[gandalftb]

The lack of adequate Marine armor and air has been a significant impediment to pacifying Falluja and Al Anbar province. My gripe is that the Marines were led to believe by CentCom that they were only needed for mopping up, and "hearts and minds". That turned out to be so much crap. Now with both of them in place we can be much more robust.

[DMZFrank]

Would someone tell these guys that the HUMVEE is NOT an AFV? It is a utility truck, a replacement for the Jeep.

I was a tank commander in "Nam with the 1st Bde of the 5th Mech Inf. After initial skepticism the brass found out that heavy armor, such as 53 ton M48A3 medium tanks and light armor like M113 ACAV's could operate quite effectively in Vietnam, due in large measure to the ingenuity and innovation of the ordinary G.I. and his leaders.

The kind of fighting going on in Fallujah cries out for coordinated tank-infantry teams that can reduce the sniper nests with relatively little risk for the ground pounding grunts. High explosive rounds from 120MM tank main guns provide on station pin point immediate direct fire artillery support under the direction of the accompanying and protecting infantry. At present there is not even much rubble to impede AFV movement.
WE did a pretty good job with tank infantry teams in Hue in '68.