| In 1948, at the start of the Cold War, the U.S. Army organized a new type of unit, the armored cavalry regiment (light), which was a light armor regiment designed to perform reconnaissance, security, offensive combat, defensive combat, and special operations for a corps headquarters. Armored cavalry regiments remained a part of the Army's force structure throughout the Cold War and for two decades thereafter. The size, composition, strength, and mission profile of this type of regiment made it an unusual organization from both an international and an American perspective.;This dissertation explains why the U.S. Army concluded that corps required a specialized light armor regiment to perform these missions rather than using general purpose forces or employing pure reconnaissance units like other armies. It argues that three major influences---each unique to the history of the U.S. Army---shaped the decision to organize armored cavalry regiments: the tactical and operational legacy of the American Civil War, the development and influence of the Army's professional school system between 1890 and 1940, and the employment of mechanized cavalry units in prewar maneuvers and combat operations in 1944-1945. Important events in this narrative include the development and impact of new cavalry tactics during the American Civil War, the influence of professional schools and instructors like Arthur L. Wagner in defining how to employ cavalry in support of large unit operations, the impact of mechanization on the U.S. cavalry in the 1930s and early 1940s, the development of two opposing schools of thought regarding the missions and tactics of mechanized cavalry, and the influence of Lt. Gen. Lesley McNair on the organization, equipment, and training of the mechanized cavalry units that fought in the Second World War. During the campaigns in Western Europe, corps commanders, who had studied the employment of horse cavalry in the 1920s and 1930s, followed traditional concepts rather than McNair's doctrine in their employment of mechanized cavalry groups. After the war, these commanders recommended the retention of a corps cavalry regiment, but one that was designed to perform traditional cavalry missions. |
