Posted on Oct 18, 2018
High-Intensity Urban Combat Tactics – Special Tactics
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Posted 7 y ago
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I don't recognize the site and haven't read the article, but perhaps the biggest example of combat in a high-intensity conflict in a urban area is the battle of Stalingrad in the Second World War. I see that this post is tagged with Special Forces - but I think that for high-intensity conflict, this is probably more the domain of big, conventional maneuver units - Infantry battalion task forces - probably several of them in a battle (at least).
Some things that stand out from reading history about "big wars" in urban environments:
- rubbling buildings for preparation of a defense (intentionally collapsing buildings under your control into the streets to create complicated, nasty obstacles)
- subterranean movement (tunnel and sewer movement between buildings - a lot of MOUT sites have this represented in their construction)
- enormous use of hand grenades and satchel charges
- contested control of buildings (I've read accounts of Soviet and German lines passing through buildings for days at a time, in which each side controlled different parts of the same building)
- very high density of troops (much more than in other terrain), and therefore a need for lots of Soldiers
Alternate and more recent examples could include Hue and Fallujah, but Stalingrad was a very big conventional battle. FM 90-10-1 is dated, but talks at length about combat in urban terrain in a "big war" conflict.
Some things that stand out from reading history about "big wars" in urban environments:
- rubbling buildings for preparation of a defense (intentionally collapsing buildings under your control into the streets to create complicated, nasty obstacles)
- subterranean movement (tunnel and sewer movement between buildings - a lot of MOUT sites have this represented in their construction)
- enormous use of hand grenades and satchel charges
- contested control of buildings (I've read accounts of Soviet and German lines passing through buildings for days at a time, in which each side controlled different parts of the same building)
- very high density of troops (much more than in other terrain), and therefore a need for lots of Soldiers
Alternate and more recent examples could include Hue and Fallujah, but Stalingrad was a very big conventional battle. FM 90-10-1 is dated, but talks at length about combat in urban terrain in a "big war" conflict.
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SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA
SGT (Join to see) the article does cover some of that ground, but you have some great thoughts there. Might I suggest that you add your comments to the specialtactics.global site? It's a new website from a company that's been around a few years. They are seeking to crowdsource tactical knowledge, while protecting security.
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