Motorized Infantry

Motorized Infantry is a type of Infantry force that is equipped with Light Vehicles, mostly for transportation but potentially with some supporting fire capability. A Motorized Infantry force can move more quickly than a regular Infantry force, but is often assigned missions that would be more difficult to complete (or survive) if the vehicles get damaged beyond use.

Light Vehicles are typically fast, small, and easy to move. This provides the Motorized Infantry a very comfortable way of moving around the map quickly. Most Light Vehicles can carry at least a Fireteam. They are typically able to carry additional cargo, either as standardized Resupply Crates or in bulk within their internal inventory.

Vehicles in a Motorized Infantry force are typically "soft-skinned", meaning they are vulnerable to Small Arms fire to some extent. Such vehicles cannot be relied upon to engage heavier enemy vehicles (e.g. APCs, IFVs or Tanks) or large enemy Infantry units, especially not by themselves. They are typically kept behind the Infantry. If the vehicles are armed, they may be nevertheless used for fire-support, especially to counter enemy light vehicles and sporadic Infantry.

Motorized Infantry does not have separate units for Drivers and Gunners; Instead, the Infantry units themselves will dispense one or two members to drive and operate the vehicles whenever needed. When not moving, the Drivers and Gunners are often expected to dismount their vehicles in a safe position, and rejoin their original units to fight on foot. Thus, the organizational structure of a Motorized Infantry force is not normally different from that of a regular Infantry force.

Typical vehicles in a Motorized Infantry unit include Trucks, Recon Vehicles, Technicals, and more rarely Armored Cars. All four varieties may occasionally be armed with a Medium Machine Gun or Heavy Machine Gun.

Motorized Weapon Teams also exist. These have Light Vehicles with a heavy weapon, where the vehicle does in fact have a unit dedicated to driving and operating its weapon. They sometimes appear as part of a regular Infantry force, a Mechanized Infantry force, or even (very rarely) as fast-moving support for Armored units. Such units include HMG and HAT teams.

Concept
Mounted infantry dates back to pre-Roman times, but was primarily codified in the 18th century with the invention of Dragoons - soldiers specifically trained to ride on horseback from one firing position to another, but then dismounting and fighting on foot. This provided generals with the ability to quickly post an infantry unit at a weak section of their defensive line; or to bolster an attack from a surprising direction.

The advent of mass-produced motor vehicles in the early 20th century allowed replacing horses with cars for purposes of infantry transport. However the large-scale use of motor vehicles in combat - transporting troops around the battlefield and using vehicles offensively - only flourished during the Second World War, when vehicles became sufficiently mobile and capable of driving off-road. The German army incorporated such vehicles into its "Blitzkrieg" ("Lightning War") tactics to great effect, and the British later used motor vehicles in the North-African desert in their Commando raids.

Though Motorized Infantry became somewhat less common during the Korean and Vietnam wars due to the rugged terrain involved, advances in vehicle technology eventually allowed creating very robust vehicles that could operate even in such conditions. The HMMWV in particular allowed troops to reach very difficult positions even in swampy or desert regions, and was used extensively in the first Gulf War. Today, Motorized Infantry is extremely common in almost any military around the world.

In ShackTac, Motorized Infantry is used in missions that specifically require it. These are typically missions which take place along a main road, often with multiple objectives along the road or at its far end. Players depart their base (or starting position) already mounted in their vehicles, and will only dismount when they get close to their first objective (or when coming under heavy fire - whichever comes first). They infantry keep the vehicles close (especially if they are armed) so that they can re-mount as soon as the objective is completed and move quickly to the next objective. Optimally, the vehicles will be kept safe until the end of the mission, when they'll be used to Extract from the battlefield entirely.

Motorized Infantry is substantially different from Mechanized Infantry. Though both types of infantry use vehicles, Motorized Infantry uses them mostly for transportation and only occasionally (if at all) for fire support. Furthermore, whereas Mechanized Infantry vehicles are always crewed with dedicated drivers and gunners, and may operate separately from the infantry whenever required, Motorized Infantry is expected to dismount their vehicles fairly often, and correspondingly the vehicle crews remain an integral part of their original infantry units. Drivers and gunners may be rotated so that players don't have to spend the entire mission in the (mostly non-combat) vehicle role. They do not get a different callsign, separate Radio channels, or even their own Map Markers.

Since the vehicles are often unarmed, they'll typically be left behind when approaching an enemy-controlled position. This is very important because any damage to the vehicles will render them unusable (or less effective in their primary role of fast transportation), which could hinder the mission greatly. Very often, the force will bring more vehicles than it needs to carry every single Infantryman, as redundancy in case one or more vehicles becomes unusable. Vehicles left behind are often marked on the map so that players can easily find their vehicle once it is time to move to a new position.

Armed motor vehicles are frequently used for fire-support, but cannot normally be expected to fight on their own. They need Infantry to screen them from large EI forces, and especially from heavier enemy vehicles. On occasion, motor vehicles in the rear of the force may encounter sporadic infantry that has flanked everyone else; In most cases they can stay and fight those enemies, but in other cases will quickly be moved to a safer position to avoid taking any damage.

A special case for Motorized Infantry is the motorized Weapon Team. These is a Weapon Team whose weapon is permanently mounted on a vehicle, especially a Recon Car or similar vehicle. Such vehicles may carry a Heavy Machine Gun or Heavy Anti-Tank Launcher. While still just as vulnerable as a transport vehicle, the heavy weapon may allow this type of Weapon Team to engage much heavier enemy forces, up to and including Tanks; Whereas the vehicle itself allows the Weapon Team to quickly move from one firing position to another in order to support the Infantry at their weakest or most-threatened positions. Weapon Teams using a motor vehicle do not behave the same as regular Motorized Infantry, as they are not expected to dismount during combat. This exception is explained in greater detail below.

Vehicle Types
Vehicles used for Motorized Infantry are quite varied, but they share several different common properties:


 * Wheeled: Motorized Infantry rides around in wheeled vehicles. These have the best speed along paved roads, which are typically featured in missions involving Motorized Infantry to begin with.
 * Soft-Skinned: Motorized Infantry vehicles are lightly-armored if at all. Most are vulnerable to Small Arms fire, and are especially likely to lose their tires in any engagement. Soldiers inside are not safe, and should not trust their vehicle to protect them against enemy infantry. A single Light Anti-Tank Launcher hit will likely destroy such a vehicle outright. Some Motorized Infantry vehicles are stronger against basic Small Arms (~5.56mm weapons), but will not survive prolonged fire.
 * Unarmed: Most vehicles used for Motorized Infantry are completely unarmed. Others do carry light weapons such as Medium Machine Guns or even Heavy Machine Guns, but their soft skin means that they cannot engage the enemy directly under most circumstances, and still rely on friendly infantry to protect them.

The majority of vehicles conforming to all the above criteria are Trucks of one type or another. This includes large passenger transports such as the MTVR and Ural, cargo-carrying vehicles such as the HEMTT and KAMAZ, or smaller multi-purpose trucks such as a simple HMMWV.

Smaller vehicles also include Recon Cars such as armed HMMWVs, UAZs, Technicals or even civilian-grade Private Cars. PMCs typically ride around in bullet-resistant SUVs. So long as the vehicle is expected to be used by the infantry throughout the mission - rather than being left behind immediately as they reach the battlefield - the force is considered to be a Motorized Infantry force.

On much rarer occasions, a Motorized Infantry force will have one or more APCs joining them to provide fire support. This is typically limited to light APCs such as a machine-gun armed M113 or BRDM, which are not heavy enough to qualify the force as Mechanized Infantry, especially if provided in very limited numbers. Again, such occurrences are very rare.

Vehicle Weapons
As noted above, Motorized Infantry vehicles are not necessarily unarmed. In fact, as time goes on it is more common to see armed vehicles being used for this purpose.

Motorized Infantry support weapons are generally light. It is common to see Medium Machine Guns firing 7.62mm rounds, which are useful for defending the vehicle against enemy infantry and even enemy light vehicles - but largely useless against anything heavier.

Heavy Machine Guns firing .50 cal bullets are rarer, but also occasionally included. Trucks are sometimes armed with such weapons, typically fitted into an armored turret at the top of the vehicle. Such weapons are significantly more useful against heavier opposition, up to and including light APCs.

The Minigun, a 7.62mm Rotary Machine-Gun can be found on certain SUVs. This is a terrifying weapon that pushes the Medium Machine Gun firepower up to the next level. It is significantly more dangerous to infantry and light vehicles, but still lacks the stopping power to engage APCs and upwards.

A much rarer soft-skinned vehicle is the TOW HMMWV. This vehicle fires ATGMs, which are guided missiles that can take out any enemy vehicle including Tanks. Note that this vehicle is not a "classic" Motorized Infantry vehicle, instead being assigned to a specific HAT Team. It can be found as part of any type of ground unit, up to and including Armor Companies.

Organization
One important feature of a Motorized Infantry force is that it is not organized any differently from a basic Infantry force. For the most part, the vehicles are treated as simple assets just like any weapon or equipment carried by the soldiers themselves. The force behaves differently thanks to having vehicles for transportation, but is not arranged differently in terms of the Chain of Command or Force Composition.

Vehicles are assigned to specific units at the start of the mission. Each Squad will have at least enough vehicles to carry each member of the squad, and occasionally gets more than the number of vehicles it needs, to make sure that there is still enough room for everybody should one vehicle become damaged or destroyed. Commonly, one Truck and one Recon Car are sufficient to carry an entire Squad; Occasionally this is increased to two Trucks, or two Trucks and one Recon Car, or three Recon Cars. Squad Leaders may be allowed to choose which vehicles to bring, from a given set of options.

In a Motorized Infantry setup, the Squad (or any other unit with motor vehicles) is expected to supply its own Driver(s) and Gunner(s) for each vehicle. Players may volunteer for the role, or be assigned by the unit leader. Nevertheless, these players are rarely expected to operate the vehicle throughout the entire mission; Instead they will often be rotated out periodically, allowing each player to have at least some time fighting on foot rather than having to stay in the (often non-combat) vehicle the entire time. This is in stark contrast to Mechanized Infantry forces, where each vehicle has its own dedicated crew who are attached to their vehicle and will potentially crew it throughout the mission.

Whenever a Motorized Infantry force stops and dismounts its troops, the drivers and gunners of each vehicle are typically expected to dismount and fight on foot along with the rest of their unit. They may be instructed to find a safe location to park the vehicle first, but more often than not they will simply park it by the roadside. The unit leader may order the driver and gunner to stay in the vehicle (e.g. when a stop is expected to be short), or to drive behind the infantry (e.g. to provide fire support). In such a scenario, the players operating the vehicle are always still part of their original unit - they will stick with their unit if at all possible, and are expected to be ready for troops to re-mount at any time.

If the vehicles are left behind for any reason, they will be marked with Map Markers immediately. This helps the infantry remember where they parked - as well as which vehicles are theirs. Taking another unit's parked vehicle is mostly discouraged except in absolute emergencies. Since the vehicle does not have its own dedicated crew, there is no other way to track its position once parked and left behind.

Convoys and Stopping
Due to the vulnerable nature of Motorized Infantry vehicles, they are much safer traveling in long convoys, and immediately dismounting whenever strong enemy opposition is encountered. This is a key feature of Motorized Infantry missions, which only sometimes applies to Mechanized Infantry.

The convoy is organized in any manner that seems fit to Command at the time, though it is typically led by an armed vehicle (if available at all) and trailed by Logistics (if present). Each Squad's vehicles follow each other directly, which allows for faster and easier regrouping once the infantry dismount. The order in which Squads follow each other while moving can change during the mission, based on a variety of factors.

Motorized convoys travel in single-file, since a staggered formation (each vehicle driving on the opposite side of the road relative to the vehicle in front of it) doesn't really help the unarmed or lightly-armed vehicles involved.

If light contact is encountered (just an EI or two on the roadside), the convoy may simply rush right past them. If there is any real threat to the vehicles (such as Machine Gun fire or a soldier with an RPG), the entire convoy may be ordered to stop and dismount to fight off the threat. Later in the mission, especially during Extract, it is more common for convoys to keep driving through contact. Stopping a convoy for any reason can take a significant amount of time to undo, offsetting the benefit of having vehicles in the first place; though it may be better to stop and fight than continue and risk a vehicle getting destroyed.

Getting the vehicles off the road when the convoy is stopped is crucial, as it allows vehicles to travel up and down that road freely. In situations where the convoy is expected to move shortly (e.g. when stopping to fight off some enemy contact before reaching an objective), vehicles may be ordered to Herringbone - stopping on alternate sides of the road. Otherwise, they may stop on whichever side they deem suitable, especially if one side provides better cover for the vehicles relative to the direction of enemies. Even when an objective is reached, drivers may take a moment to move their vehicles into a safe position before dismounting to join the rest of their unit. Keeping the vehicles safe from harm is of utmost importance, as losing a vehicle can cause all sorts of chaos.

Dismounting
When a convoy comes to a halt, all vehicles will normally go off-road and unload their troops immediately. Keeping troops inside the vehicles puts them in danger, as a single LAT hit on a passenger vehicle can take out an entire Fireteam or more; whereas on foot they can disperse, take cover, and return fire. If the dismount occurred due to a false alarm, players can typically re-mount their vehicles fairly quickly if they haven't moved far from them yet.

Motorized Infantry do not always travel inside their vehicles. If the threat is too great, or the next objective too near, the infantry may proceed on foot with their vehicles in tow - or even left behind wherever they were last stopped. Armed vehicles are most likely to accompany the troops and provide supporting fire as they advance, while unarmed vehicles are more likely to be left behind. At some point, drivers may be sent back to grab the vehicles and bring them up to the infantry, especially once a safe defensive position has been taken. A safe place for unarmed vehicles is usually behind a solid wall or in a low-ground position where enemies cannot even see them - let alone fire at them. An exposed vehicle is a meaty and lucrative target for LAT, and may even become irreparably damaged by stray bullets.

Re-Mounting
Once a contact has been dealt with, or an objective has been fulfilled, players may be ordered to re-mount their vehicles in order to travel to the next objective.

Players typically remount in the same vehicle they've been riding in so far; otherwise confusion is almost guaranteed to occur. If a vehicle is destroyed, the leader of a unit must make certain to notify their subordinates which vehicle(s) to mount.

Motorized Weapon Teams
A unique case of Motorized Infantry is the Motorized Weapon Team. This is essentially just a regular Weapon Team whose weapon is simply mounted on a vehicle rather than having to be carried by hand. Both Heavy Machine Guns and Heavy Anti-Tank Launchers have vehicle-mounted versions, especially the .50 Cal HMMWV and TOW HMMWV, respectively.

A Motorized Weapon Team typically includes only two members instead of the more common 3-man foot-mobile team. This is because the vehicle itself carries the extra ammunition, and its weapon may have an optical sight that makes the role of a Spotter redundant. Thus, the unit will likely contain only a Driver and a Gunner.

Motorized Weapon Teams may appear as part of any kind of platoon/company, including regular Infantry Platoons, Motorized Infantry platoons, Mechanized Infantry platoons, and potentially even Armored Companies. Their speed and mobility allows them to travel quickly when necessary, moving from one firing position to another in order to support any other force. Their behavior is largely the same regardless of which type of force they are operating in.

Motorized Weapon Teams have become significantly more common in ShackTac missions compared to foot-mobile teams using the same (or similar) heavy weapon, especially due to the fact that they are significantly faster (they don't slow down the rest of the force). Nevertheless, a Defense in Place mission is more likely to have foot-mobile teams, since there really is nowhere to move to.

Notable Examples
The following is a list of videos showcasing Motorized Infantry. Since Motorized Infantry is not uncommon in ShackTac, please only add examples where the motorized facet of the mission is particularly notable, or a substantial exception makes it unique or interesting.


 * ' by Dslyecxi': Features a Motorized Infantry Company using HMMWVs in a Conventional Warfare scenario. Uniquely, the Company HQ element travels in an M113. All HMMWVs are destroyed or abandoned in the opening round of combat, leaving the M113 intact which is used extensively for the rest of the mission.
 * ' by Dslyecxi': A Motorized Infantry Platoon with MRAPs performing a search-and-destroy mission. Most (all?) MRAPs in this mission are armed, and their unique tall shape allows them to support their infantry over the walls of the many compounds they visit.