Light Armor MOUT Doctrine: Imperative Change or Business as Usual?

This monograph discusses whether current U.S. Army doctrine for the use of light armor is sufficient to support tight infantry forces in military operations on urbanized terrain MOUT at the brigade level. The U.S. Army will soon replace the M-551A1 Sheridan with the M-8 light tank. The most likely employment of light armor will be with light infantry divisions in contingency operations. The best use of a light division is in restrictive or urbanized terrain. The current urban doctrinal paradigm for armor is that tanks will avoid built up areas. The result of this mind set over many years is that typically armor and light infantry do not train together for MOUT. As a combined arms force, armored and light infantry forces are unprepared for war in urban areas. This monograph evaluates the relevancy of current and emerging U.S. Army light armor MOUT doctrine. It also examines historical lessons learned from armor operations with light infantry in MOUT. It focuses on three areas 1 the need for light armor to fight in urban areas, 2 the need for combined arms orientation in MOUT, and 3 the need for a common doctrine on how to fight in MOUT.