Walter Todd

Stormtrooper Weapons and Tactics: Creation of the Fire Team Concept in Infantry Units Walter Todd

The horrors of modern, trench warfare confronted all the countries fighting in World Wat I. This left indelible images on each country's military forces. The Allies turned toward a mechanized solution to solve the problems and dangers of "No Man's Land," the tank. The Central Power's military commanders in Germany turned to new infantry weapons, new tactics, and command authority to face the difficulties presented by the deadliness of trench warfare to bring maneuver back to the battlefield. Ideas of heavy firepower (light automatic weapons, hand grenades, mortars, and flamethrowers) being placed in the hands of small squads of troops, and with greater authority of command given to their lieutenants and non-commissioned officers at the point-of-attack led to greater capabilities in their specially trained assault forces, known as Stormtroopers. These specialized troops proved effecting in deeper penetration of the Allied defenses on the Western front, but still proved unable to complete their final objective of reaching Paris in 1918. Nevertheless, these Stormtrooper tactics evolved into the current infantry fire team concepts being utilized today in most modern nations' armies.