A bite at a time...

[redleg]

Another Stryker battalion, PG? I knew it! You are going to build a full Stryker brigade aren't you? LOL

[panzergator]

Yeaaah. Somewhat reluctantly. But there is momentum. I am instinctively a combined arms guy, so I'm looking at two Stryker bns and an armor bn. I have more than enough Sheridans to give the brigade a light armor bn. The Dragoons should be very effective, given Bradley's success against Russian armor, so maybe they don't need tanks. A Stryker brigade, in my force structure would be a quick or early reaction force to an opportunity, such as following up a bridgehead. Thing is, with so many amphibious M113s, Strykers are slower to get across the river! The LAVs, V150s, Sheridans,and M113 battalions will be across before the bridges are rigged for the Strykers, tanks, and Bradleys. I guess Strykers can secure the MSR, although I'm damned if I'm gonna have an Iraqi style MSR. Perhaps they could reinforce the ACR units. I dunno. Hard to figure. Maybe work with Marines.

[panzergator]

As I think about arty, it seems I will be taking RCH turrets off the Boxers and putting them on M109 chassis. Best of both worlds. I don't see why we couldn't take the tech and put it into tracked pieces.

[panzergator]

Ok, backing up on Strykers. No light armor bn. Ultimately, 2 or three Stryker bns with one brigade M10 company, AT company, ADA battery, some engineers, 1 M119 arty bn. Hopefully, a Marine ACV bn, maybe 2, plus the LAV bn and the Marine tank bn (M60A1 Add-on-Armor). V150 Army bn to reinforce the armored cavalry argument on order.

Exchanging notes with you is EXPENSIVE!

[redleg]

Just talking about micro armor makes me feel broke! LOL

I like your idea for putting the RCH turret onto the M109 chassis. I don't see any reason why that can't be an easy move. As I recall the only piece of high-tech gear in the Paladin chassis was part of the nav system, but but the GPS receiver was in the turret. Of course, that was in the Plugger days and I'm sure modern GPS receivers are much smaller now. Either way, there are some pretty smart engineers out there that could figure it out.

Are you going to mmix your Army and Marine battalions in the same brigade? You doing any marine infantry battalions?

I'm planning 2 MEUs that are the normal 3 rifle companies, weapons company, plus Amtracs, LAVs, and tanks. I don't care what the USMC is doing these days - I'm keeping the tanks!

I don't have any V150s, but I'm getting the itch now that you are talking about them! I must stay strong! LOL I do want to do a unit of MRAPs as well. I know there are not any MRAP units per se, but I want to do an infantry battalion equipped with them. Maybe organize it like a mech battalion but with 6-wheel MRAPs as infantry carriers and 4-wheel MRAPs for CO and XO.

[panzergator]

My philosophy is it's my army, I'll do what I want. That's why a Marder battalion was included in the XM803 brigade. The XM723 was not available yet and the M113 couldn't keep up. The YPR battalion was not a satisfactory substitute, but it does supplement the infantry in that brigade for now.

Marines... LAV infantry battalion, but it can't carry the whole rifle battalion. The Marines actually use them in recon companies, not as an infantry carrier. They are amphibious, so can get a force across a river, though. The tanks don't float. So I have an Army contingent, the V150 battalion, join them. The V150s can carry more Marine across with additional trips while the LAVs remain to thicken the bridgeheads with their 25mm. A light armor battalion of M551 follows as well using their float screens. The bridgeheads is then expanded as M113 units follow on. I built the V150 bn when they were being used as a substitute to develop what we know as a Stryker bn out in Washington. I actually like it better than Stryker, but what do I know. I think the V150s are CINC, so you'd have to get them from Legions for Hire in Canada. The V150s may eventually become an MP battalion. At any rate, once we have the bridgehead, the Marine tank battalion can get across on bridges and then I can reinforce as necessary with the rest of the forces needed,. That's MY rationale, anyway. Once ACV is on hand, LAVs become an additional kind of cavalry, maybe part of the ACR.

I don't anticipate MRAPs in any role but higher headquarters units - division and corps. I look at those as more useful in secured areas for moving high value stuff you need to protect from arty, mines, and the occasional spetznaz ambush.

[panzergator]

And on another note, I keep hearing of Marine interest in the M10 Booker. You might just make the decision for your Marines and get some. Should GHQ pull the trigger and issue the ACV, I might find myself acquiring another company of them. The fact that it isn't amphibious is a bit of a bummer.

[Hoth_902]

I agree with you Panzer. My marines will definitely have an M10 booker in the MEU for the RPNW. Love the sculp....to be honest and I am a fan of Mobil gun systems. Understanding that wheeled systems have there limitations, but uses as well. Just have to remember not to put your eggs in one basket and if your military budget is small, go for the system that works in more environments than ones that are limited.

[panzergator]

Marines have not yet decided to obtain Booker. There are still some problems with the vehicle that need to be addressed. And the Marines must decide if they can establish logistics support for it within its doctrine and capabilities.

Meanwhile, I am considering the the Textron Guardian for a cavalry unit, to be determined. Maybe for the Stryker brigade, as the Stryker does not seem suitable.

[redleg]

I have a company of Bookers (painted desert tan), but I'm not sure how I want to use them yet. I got them because I thought they looked cool! LOL My MEU that is still under construction has a platoon of M1A2 TUSK tanks and an AAVP7 platoon. I'm building the first 2 MEUs as they were in my day, but maybe I should consider a more modern MEU with ACVs and Bookers.

Old school MEU: Grunts, HMMWVs, M1A2, AAVP7, M198, CH-46

New fancy MEU: Grunts, JLTVs, Bookers, ACV, M777, MV-22

[panzergator]

Suggest you substitute HIMARS for 777s. Everybody has concluded towed artillery is finished. It isn't agile enough to escape the counter battery response. Even the M109A7 is considered too vulnerable. Eventually, something like the Boxer RCH is going to be the solution. We need that from GHQ quickly. The trucks mounted current solution isn't going to cut it. Not Caesar. Not Archer. I would want the RCH system on a tracked chassis, myself.

[redleg]

Blasphemy!!!! LOL Just kidding - I think you are right about the current state of cannon artillery, but I can't abandon the guns! There are too many cool things that you can do with guns, like shake n bake missions, smoke missions, ground burst illumination, coordinated illumination, various shell-fuze combinations, etc. How often would any of these missions pop up, and could you not just kill whatever it is with HIMARS rockets? Who knows. HIMARS is pretty awesome. But it's basically a truck, so maybe my MEU could roll with a cannon battery AND a platoon of HIMARS!