Was listening to a podcast yesterday on a way too long of drive talking about the myths of the British Army in WW1.
One of the key points brought forward was that the platoon became the organizational focus of assault and that adaptive, flexible tactics were key to avoiding some of the fixed battle issues of places like the Somme on July 1 1916.
More and more, when looking at the realistic size of the reserve unit manning levels....I think of the role of Platoon tactics and low level leadership roles. Moving the larger unit formation exercises becomes a Reg. Force role....but somewhere in there there needs to be the cross training occurring and/or formed unit mobilization into other units.
But that platoon needs to be independent too - mobile, fully equipped with proper communications, gear and weapons, and should be focused on squad integration tactics to support each other in a dispersed battle front. To get there:
Yes...add at least 2 drone operators/platoon for front line intelligence.
Yes...add full night vision tactics.
Yes...practice the heck out of concealment/cover drills.
Yes...practice long distance sharpshooter/sniper tactics.
And yes...include Ground to Air and Ground to Ground missile defense.
But this is only practical with a solid, consistent core of regular attendees to a training day/weekend. How to achieve that is way tougher.