Featured Articles

Infantry and Reconnaissance: Why Bush Hill is the Most Attacked but Least Reconnoitered Piece of Terrain on Earth

Col. Teddy Kleisner

In his 1994 Infantry article “Company Reconnaissance,” then-CPT John K. Carothers lamented that as a Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) observer-controller, he was beginning “to think that ‘movement to daylight, then fire and maneuver’ was an actual form of maneuver.” After an October 2022 JRTC rotation, our brigade combat team’s (BCT) second in my command, our habit of culminating short of intended objectives on the offense gave me similar cause for reflection.

Featured Articles

C-SUAS at the Tactical Level

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Wesley K. Wilk and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ronald E. Brand

The purpose of this article is to summarize challenges and make recommendations regarding the integration of counter-small unmanned aerial systems (C-SUAS) at the infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) and below level in support of large-scale ground combat operations (LSGCO). These recommendations derive from observations and participation in multiple training events, tabletop exercises, and planning events conducted between January 2022 and January 2024.

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Experimenting with Commercial Quadcopters for Jungle RSTA

1st Lt. Alex Choy

Crouched behind a berm, SSG Noah Jacques, a “Wolfhound” from 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division (2/25ID), manipulated the joysticks on his quadcopter’s controller. Hearing his radio crackle with a report of a rapidly approaching dust cloud, SSG Jacques sent the aircraft into a search pattern, spotting a tank through its high-resolution camera. Subsequently, as the tank closed within 300 meters, SSG Jacques buzzed its turret, distracting its commander and enabling his platoon’s Carl Gustaf team to acquire and neutralize their target. The above vignette is just one example of how 2/25ID employed commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) quadcopters to fill a gap in the brigade’s short-range reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) capability.

Featured Articles

Modernizing How IBOLC Assesses Leaders

Lt. Col. Tom Dull

Recently, the Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course (IBOLC) at Fort Moore, GA, reviewed and restructured the way it assesses junior officers who attend the specialized Infantry course. The 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment (IBOLC) has a specific mission to train and develop Infantry lieutenants to become mentally, physically, and morally fit leaders who are prepared to lead Infantry platoons and win. For decades, this course has been dedicated to developing Infantry officers to lead and act right in any environment.