An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir April 2018 www.dfmagazine.ie 22 | REPoRt & PhotoS By CQMS (AR) MIChAEl BARREtt, 7 InF Bn T he amount of personal equipment carried into combat by the infantry soldier has always been a debate- able question, as along with a weapon, ammunition, and body armour, a soldier must also carry personal admin items, water, rations, entrenching tools, comms, and pla- toon equipment. Even on a short duration tactical exercise it seems the soldier must carry a seemingly never ending list of items, all either loaded or stuffed in rucksacks, daysacks and battle vests - as the age-old military cliché goes, 'You want it, you carry it!' But military doctrine is a constantly evolving process, and the Defence Forces has studied the lessons learned by other armies in the hard school of active combat, where recent ex- periences of UK and other NATO forces in the Middle East have again brought to the fore the question of how much equip- ment an individual infantry soldier should carry into combat. Some cases highlighted the disadvantage of heavily laden troops, where casualties were taken due to full rucksacks and other burdens causing sluggish tactical movement and rapid physical exhaustion on the battlefield. In essence the troops were weighed down by their own kit and rendered less effective than expected when operating against a more lightly-armed and correspondingly faster-mov- ing adversary. Current operational doctrine, termed the 'Fight Light' concept, has been tested and adapted by some platoon-plus size infantry units on operational deployment in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Fight Light, in its purist form, means infantry who will be leaving behind almost all non-combat equipment and only carrying what is needed for the immediate fight. Although this is not a new concept, perhaps it is one forgotten in recent times. In Fight Light kit is tailored solely for the immediate mission, emphasising mobility, speed and agility. With less weight, troops can also traverse difficult terrain (hills, forest, muddy ground, etc) quicker while expending less physical energy, and can stay on active physical operations longer. To allow this, all resupply and heavy kit is transported by a closely following rear logistical element, equipped with all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), which would, when required, move forward quickly for fast resupply of ammunition, water, and any other items the forward infantry may require. The key element required for this approach to succeed in active operations is that the combat soldiers must be supplied with what they need, when they need it. So how would Fight Light translate into Defence Forces doctrine? For the logistical backup, we already have appropriate ATVs in service with the John Deere Gators, which are primarily used by the Engineers Corps but have also been used by infan- try personnel too, including in several 7 Inf Bn exercises in 2016 and 2017. The Gator ATV is a small, two-seater, robust transporter that has a small cargo-carrying platform ideal for heavy loads such as water, ammunition, or other supplies. The Gator can traverse difficult terrain, such as narrow, sloping forest trails or rough, broken ground, and can also move quite fast on standard roads. While the main purpose of the Gators in Fight Light would be tactical replenishment of ammunition, weapons, water and other necessary stores to the infantry in combat, at less critical times they could also move up sleeping systems, rations, ruck- sacks, and other personal kit. In combat the Gators could also perform the important task of casualty evacuation. The major limitations faced in using the Gators in the Fight Light concept is that they are not armoured and are limited in the amount of stores they can carry. Fight Light is probably best suited, operationally, for action against a lightly armed foe in restrictive terrain, and as such could be an option in some future overseas missions in keep- ing supplies moving for lightly loaded infantry. The Fight Light concept is currently being developed and led by the NCO Train- ing Wing in the Military College, DFTC.

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