HAMMER: As UN forces marched north, there was evidence of the Chinese joining the conflict. Despite the evidence, General MacArthur and his staff believed “the Chinese would not dare intervene” They assessed that they lacked the Military capability to bring significant forces into the conflict and even if that was possible the US air superiority would make quick work of them. What do you think we are “wishing away”? What are capability or piece of equipment are we putting too much reliance on?

I believe we are putting too much faith on our ability to fight battles against overwhelming numbers and win. Since we have been in the ROK there has been minimal range time. Bullets have been few and far between. The job of the Infantry is to close with and destroy the enemy. However, this task will prove to be very difficult when we do not use our weapons. STX, BATS, and CCTT and only help so much. The only real way to get better at shooting and maneuvering is to actually go out there and do it. Not in a flat range on a sunny day, but when it is cold and snowing out and shooting up a mountain (New Mexico Range was very challenging). We got proficient at shooting from our own vehicle during table VI. But what about fighting as a section? Using your wing man to spot targets and report BDA, using fire and maneuver to close with the enemy. I believe that future units would benefit by having more range time on individual weapon systems for instance M4, M249, M320 and M240L. Also we plan for sections to qualify, two tracks fighting together using fire and maneuver to close with and destroy the enemy.