Gen. DePuy recommends against having troops dig in on the forward slope:
After the Bulge had collapsed and we started back to the east, we crossed a series of rivers. When we got up between the Prum and the Kyll Rivers, we encountered a very high open ridge. One of my company commanders put his “C” Company out in the snow on a bare forward slope. They dug in and everyplace they dug they made dark doughnuts in the snow. On the other side of the river there was another ridge. On top of that ridge were some German
assault guns, and they waited until the company commander had all of his troopers scattered around in their foxholes on the forward slope, and then, they just started firing with their two assault guns. It was murder. Finally, after they killed and wounded maybe 20 men in that company, the rest of them just got up and bolted out of there and went over to the reverse slope, which is where they belonged in the first place. So, being on a forward slope when the enemy has direct fire weapons, high velocity direct fire weapons, is suicide. And, every time I went to Germany, I tried to convince Blanchard and the 1st Armored Division, the 3rd Armored Division, and the 3rd Division, at Hohenfels, of that. But, time after time, I’d find them all lined up in exposed, uncamouflaged, half-finished positions right within the sights of a Russian T-62 tank. It’s suicide unless they have frontal cover and are camouflaged. A trench is better. You see, a trench is a superior solution to that. And, a lot of people, the North Koreans, the South Koreans, the North Vietnamese, the Russians, and some Germans, use trenches. The Arabs, the Egyptians, the Syrians and the Israelis, sometimes use trenches. Why? Because you don’t know where they are when they’re in the trenches. When you are trying to shoot at people in a trench line, you have to ask yourself, “What part of a trench line do I shoot at?” You can waste a lot of ammunition trying to suppress a trench. But, trying to suppress clearly visible American foxholes or bunkers with high velocity weapons is a Cakewalk. It’s suicide to go into battle like that. But, our Army as a whole, doesn’t know that.
Interesting to contrast this guy’s experience with the Duffer’s Drift fellow.
Reverse slope defense is taught at the infantry school? I think DePuy is speaking of Hohenfels as part of the NATO mission. Troops preparing to fight the Soviet but not preparing well enough.
Germans instituted the reverse slope defense during WW1 as a result of operational research analysis. Teaching such a small matter as reverse slope defense in advance can go a long way to saving a lot of lives.
Armor commanders in the 1970s reprimanded infantry commanders if they used reverse slope defenses: They thought with a moment’s thought they could convert from defender to attacker, and intended to dominate the enemy’s forward slope.
Of course if you could attack, or had adequate fire to dominate the enemy’s forward slope, you wouldn’t be defending.