Mobility, shock, and firepower : the emergence of the U.S. Army's armor branch, 1917-1945 /

From the Preface: The following pages provide a narrative analysis of the U.S. Army's development of armored organizations and their related doctrine, materiel, and training activities in the period 1917-1945. This period marked the emergence of clear principles of armored warfare that became...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cameron, Robert Stewart
Format: Government Document Book
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. : Center of Military History United States Army, 2008.
Series:Army historical series.
Subjects:
Online Access:Table of contents only
Table of Contents:
  • Foreword
  • Preface
  • 1: America Adopts The Tank
  • Tank Corps
  • Tank Corps' demise
  • War department and the National Defense Act of 1920
  • Infantry tank development
  • Reconsidering the tank's battlefield role
  • Experimental mechanized force
  • Bureau system versus mechanization
  • Mechanized force
  • 2: Early Development Of The Mechanized Cavalry
  • Demise of the mechanized force
  • Birth of the mechanized cavalry
  • 1934 Fort Riley maneuvers
  • Reorganization of the mechanized cavalry
  • Bureau system and mechanized cavalry reorganization
  • Mechanization of a second cavalry regiment
  • Second army maneuvers of 1936
  • 3: Mechanization: The Chief Of Cavalry's Runaway Horse
  • American cavalry in the 1930s
  • Problem of the cavalry's image
  • Office of the chief of cavalry and the bureau system
  • Mechanized cavalry board
  • Cavalry school and mechanization
  • Chief of cavalry and cavalry modernization
  • 4: Infantry And Mechanization
  • Army doctrine in the 1930s
  • Infantry motorization
  • Division redesign
  • Foundations of infantry tank doctrine
  • Tank development and the infantry school
  • Infantry tank organization
  • Infantry tanks
  • 5: View From Abroad
  • Military intelligence division and its military attaches
  • Army intelligence dissemination
  • Confusion of British mechanization
  • French mechanized development
  • Military intelligence division and the Panzer division
  • World mechanization
  • 6: Cavalry At The Crossroads
  • Mechanized cavalry development, 1936-1939
  • Mechanized cavalry maneuvers, 1937-1938
  • Cavalry field manual of 1938
  • War department and mechanization
  • Case for horse cavalry
  • Future of cavalry
  • 7: New Beginning: The Armored Force
  • Building a mechanized cavalry division
  • Stepping back: the mechanized cavalry division rejected
  • First army maneuvers, 1939
  • Mechanized cavalry division revisited
  • Third army maneuver preparations
  • Crucible of mechanization: third army maneuvers, 1940
  • Armored force and the centralization of mechanized development
  • 8: Armored Force Development, 1940-1941
  • Building the training base
  • Command climate
  • New doctrinal base
  • Early training activities
  • Armored force and foreign experiences
  • Armored division development
  • Armored Corps?
  • War department's army
  • 9: Creating An Armored Force Nemesis
  • Antitank development in the 1930s
  • Building an antitank unit
  • Antitank weapons
  • Self-propelled antitank weapons
  • Foreign antitank developments
  • Problem of antitank doctrine, 1940-1941
  • Antitank the American way
  • 10: Art Of Maneuver, 1941
  • Louisiana maneuvers
  • Carolina maneuvers
  • Assessing mobile operations
  • Antitank operations
  • Maneuver management
  • Cavalry: a maneuver casualty
  • 11: From Armored Force To Armored Center
  • Armored force expansion and personnel shortfall
  • Training challenges and accomplishments
  • Question of separate branch status
  • Demise of the armored corps
  • Evolution of the armored division
  • Combat operations in North Africa
  • Armored division's new look
  • Applying lessons learned in North Africa
  • Armored materiel
  • Sustaining combat capability
  • Air support
  • Branch status resolution
  • Evaluating the armored wartime experience
  • 12: Tank Destroyer Development
  • Building a tank destroyer force, 1941-1942
  • Doctrine and organization
  • First tank destroyers
  • Combat debut
  • Tank destroyer criticism
  • Tank destroyer doctrine and training revisited
  • Organizational and materiel development
  • Tank destroyers
  • Uncertain future
  • 13: Armored Divisions In Battle, 1944-1945
  • Armored division doctrine
  • Armored division organization
  • Combat operations
  • Armored division air support
  • Armored materiel
  • Armored maintenance
  • 14: Armored Enablers: Mechanized Cavalry, Independent Tanks, And Tank Destroyers
  • Mechanized cavalry
  • Independent tank battalion readiness
  • Independent tank battalion combat operations
  • Rejection of independent tank battalion doctrine
  • Armored group
  • From tank destroyer to armored gun
  • 15: Conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • Acronyms
  • Index.