The American armored division was not built to slug it out — it was built to break through and run. A balanced combined-arms team of three tank battalions, three armored infantry battalions, and three battalions of self-propelled artillery, plus reconnaissance and engineers, it was designed to punch a hole and then exploit it, racing deep into the enemy's rear before he could react. Patton's dashes across France in 1944 were this idea at full gallop. The armored infantryman was the division's foot element — riding forward with the tanks, then dismounting to hold ground, clear towns, and guard the armor's flanks so the breakthrough could keep rolling.

The figure stands alert, M1 Garand ready across his body, in field uniform and M1 helmet — a rifleman of a battalion like the 9th Armored's 27th, 52nd, or 60th. Fall him in for a combined-arms diorama with his Armored Infantry Officer and the Armored Infantryman Advancing, dismounting from their 9th Armored M3A1 Half-track.

W. Britain model 25192. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.