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Why the PLI is "Light" Infantry
In Midevil times, light infantry were troops armed with a sword or pike, small shield, and no more armor than a lightweight chain mail shirt. Today, the concept is markedly different. The Modern Light Infantry was an idea fomented by the British Army in the 1960's and adopted by the US Army in the 1980's when the concept of the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) was conceived. The idea was to use a "Light" infantry division as a stop gap easily deployable unit that could hold out until the heavy armor could arrive and relieve them. Thus the "Light" infantry was called light because it was rapidly deployable (usually by air), NOT lightly armed. Indeed , light infantrymen were expected to be able to withstand attack by any type of enemy unit. As such they were armed with a multitude of light weight mortars, pack howitzers, light artillery pieces, mines, grenades, and rocket launchers (sound familiar?) as well as light armored vehicles. The result was a "heavy" weapons load that would enable them to face enemy armor and mechanized divisions for at least that amount of time necessary to deploy our armor and mechanized or "heavy" infantry divisions. Thus "light" refers not to the arms, but the lack of heavy armor. In the British Army, the Light Infantry still exists as an elite force of two regular army battalions, each with a different primary mission (one is airdeployable, one is armoured) and five Territorial Army Battalions. Click on the link below to learn more about The REAL Light Infantry! The PLI is "light" infantry precisely because it fits into the Paintball Warrior Battle Doctrine. Our members are armed to meet all concievable paintball threats, and are expected to be able to deal with anything the opposition throws at them! We do not consider ourselves elite, just organized! |
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