Standardizing Lethality: ‘Squad as a System’ Prepares Soldiers for Close Combat
Advancements in technology are changing the future battlefield, but one fundamental reality remains for the U.S. Army.
The nine-soldier infantry squad is a decisive edge in ground combat—these soldiers are still the ones who will close with the enemy in such proximity that they can smell the enemy, feel their breath and look into their eyes.
It’s a historical reality that Brig. Gen. Phillip Kiniery thinks about a lot. As commandant of the U.S. Army Infantry School and director of the Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team, it is up to Kiniery to ensure that the Army’s infantry squads achieve decisive overmatch at the tactical edge because the fight “is going to be violent,” he said.
“[It could be] a bayonet in someone’s chest or a shot out to 600 meters at night because we can, but everything happens within that 300 meters,” Kiniery said in May. “It is the truest form of the ethical application of violence anywhere. We are asking young soldiers to kill someone. That’s winning for us.”