Armored Combat Power | 1950s US Army Training Film | Armored Warfare / Tank Warfare

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• published: 15 May 2015
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►My channel: http://youtube.com/TheBestFilmArchives ►SUBSCRIBE: http://www.youtube.com/TheBestFilmArchives?sub_confirmation=1 ►Google+: http://plus.google.com/+TheBestFilmArchives ►Facebook: http://facebook.com/TheBestFilmArchives ►Twitter: http://twitter.com/BestFilmArch This documentary follows the development of armor from early war chariot to modern tank in today's Army. The Armor Team as seen in this film is a deadly tentacle. It moves over the terrain, reaching deep into the heart of the enemy's forces, destroying pockets of resistance which have survived the atomic burst and supporting artillery fire. The emergence of the Armor Team on the field of combat has often decided the course of battle in modern war. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Armored warfare or tank warfare is the use of armored fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern methods of war. The premise of armored warfare rests on the ability of troops to penetrate conventional defensivelines through use of manoeuvre by armored units. Much of the application of armored warfare depends on the use of tanks and related vehicles used by other supporting arms such as infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery, as well as mounted combat engineers and other support units. The doctrine of armored warfare was developed to break the static nature of World War I trench warfare on theWestern Front, and return to the 19th century school of thought that advocated manoeuvre and "decisive battle" outcomes in military strategy. Though the U.S. had established the Tank Corps in WWI using French Renault FT light tanks and British Mark V and Mark V*heavy tanks, and some officers like Dwight D. Eisenhower and George S. Patton, Jr. emerged from that war initially as avid proponents of continuing and developing an American armored force, the rapid reduction of the forces and apathy and even antipathy towards funding and maintaining armed forces in the inter-war years led to relative stagnation of armored doctrine in the United States. The Armored Force of the US Army was born on 10 July 1940, with the Headquarters at Fort Knox. On July 15, 1940, the 7th Cavalry Brigade (Mechanised) became the 1st Armored Division; the 7th Provisional Tank Brigade, an infantry tank unit at Fort Benning, became the 2nd Armored Division". The Tank Battalion was established at Fort Meade, Md. The popular conception in the United States was that tanks had been used boldly as part of a new system of war called Blitzkrieg. Under General Jacob L. Devers, Chief of the Armored Force, doctrine evolved into a combined arms operational force consisting of primarily infantry, artillery, and tanks with tanks being the major manoeuvre component. Under this doctrine, US tank crews of both armored divisions and GHQ tank battalions were taught to fight tanks in tank on tank engagements. The US Combined Arms team included air support, artillery, engineers, and a tank component supplemented by the Tank Destroyer concept. The latter is most closely identified with the Chief of Army Ground Forces, General Leslie McNair. To counter the enemy blitzkrieg McNair sought to improve the organic anti-tank strength of the US infantry divisions by attaching towed AT guns and equipping the infantry with hand-held Bazookas. To stem the flood of marauding panzers, fast moving powerfully armed Tank destroyer battalions were created to be held back and used in the counter-attack. It was believed that conventional tanks that could take on the enemy Panthers and Tigers toe to toe would not have the speed and mobility to avoid being flanked and bypassed and therefore would not have the chance to fight. It was also calculated that US interests would be better served by large numbers of reliable (battle-worthiness) medium tanks rather than a smaller number of un-reliable heavy tanks. It was decided therefore to slow the production of the US heavy tank designs such as the M26 Pershing and concentrate resources on mass-producing the M4 Sherman and tank destroyers such as the M18 Hellcat. Since the Sherman medium tank would be inferior to the enemy heavy tanks they would have to avoid tank-vs-tank combat as much as possible, leaving enemy tanks to the tank destroyers. The tank destroyers had to be fast. To achieve the desired mobility and agility from the engines available the armor protection was sacrificed, a measure of protection coming from being nimble and hopefully from being able to knock out the enemy before they could get a shot in. Although they had guns of around about 76 mm, the tank destroyer units were issued with the ancestor of the modern Armor-piercing discarding sabot, rounds which made their guns much more powerful than a simple comparison of calibres would suggest. Armored Combat Power | 1950s US Army Training Film | Armored Warfare / Tank Warfare