The Return of Cavalry: A Multi-Domain Battle Study

The U.S. Cavalry has enjoyed a long history as both an enabling and decisive tactical force during American landpower campaigns. From its earliest manifestations in 1775 to its incorporation into the modernized Armor Branch in 1950, the Army’s primary mounted arm employed mobility, firepower and eventually protection to aggressively shape conditions across the battlefield’s breadth and depth while providing distinct advantages to the larger combined-arms force.

The tradition’s newest inflection point centers on the unique service that lethal, mobile and survivable cavalry forces can potentially contribute to the Army’s emerging multi-domain battle concept. As argued by GEN David Perkins, 15th commander of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), it requires “flexible and resilient ground formations that project combat power from land into other domains to enable joint-force freedom of action.”2 In contrast to recent conflicts where scouts and tankers typically fought as general-purpose Soldiers, this emerging paradigm – which leverages emergent technologies to shape “deep fights” with cross-domain effects – offers opportunity for fast-moving armored forces, and cavalry in particular, to assume critical roles in dislocating and disintegrating enemy networks. This advance holds potential to expand the purpose and identity of the Armor Branch.

This article can be read in its entirety at the U.S. Army's Armor Magazine.