Light infantry tactics at the company level and below

Headnote

Being part of a light infantry unit is taking on a way of life and developing a mental attitude that knows not defeat, that does not rely on conventional tactics but invents new ones suited to the task at hand.

Light infantry fights in small units. There may be plenty of cases, when the terrain and other conditions permit, in which light infantry forces of regimental size or larger operate in their own tactical areas, but these are not so much true large-unit actions as they are the coordination and support of numerous small-unit actions throughout a region. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, light infantry is best employed in terrain too restrictive and compartmented for centralized, large-scale actions-i.e., in forests, jungles, mountains, and urban areas. Sec ond, mass in the conventional sense is not a primary principle of light infantry tactics-quite the opposite in fact. Light infantry is vulnerable when massed and not equipped to generate combat power in that way. This dispersion of light infantry forces in combat necessitates decentralized actions.

So light infantry is very much a small unit arm. Typically, it fights as squads, platoons, and companies. To fully appreciate and employ light infantry tactics, we must understand in practical terms what light infantry tactics mean at the company level and below.

The Light Infantry Mentality

The differences between light infantry and other types of infantry are not merely physical differences in the equipment they use and the tactics they employ. There is a mentality peculiar to the light infantryman that distinguishes him from his line, motorized, and mechanized brethren. It is precisely from these intangible differences, in fact, and not from tables of equipment that many of the tangible tactical differences derive. I mention this in an article about small-unit light infantry tactics because it is at the small unit level that this light infantry mentality must be fostered.

A Historical Perspective on Light Infantry* identifies four basic characteristics that historically have distinguished the light infantry mentality. Foremost of these is an attitude of selfreliance that exhibits itself all the way down to the individual light infantryman. The light infantryman believes he can prevail under even the most trying conditions. He is not psychologically overwhelmed...