Armor, infantry officers reflect on shared wartime experiences

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By Gina Cavallaro
Times staff writer

FORT KNOX, Ky. — Armor and infantry soldiers have worked together on the battlefield in Iraq for more than three years, and now junior leaders from both branches are sharing their experiences in the schoolhouse.

In anticipation of the Armor Center’s move to infantry country at Fort Benning, Ga., the curricula of the Armor Captain Career Course and the Infantry Captain Career Course have been merged into one course known as the Maneuver Captain Career Course.

In a world of mounted versus dismounted and heavy versus light, the new course aims to make strong leaders out of both tankers and grunts, no matter what the skepticism.

“There’s an uneasiness out in the force, I know,” said Maj. John Grantz, a course developer and instructor with 3rd Squadron, 16th Cavalry Regiment, the training unit that manages the school.

“I hear people say, ‘What’s this merge? Armor’s going to Benning. Are we going to lose our identity?’ and the answer is no,” Grantz said. “It’s not armor going into an infantry course; it’s infantry and armor working together on developing this new course, and it was an even, 50-50 split on the work.”

Elements of the new course are being added to the armor course as materials become available.

The first complete maneuver captains course will begin in September, Grantz said. There will be 48 captains in each of eight classes a year.

The 21-week course is completely classroom driven and focuses on the three types of modular brigades in the Army today: the heavy, light and Stryker brigade combat teams.

In the first phase of the course, small-group instructors take tankers inside a light infantry brigade and infantrymen inside a heavy brigade where they work through scenarios in full spectrum operations, leading and planning for a combined arms unit and working in varying environments.

Different from the current armor course, where captains began by learning the inner workings of a battalion and brigade, the maneuver course takes them straight to the company level they’ll be working in when they take command.

“Whether you’re infantry or armor, you’ll leave here with the ability to go into any of those three brigades and be a staff officer or company commander, and that’s really what it’s all about,” Grantz said.

“When you to Iraq or wherever in the future, you may not go where you thought you were going to go. You may find yourself operating in a different organization, so it’s about making sure there’s a common skill set.”

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A little more commonality is a good thing. The Army has had something of a branch cult-caste system forever, so something like this is likely to be beneficial without damaging the identity of either.