I keep hearing about why Light is better than mech. Why is this? Not having to hump everywhere isn't a bad thing in my eyes. Saves on the energy so I can focus it in the task at hand. Am I wrong here?

Lightfighters arent limited to wear they cam fight. Mechanized Infantry is limited. When you have Light or Stryker Infantry, your manueverable Infantry is 3 rifle squads with 1 weapons squad. In Mech Infantry you have 1 dismount rifle squad and half a weapons squad. You ask me, thats not enough boots on the ground. I understand how much firepower the Bradley brings to the fight, but unfortunately, the Bradley cant go everywhere.

Makes sense I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by 6385480:
I keep hearing about why Light is better than mech. Why is this? Not having to hump everywhere isn't a bad thing in my eyes. Saves on the energy so I can focus it in the task at hand. Am I wrong here?

The Duty Day in a Mech unit is also about 2-3 hours longer on average then a Light Infantry unit.

Less to learn and stay proficient on with a Light Infantry unit.

Your right though NOT having to carry everything makes Infantry a whole lot better. Thats why it's just sad they got rid of the 11H MOS.

I drove everywhere in Light and in Mech. They made us 11H's do road marches every so often because the 11B's were complaining about fairness. Anyhow, they still have the ITAS TOW, so if as a 11B...you get assigned to anti-armor section....I doubt you will be carrying that on your back.

2 words .....motor pool

Which one spends more time in the field while stateside?

Both spend lots of time in the field the only difference is what kind of training is going on.

I see. Where are the light's anymore? I know there's some in Hawaii, Italy and where else?

quote:

Originally posted by airdiablo6:
2 words .....motor pool

Yep.

The Bradley has messed up Mech Infantry.
Not enough room for a full Squad.

When we had the M-113s, we had 12-13 men in each Squad.
We did not have TOWs or mortars within the Platoons. All of them were in a seperate Platoon.

So I guess Stryker is pretty much the same then but they can haul more personnel?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 6385480,

quote:

Originally posted by 6385480:
So I guess Stryker is pretty much the same then but they can haul more personnel?

This is my perspective and it's largely from the 1980's:

Where most of the maintenence comes in is with the track and hauling around the tonnage. Rubber tired vehicles have some maintence but not as much as a tracked vehicle less moving parts and less weight. IMO, a Stryker unit would be more of a hybrid between Mech and Light. I've never been in a Stryker unit though. I imagine they use similar to Mech Movement techniques. However acceleration and top speed would probably be faster and they are quieter with rubber tires....no doubt.

Bradley would be considered MECH.

I was brought up in the TOW world and we didn't use rifle teams or the team lead concept. So defer to the 11B's on that whole mess with rifle teams...ick!. TOW uses Sections and Squads. So much easier with even numbers.

Jeeps at Ft. Campbell (rubber tired) we were considered Light for a TOW unit, the 11B's walked though and carried their gear on their backs. If you had a good driver and he knew a stick shift well, Jeeps were very, very quiet in the woods on the approach....pretty cool actually.

M901 (M113 FISTV type variant) in Germany, we were considered Mech. We had Bradleys for the Cav but the Infantry did not get them until after I PCS'd in 1985. 11B's rode in M113's.

Not sure how anti-armor works in todays Army. They still have the TOW at the 101st I was surprised to find out this past August. I believe the TOW is in HHC now vs Delta Company but I could be wrong. Still 11 series though.

Talking about Jeeps, I understand the Army is looking for replacements for the HMMVV.

The new 'Jeep"

Things sure do change. I thought the hummer was a lot better than the old Mutt's.

That new guy sure looks fairly vulnerable in the radiator area.

quote:

Originally posted by ErichG2:
We had Bradleys for the Cav but the Infantry did not get them until after I PCS'd in 1985. 11B's rode in M113's.

We still had M113s at Ft. Carson when I ETSd in 1990. I never saw a Bradley until my recall.

To the original guy's question, I believe the new 4th Brigade of 4th ID is light. It'll be at Carson if it isn't already. They were still building the barracks when I was out there this summer.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PepeLep,

The Traditional Mech Infantry divisions are going to have one Light Infantry Brigade each.

quote:

Originally posted by BlueFlameCoupe:
The Traditional Mech Infantry divisions are going to have one Light Infantry Brigade each.

I thought so. I'm in 4th ID Association, and they said something about it in the magazine a while ago.

That means there will be light just about everywhere. That's where, numbers.

Non-traditional locations for Light Infantry:
Ft Knox
Ft Stewart
Ft Carson
Ft Hood

There may be other locations, but those are the ones I know.