The Armored Regiment of the RAC

Two British regiments now field the Challenger MET. -m A I n - 1 C B

A n n I ne Armourea neaimenr OT rne KAL Forty years agc brought to an end the long and difficult struggles of World War 11. As we look back on the accomplishments of 1945, they should serve as a reminder that we must continue to look forward to a day when we might possibly have to fight again as part of an allied effort. But what do we really know about our allies? What is their history, how are they now organized, what is their equipment and how do they train? The Personal Exchange Program allows a fortunate few a 2-year tour of duty with an allied army, and an in-depth look at that army’s organization and practices. Thus, in the spirit of interoperability, we would like to describe the British Army’s Armoured Corps with a focus on the armoured (tank) regiment and the role it plays in the defense of Northwest Europe. The Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) was formed in 1939 and is composed of two wings - the former cavalry regiments of the line and the Royal Tank Regiment. There are 17 regiments in the RAC and, although a separate corps, the Household Cavalry provide a further two regiments which are both tasked operationally, and equipped similarly to the RAC, in addition to providing the state ceremonial mounted regiment in London. (See Figure 1). The history of the cavalry regiments dates back some 300 years and they still retain their titles of Dragoon Guards, Hussars and Lancers. The name “dragoon” derives from mounted infantry of the 16th and 17th centuries, who were armed with a carbine called a dragon and who dismounted to fight. Regiments of Dragoon Guards have fought in some of the most influential battles of the last 500 years - the Battle of Sedgemoor, the Austrian and Spanish Wars of Succession, the Seven Years War, the Crimean and Boer Wars and the Battle of Waterloo (where they were personally thanked by the Duke of Wellington). The last successful cavalry charge of World War I was by a regiment of Dragoon Guards and in World War I1 they were on battlefields as far apart as Burma, the Western Desert and Normandy. Like Dragoon Guards, Hussars have along and glorious history. They were originally expert horsemen of the plains of Hungary who were raised by the Hapsburg Emperors to guard against the Turks on the Eastern front. Their British counterparts have taken part in the War of Spanish Succession, the Bat- 18 tle of Culloden, the Peninsular War, the Afghan and Sikh Wars and the Boer War. In the Crimea they took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade and were among the first troops to go into France during World War I. All the major battlefields of World War I1 saw Hussars in action and the exploits of the 11th (now part of the Royal Hussars) as an armoured car regiment in the Western Desert are legendary. The lance was introduced into the British Regular Army in 1816-

17. Several regiments of Light Dragoons changed their title, role and uniform to that of Lancers. British Lancers first charged with the lance at Bhurtpore in India in 1825 and then served in the First Afghan and Sikh Wars. They also took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava and helped to suppress the Indian Mutiny. In the late 19th Century, they fought against the Zulus, took part in the Boer War and charged the Der-vishes at the Battle of Omdurman. In World War I, they served in France and Flanders and their WWII actions included covering the retreat to Dunkirk, the Battle of Alamein, and the plains of Northern Italy. The Royal Tank Regiment is descended from those who manned the earliest tanks - a British invention of WWI. (The name “tank” was adopted for security reasons when the machines were reported as “water tanks for Russia” in 1915.) From 1917, thisnew arm was known as the Tank Corps, and it was instrumental in breaking the deadlock along the Western Front in 1917 and 1918. It became ‘Royal’ in 1923 and was very largely responsible for developments in equipment and tactics for both tanks and armoured cars between the two wars. When the mechanization of the cavalry was nearly complete in 1939, all those manning tanks and armoured cars - cavalry and Royal Tank Corps - formed the Royal Armoured Corps. Subsequently the Royal Tank Corps changed its title to The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR).

Royal Tank Regiments fought in every British theatre of war between 1939-1945, right up to the fall of Berlin.

OfFlCERS + 5 3 9 OlHER R A N I S: SO1 TOTAL) 7 + 28. Purpose Of the 19 regiments of the Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps, 14 are equipped as armoured regiments and five as armoured reconnaissance regiments. At any one time 13 regiments are based in West Germany (11 armoured, two reconnaissance) (See Figure 2) and the remaining six in the United Kingdom. Regiments rotate through the two training regiment roles in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom-based regiments have-wartime and training commitments, either in West Germany or on the northern flank of the NATO forces. It is likely in the near future that one of the two training regiments will be deployed to Germany to form a twelfth armoured regiment. This will leave only one training and one armoured regiment in the United Kingdom. The 13 regiments make up part of Britain’s permanent garrison of 55,000 troops in West Germany. This force is limited in size by political and economic constraints, but would swell to approximately 130,000 in time of tension or war. The garrison’s sector lies between the 1st German Corps and the Belgian Corps and is based on the Hanoverian Plain, a likely axis for fast-moving Warsaw Pact forces intent on capturing the industry of the Ruhr or the English Channel ports. (See Figure 2). This is tank country in every sense of the word and requires a hard-hitting mobile force to react quickly to the type of forces likely to be encountered. So let us look then at the armoured regiment as it is organized in 1st British Corps today, and make some comparisons to the United States Division 86 Tank Battalion. Organization The British armoured regiment, like its United States counterpart, the tank battalion, has recently undergone a number of organizational changes to adapt it to current battlefield requirements. Despite the confusion in terminology - regiments, squadrons and troops versus battalions, companies and platoons - the British armoured regiment in its present form has many similarities to the US. tank battalion. These similarities are not only in size - 57 tanks and 583 personnel versus 58 tanks and 579 personnel - but also in organization, type of equipment and tactics. But there are distinct differences too, which are influenced by training and fighting philosophies as well as cultural differences and economic pressures. Shown at Figure 3 is the Type 57 Armoured Regiment which was adopted in 1984. It is composed of a regimental headquarters made up of command and control elements, a close reconnaissance troop and 19 an antitank guided weapon (ATGW) troop; four armoured squadrons with four tank troops in each; a headquarters squadron for providing logistic and administrative support; and a Light Aid Detachment for regimental maintenance and recovery support. This organization is descended from the Type 62 Armoured Regiment, which began to change in 1980. That regiment, with 62 tanks, provided an additional tank in the regimental headquarters for the second-in-command and a third tank in each squadron headquarters for a “battle-captain” who helped the squadron leader with control and provided aback-up rear communications link. In its evolution to the Type 57, the Type 62 gave up five tanks but regained the close reconnaissance and ATGW troops, which for some years had been attached, when required, from other units. Being considered for the future is a further reduction in the number of tanks in some regiments, perhaps as few as 43, which would allow for an extra armoured regiment in West Germany while remaining within the manpower ceiling of 55,000 troops. Chieftain is the standard main battle tank, and, although fielded in 1967, has been modernized and will remain in the fleet for some years. The new main battle tank, Challenger, has been introduced to two regiments and it is planned for issue to five more by 1986. (See “British Army Introduces the Challenger” by R. M. Ogorkiewicz in the March-April 1982 ARMOR). The regimental and squadron Commanders train to fight from tanks, as do the squadron seconds-in-command. Within the squadrons, there are two chief differences from the United States tank company; the first is that the commander is a major, not a captain. This, of course, delays the command opportunity but does provide an officer who is more established in his career, more mature and who has spent considerable time at regimental duty. The other difference is the organization of the squadron into four troops of three tanks instead of three and four. The merits of this approach ‘. / I could be endlessly debated. Its disadvantages are recognized, but in wartime it reduces the leader-to-led ratio and in peacetime it does provide more troop command and small-unit training opportunities for officers and NCOs. (Two troop leader positions per regiment are designated for NCOs). The close reconnaissance troops of eight Scorpions came back into the regiment’s organization in

1984. Prior to that, close reconnaissance was provided by a troop that would be attached to the armoured regiment from an armoured reconnaissance regiment. It was realized that this system was unwieldy and that the armoured regiment commander needed his “eyes and ears” to be a permanent part of this “head”. This troop performs the traditional close reconnaissance troop tasks to include route, area and zone reconnaissance, mounted and dismounted observations posts, obstacle, nuclear and chemical reconnaissance, and traffic control.and rear area security. With its eight Scorpions, the troop can operate either as a whole, in half- 20 troops of four vehicles each, or in sections of two vehicles. With its relatively small size, excellent mobility, but limited firepower, the Scorpion troop normally operates on the principle of reconnaissance by stealth, but may fight for information. With eight of these vehicles, the regimental commander has enough to commit to several tasks simultaneously but the threeman crew is a limitation for 24- hours-a-day operation. The ATGW troop, equipped with nine FV 438 Swingfire vehicles, has also recently returned to the armoured regiment organization. Prior to 1984, it was part of a battery in the brigade and was provided by the Royal Artillery. This was changed in recognition of the need for the armoured regiment to have its own long range antitank fire to complement the tank guns. The Swingfire system, with its 4,000-meter range (day and night), can provide flank protection, overwatch in the advance, long-range fire in the defense, or can be held as a regimental asset or detached to individual squadrons. In practice, the brigade commander may still keep a string on them for concentration of long-range fire at critical moments in the battle. You will have noted that both the British armoured regiment and the United States tank battalion have about the same number of tanks; both have a reconnaissance unit and both have long-range ATGW systems (with the U. S. ATGW systems on the scout platoon’s Bradleys). But what about mortars? The armoured regiment has none and has no plans to acquire them. Indirect fire support will come from the direct support artillery and, if operating as a battlegroup (task force), from the attached infantry’s mortars. It is believed that the armoured regiment on its own does not require the high explosive fire effects of mortars (HE and smoke rounds are apart of the tank‘s basic load). Of course smoke grenade dischargers are mounted on both Chieftain and Challenger to provide a quick vehicle smoke screen. Logistics Without going into logistics in detail, it is of interest to note that armour commanders consider inte- 4th17th ROYAL DRAGOON 5th ROYAL INNISKILLING

Sth112th ROYAL LANCERS

IRincs of Walss’sl. lJth118th ROYAL HUSSARS faueen M ’ ormi 14th120th KING’S HUSSARS 16th15th THE QUEEN‘S ROYAL

17th121st LANCERS gral ammunition and POL “lift” inadequate. This problem is exacerbated in Challenger regiments, which use double the amount of POL. Battle replenishment is “on call”, rather than on the usual once-daily basis, and squadron echelons are held well forward. Fighting The traditional roles of British armour continue to be:. Aggressive mobile action to destroy enemy armour.

Royal Horse Guards k 1 st Dragoons1

IPrince of Wales’s Own1 15th/19th THE KING’S ROYAL st12ndi3rd14th

*Close combat in conjunction with infantry, artillery and engineers.. Shock action. The nature of the open terrain within the 1st British Corps area dictates mobile and flexible tactics. The introduction of the Challenger main battle tank to five armoured regiments (with a possible three more) provides increased mobility and flexibility and allows commanders to concentrate armored forces to provide the necessary 21 shock action at critical points during the battle. In almost all situations the armoured regiment will not fight as a pure regiment but will form the nucleus of a combined arms battle group (BG). Such a group will be commanded by the regimental HQ and will normally include: *Some or all of the regiment’s armoured squadrons. (In some cases, one or more squadrons will be detached to provide armour for another BG formed on a mechanized infantry battalion). *The close reconnaissance troop. *All or part of the ATGW (Swing-. Artillery in support. *One or more mechanized infantry companies. *One or more detachments of Blowpipe, the shoulder-fired low-altitude air-defense missile. *Other support appropriate to the operation, such as helicopters (although available on a very limited basis by US. standards) and engineers. When engaging in operations at squadron level which require armour and infantry forces, a “squadron/company group’’ may be formed. This grouping of two company-sized units under one squadron commander means that there is more infantry combat power and that the company is operating intact. The same grouping could occur in fire) troop. an infantry BG for an armoured squadron and for the same reasons. This avoids penny-packeting forces below the squadron or company level which should mean that they would fight more effectively. It may seem this would lead to some interesting command and control problem, but in the British Army the system has been tried and tested and is found to work well. To make maximum use of armour’s mobility, it must be given room to maneuver, and it should be given tasks which take advantage of its freedom of action while limiting its exposure to its chief vulnerabilities, such as air attack and antitank weapons. In the defense, there are several tasks which take advantage of mobility and firepower. Counterattacks and counter-penetration operations can be mounted by armoured battle groups or larger units and will be used when the enemy is caught off balance, when key positions must be retaken, or to halt the forward movement of the enemy force. Counterstrokeis another key task and is receiving much attention today. It is one which a brigade-sized formation - made up of two or more armoured regiments supported by air and artillery - will execute against large enemy formations that have achieved a rapid penetration of the forward defense. The purpose of the counterstroke will be to destroy the enemy force (or vital parts of it) while it is on the move by attacking the more vulnerable flanks. The taking of ground will occur only as an indirect consequence. It is an operation which cannot be preplanned in detail, and which will require flexibility, initiative, the ability to concentrate rapidly, and violent execution. Armoured regiments train to fight this battle. There will be times, of course, when the armoured regiment may have to compromise on the principle of mobility to take up a secondary role as antitank forces in support of infantry in main defensive positions. These tasks may include the occupation of villages forward of main defensive positions, covering obstacles as part of a strong point and the occupation of defenses in depth as part of a counter-penetration plan. In these cases other arms will provide local protection and mutual support. The traditional roles for tanks have not changed, but there is an increased awareness that they are a premium asset. When supported appropriately and applied at the critical moment, they can have a decisive impact on the outcome of the battle. The greatly increased capabilities of Challenger give anew meaning to mobility and flexibility for the armoured regiment. 22

RAC equipment includes the much-modernized Chieftain MBT, at left, the Swingfire ATGM system. at right, and the Scorpion reconnaissance vehicle, lower right. The Sultan, bottom of page, is a C&C vehicle equivalent to the U. S. M577. Training The British, because of the regi mental system and subsequent comparative lack of turbulence, have an advantage in crew and higher collective training. Field training, other than the annual FTX over the German countryside, is limited to the one training area at Soltau (between Hannover and Hamburg). This area (SLTA) is heavily used by all arms and is occupied virtually year-round. Armoured regiments usually manage 5-6 weeks each year on SLTA, divided into two or three periods. Training each year progresses from troop level through squadron to BG level. Standards of training are tested by the next higher commanders, frequently cul-, minating in a brigade exercise with two battlegroups opposing one another with the brigade commander acting as chief umpire and controller. There is no formal ARTEP, but standards of training are monitored throughout the year and all skills, including physical fitness, NBC, and first aid, are tested at least twice. The British are fortunate to have the NATO (BergenIHohne) tank ranges fairly close at hand. Each regiment undergoes a closely monitored annual firing camp lasting two weeks. Although this is not a “test” for the commanding officer, the reputation of the efficiency and readiness of a regiment is judged during the gunnery camp. With the introduction of modem technology into gunnery training simulators, a high standard of gunnery is much easier to retain than in years past but, as with any training simulator, however realistic, it does not replace the real thing. We are familiar with the elements of “in-barracks” training and the skills that should be practiced. With the automotive improvements to Chieftain and the intro- 23

, duction of Challen) member needs to be spent in the tank park or that reement ana wears its uni- (motor pool) on maintenance tasks. form throughout his career. He will Training programs reflect this and return to his regiment for duty up to there is more time available for the rank of regimental or squadron combat skills, fitness training and sergeant major or lieutenant colo-sport. Troop leaders and sergeants nel (if he is to be the commanding are responsible for running their officer) after either temporary or squadron leader’s “in-barracks” longer duties elsewhere. training program. It is of interest to Each regiment is recruited from note that NBC training is taking a specific areas in the United King-much higher priority than in the dom, which gives each regiment its past. Collective (crew) protection is own character. being improved and more time is All of this has the distinct advan-spent on individual NBC skills. tage that everybody gets to know The most valuable training that everybody else, their strengths and kritish armoured regiments have is weaknesses, and provides a sound at the British Army Training Unit basis for mutual understanding Suffield (BATUS) in Alberta, Cana- and trust, as in any family, large or da. Both armoured and infantry small. Sons and brothers join the BGs from BAOR train at BATUS. same regiment as their older rela- ‘This means that, as there are seven tions, and close contact is main-BG training periods each year; a tained by regiments with their re-squadron should go once every two cruiting areas. years. The training at BATUS is The members of each regiment, the most realistic that can be de- past and present, believe that their vised within safety regulations. own is the best. BGs go to BATUS for 5-% weeks, It should be pointed out that during which time they complete a there is one disadvantage of being series of all-arms, live-firing exer- an armoured soldier; for reasons cises encompassing all the phases already discussed, the majority of of war. For armour, gunnery is the British armoured regiments are most important aspect within the based in West Germany, and for framework of a tactical scenario. financial and combat purposes, Included in the training are the they spend eight or more years tactics and combined weapons ef- there. (The formation of a twelfth fects of all arms, NBC drills, map armoured regiment in BAOR will reading, survival (when the climate ultimately increase this period to is extreme) and, very importantly, up to 11 years). Being stationed in the planning and execution of all the same garrison for such a period aspects of logistical operations. can affect the morale of some, for The training is arduous but reward- obvious reasons. At the same time, ing. It is closely monitored by the the long tours in Germany do mean resident training team which pro- that the officers and soldiers know vide8 the exercise scenarios, acts as their ground extremely well, are higher control, and gives advice acclimated to the environment and and help. The cost of maintaining would be that much more effective the establishment and transport- if they were to fight there. ing BGs to and from BAOR is fully There is a unique “esprit” with justified and contributes greatly to the Royal Armoured Corps. This readiness for war. has been developed from the regimental histories and traditions, the The Regimental System family atmosphere fostered by the Earlier, a brief mention was regimental system, and by the qual-made of the “regimental system” ity of the soldiers who desire to be and how this benefits training by better than those in other cows or minimizing turbulence. There are arms. many arguments in favor of this This character, confidence and system. cohesion, combined with modern When a person joins a regiment equipment and training, give the in the RAC, either as an enlisted armoured regiments the capability man on a 3-, 6-, 9- or 22-year en- to carry out their battlefield mis-gagement, or as an officer on either sions as part of any allied effort in a Short Service (3 years) or Regular Northwest Europe.

OLIVER E. HOLDER. educated at Harrow and Mons Officer Cadet School, wascom-missioned in the 10th Royal Hussars in 1961. He has served with his regiment in England, Germany, and the Middle East, and was second in command when the unit was the first to be issued the Challenger MET. He has also served as a divisional staff officer and on the training staffs, including the Tactical School at the RAC Centre. As an exchange officer, he served at Fort Hood with the 1 st Cavalry Division as assistant G3 for training management and as S3 of the 1/7 Cav.

attended the Marion Military Institute and wa5 commissioned in Armor from the University of Alabama in 1970. He has served with armor and cavalry units in CONUS, Korea, and Europe and is a graduate of the Infantry Officers’ Advanced Course and the Command and General Staff College. He is presently the U. S. Army exchange officer at the Tactical School, RAC Centre, and has most recently been assigned to the 2d Battalion, 64th Armor, 3d Infantry Division. 24