This monograph discusses the current value of tank destroyer doctrine based on the American experience in World War II. Tank destroyer tactical doctrine for defeating large enemy armored assaults has great utility for our modern force and dovetails with the doctrinal requirements of AirLand battle. This monograph first examines the Soviet armored threat and its doctrinal employment. U.S. responses to that threat are analyzed for sufficiency with the focus on the European theater of operations. U.S. antiarmor assets at corps and division level are matched against the Red armor arrays, with a discussion of both force structure, weapon systems, and doctrine. The history of the U.S. tank destroyer experience in the Second World War is recounted reviewing doctrinal, organizational, and materiel lessons learned. The Battle of Kursk is studied as an excellent example of the use of an in depth antitank defense against a major armor threat. American tank destroyers, employed with the basic doctrinal strengths of WWII and coupled with a new emphasis on integrated, combined arms, are recommended as a strong response to the current Soviet armor threat. Tank destroyers can defeat Soviet massed armor so that U.S. armor and mechanized infantry can accomplish their AirLand Battle doctrinal missions.

ADA 192584 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)