From Contact to Overmatch Redefining Armor Fundamentals through Transformation in Contact


COL Bryan Bonnema • MAJ Aram Hatfield • MAJ David Sturm


The fundamentals of Armor have not changed, but how we execute them is being radically transformed. In 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), 3rd Infantry Division (ID) known as the Raider Brigade, we have spent the last 18 months wrestling with this reality. The arrival of ubiquitous drones, persistent sensors, and machine - speed targeting is creating a new, complex environment. To make sense of this, we developed a theoretical framework we call Isolation – Exploitation – Regeneration (IER). IER is our theory for how to sequence modern combined arms. It is a mental model, not a rigid checklist. It proposes that we first use unmanned systems and long-range precision fires to find, fix, and attrit the enemy at key critical nodes, forcing them to fight disconnected battles (Isolation). Only then do we commit our massed, mounted combat power – our tanks and Bradleys – to strike the weakened enemy at a decisive point (Exploitation).


Spring 2026 CAVALRY & ARMOR JOURNAL January - March 202


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