Land warrior: dominating dismounted operations

Infantry Magazine, May-June, 2008 by W.W. Prior

One of the U.S. Army's mission essential tasks is to dominate land operations. Through its combat forces, it is ultimately the Army's ability to close with and destroy the enemy that allows it to dominate in decisive lull spectrum operations. Such dominance springs from formations that are well trained, well equipped, well led and superbly fit. While most would agree that American combat Soldiers and units are the best we have ever fielded and the best in the world, the qualities mentioned above are necessary but not sufficient to dictate the terms and outcome of the close fight. The final requirement is information superiority.

The U.S. Army has long sought and normally achieved information superiority with the aide of technologically advanced command and control and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. However, these advanced systems and the advantages they offer have always been confined to command posts and, more recently, mounted platforms with the advent of Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2). The immediate benefits of these systems ended when leaders inevitably left their headquarters or dismounted their vehicles to be forward with their Soldiers at the decisive point on the battlefield. Army leaders have never possessed a distinct advantage in information that would help them to dominate the close, dismounted fight--until now.

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Land Warrior is an integrated, Soldierworn fighting system designed to improve mobility, survivability, and lethality.

Most importantly, it provides the user with critical combat information in dismounted combat. The infantry battalion that I command has used Land Warrior fighting in Iraq for the last 10 months in every mission, every time that we go outside the wire. The accurate, timely information that we receive from Land Warrior enables my leaders and I to make better battlefield decisions and act faster than our adversaries--the essence of information superiority. Land Warrior helps us to dominate the dismounted fight in ways that we have never been able to do before.

The 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment is a Stryker infantry battalion subordinate to the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (SBCT) from Fort Lewis, Washington. In May of 2006, the Manchu battalion was the first unit in the Army to field Land Warrior in a configuration known as Land Warrior Stryker Interoperable (more on that subtle distinction later). For nearly a year, team leaders and above trained with the system including execution of assessments and a limited user test along with all the individual and collective training that U.S. infantry battalions conduct to prepare for combat. In October of 2006, I decided that we would take Land Warrior to war because I believed that it would increase the combat capabilities of my formation. In April 2007 we deployed to Iraq and have been employing Land Warrior with great effect in combat every day since.

In this article, I will explain what Land Warrior is and what it does. Along the way, I will present examples showing how the Manchu battalion uses the system to establish information superiority and dominate the dismounted fight in Iraq. Finally, I will propose a way ahead for Land Warrior as a component of the future dismounted force's kit.

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Land Warrior is, to use a favorite Army term, a system of systems. Each part of Land Warrior is designed to improve the Soldier's performance in dismounted combat while remaining an integrated component of the overall system. In other words, there are no "stand alone" parts of Land Warrior. The main components are a computer, navigation module, radio, helmet module with a display and headset and weapon module (see Figure 1). All components are connected by cables woven through the Soldier's body armor and powered by rechargeable batteries. Our version of Land Warrior is known as Stryker Interoperable because it is complementary to our vehicles. In specific, our Strykers have a kit with battery charge and storage capability and a radio gateway that permits exchange of the common operating picture and messaging between our mounted FBCB2 and the dismounted Land Warrior as well as voice communications between the respective radios.

As with most military equipment, what it does is much more important than what it is. Land Warrior provides the Manchu battalion with four distinct advantages in combat that we would not otherwise have. These advantages include dismounted situational awareness through the shared common operating picture, readily available and configurable maps and imagery, overlayed graphics with the capability to update on the move, and configurable voice and text communications.

Global Positioning System navigation tools and shared situational awareness are invaluable in the dismounted fight. Land Warrior-equipped Soldiers know where they are and where their teammates are in the dark the first time that they set foot on the terrain. No longer is there confusion on whether we are in front of building 43 or 47 or if the support-by-fire position is set. Manchu leaders look in their helmet-mounted display and see themselves and their men relative to the terrain and graphics without radio chatter and without hesitation. When posted by any user, Land Warrior leaders see enemy and environmental icons such as obstacles, suspected enemy positions, or IEDs. Furthermore, that information is automatically shared between the Land Warriors and the Strykers so that each knows where the other is and what the other knows. Land Warrior is a leap ahead in solving the age-old problem of "touch" between men and small units in the close fight. (This problem was discussed in the article "Infantry and National Priorities" by MG (Retired) Robert H. Scales in the December 2007 Armed Forces Journal.) With Land Warrior, Soldiers are not alone even if they do not have voice or visual contact with other Land Warriors.