Stuart, Dr Paul H (Florida International University, Miami, USA)

Light Infantry Battalion Night Attack: Command and Control System, Strengths and Weaknesses Stuart, Dr Paul H (Florida International University, Miami, USA)

Publisher Marketing: This monograph addresses the question: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the command and control system of a light infantry battalion which is conducting a night attack? To address this question, this monograph uses the following methodology. First, it develops working definitions of command and control and the command and control system. Next, it examines two examples of night attacks--one successful, the other unsuccessful--to determine the command and control factors that led to success in the first and failure in the second. Then, using the definition of the command and control system, it briefly describes the physical composition of this system for the light infantry battalion. Its next step is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the physical components of the command and control system of the light infantry battalion in their ability to perform the command and control factors of the night attack. Using the results of this assessment, it then draws conclusions and makes some recommendations on ways to improve the light infantry battalion command and control system when it conducts a night attack. This monograph draws the following conclusions. First, the leadership of the light infantry battalion will be its greatest strength during the night attack. Second, the light infantry battalion has a significant night vision capability, a strength for the night attack, but it can be improved. Third, the battalion has sufficient FM radios on the TOE to conduct a night attack, but the lack of radios in the scout squads hinders their ability to pass reconnaissance information necessary for preparing for the attack. Fourth, the capability to establish a TAC CP during a night attack will provide flexible control during the conduct of the attack. Finally, the battalion can significantly strengthen its capability to successfully execute a night attack if it develops and documents procedures, SOPS and techniques for quickly preparing warning orders and operations Contributor Bio:  Stuart, Paul H Paul H. Stuart earned an MSW at the University of California, Berkeley, and an M. A. in History and a Ph. D. in History and Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has worked as a social worker in public welfare, recreation services, health care, and community mental health. He has served as a clinical social worker in the Indian Health Service, U. S. Public Health Service, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Stuart had over 30 years of teaching experience in South Dakota, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Alabama, before joining the FIU faculty in 2007. His research has focused on the history of Indian-white relations in the United States, the history of social welfare, and the history of the social work profession. He is the author of several books, including The Indian Office: Growth and Development of an American Institution, 1865-1900 (UMI Research Press, 1979) and Nations within A Nation: Historical Statistics of American Indians (Greenwood Press, 1987), in addition to numerous articles and chapters in books. He co-edited the Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America (Sage, 2005), with John M. Herrick of Michigan State University. He has been active as a reviewer and editorial board member for scholarly journals and is currently Archives Editor for the Journal of Community Practice.