Contact!

by Max Velocity

  Make sure that your attire and carriage of equipment is professional. This is not about looks, partially so, but mainly about functionality. So long as you are not on a covert mission masquerading as a homeless bum, don’t appear like one. This does not imply the need for barrack room style disciplines of shaving etc. – such may not be practical anyway and it is also a feature of a professional infantry soldier’s life to go on ‘dirty patrol’ in the jungle where shaving is not done because open facial wounds could result in infection. So, don’t shave if you don’t want to. Don’t have a haircut if you don’t want to, but make sure that your equipment is secured and that your weapon is clean and functional.

  The point is that soldiering is not about uniformity, it’s about professionalism and attention to doing things the tactically right way. If on patrol and not on some other task where you may sling your weapon, make sure that it is kept at the low ready and held in both hands. Exceptions to this are examples such as the ‘Bosnia Carry’ where the weapon is held in one hand slung by the side of the body so as to show a more friendly profile and not alarm the locals. Something like this may be applicable to your situation.

  In a tactical patrol type environment you will want to move about with the weapon held correctly in both hands; as you move about, the weapon moves and points with you, ready to be brought up into the firing position as necessary.

  Make sure that when you are moving about your posture expresses confidence, professionalism and determination. Be observant and actively observe your sectors as you move. If the enemy is lying in wait ready to spring that ambush, you want him to look at you and hopefully see you as too hard a target, or at the least you will sow some doubt in the mind of the enemy that you may be able to exploit with a reaction to the ambush of speed and aggression that may get you out of there alive.

  Battle Preparation

  The following is a good mnemonic to remember the stages of tactical battle preparation:

   Security – ensure 360 security is maintained

   Ammunition – distribute, load in magazines.

   Weapons – clean. Function test. Test fire if possible.

   Personal Camouflage/clothing – appropriate to the operation

   Equipment – ensure you have it all and it’s ‘squared away’

   Radios – batteries, frequencies, call-signs, radio check

   Special Equipment – tailored to the operation i.e. breaking tools for foraging.

   Orders – Team Leader briefs on the operation.

  ‘SAWPERSO’

  Observation

  As you patrol and observe your sectors, make sure that you are actively scanning and observing for the enemy or anything that is of significance. When scanning foliage, you should be looking ‘through’ the cover rather than at it. It takes some practice to do this, but you must make an effort to look through the foliage to what is beyond and behind it; this is actually very effective and you can see through and into woods and foliage with this technique.

  At night, your eyes will adjust to the darkness. When your eyes are adjusted, don’t expose them to any white light; use red or green light for tactical pin-light flashlights because this light will not ruin your night vision, which may take 30 minutes to return. Your eyes are made up of rods and cones and the rods are what your eye uses to see in low light conditions; the rods are located around the outside of the eyeball and for this reason if you want to see something better at night, don’t stare at it but look slightly off to one side. At night, your hearing becomes very useful as a sense so it is important to make little noise and make stops (listening halts) to listen to your environment. Between sight and hearing it is important to be mindful of your surroundings and environment and in general be aware. There are specific reasons why things are seen, this helps when trying to spot the enemy and also while camouflaging yourself:

   Shape

   Shine

   Shadow

   Surface

   Silhouette

   Spacing

   Movement

   Muzzle Flash

   Aircraft

   Thermal Imaging

  Nature does not create straight lines therefore manmade objects can often be spotted due to these factors. In addition, aircraft have a unique perspective on objects on the ground and can identify you relatively easily. Also, avoid the urge to look up at a hostile aircraft; your shiny faces turned upwards to look at it will make you obvious on the ground.

  Camouflage

  Views on camouflage have changed in modern Coalition armies over recent years. It used to be that a lot of time and effort was spent on utilizing foliage to enhance camouflage. Where recent wars have taken place in places often denuded of foliage, and at a high speed mobile pace, use of foliage as camouflage has taken a back seat in favor of reliance on ‘universal’ type camouflage patterns. A good set of camouflage or drab colored clothing and matching equipment suitable to the terrain is invaluable. If you are using natural foliage to enhance the concealment of individuals or positions then there are various factors you need to take account off:

   Lay leaves the right way up.

   Don’t use too much i.e. you can break up the shape of a helmet with grass, but it’s no good if the helmet then becomes a huge grass matt.

   Pay attention to foliage dying, very important on positions where it may be there for some time. Replace frequently.

   Change foliage as you move through different types of terrain.

   Use foliage to break up the pattern of head/shoulders/helmet.

   You will need to utilize elastic cord sewn into your equipment and hat/helmet straps to effectively use foliage.

  Camouflage face cream has also fallen into disuse. If you are out in the woods and forests, you should consider it for your face, hands and wrists (exposed parts). The main problem with faces is that they shine with sweat; it’s not all about the color of skin. So, all skin tones should consider the use of cam cream. It’s actually made from the same stuff as make-up! There is a skill to applying cam cream: not too much, not too little, just right. It is not necessary to make a work of art out of it, tiger striping every inch of exposed skin – and it will sweat off anyway, so you will need to re-apply it as required.

  Use of foliage as an addition to camouflage will most likely be used for pure tactical operations such as recce patrol, ambush etc. and will not be so likely utilized in normal post-event day to day movement. As a basis, along with considerations of profile, consider wearing decent quality outdoor/military or hiking/hunting type clothing that is either camouflaged in an appropriate pattern or just drab outdoor colors suitable to your environment.

  If you are going to use military camouflage, use one that is appropriate to the terrain you are operating in. Don’t just get a pattern that is cool, such as outfitting your team in urban camo when you will be operating in the woods. Use desert camo if you are going to be operating in a desert area or woodland if you are in the woods.

  Be aware that the current (as of writing 2012) US Army ACU’s, which are in the UCP (Universal Camouflage Pattern), are not a good idea. The idea was a good one, but the chosen colors do not provide good concealment. The competition is currently underway to replace the Army camo pattern for the uniform. You would be better with the old style woodland BDU or desert DCU uniforms, or even something like the British DPM (disruptive pattern material) which is similar to the woodland BDU. An excellent option is ‘multi-cam’ by Crye Precision which is currently in use as the operational uniform for Afghanistan. This is wonderful camouflage and would have fitted the bill as a much better universal camo pattern than the chosen UCP. Multi-cam is available commercially.

  Also, remember that you don’t have to be ‘in uniform’ either as a team or as an individual. If you are wearing a load carrying vest or body armor then you may do well to wear camo or drab (earth tone) colored pants and a drab t-shirt or shirt under your rig. The r
ig itself needs to be either a camo or drab color and this covers most of your torso so it will suffice: you don’t have to wear full BDU uniforms, including the shirts, and these can be uncomfortable under a rig anyway. That is why the military issue the under-armor type combat-shirts with the long camo sleeves, specifically to go under body armor while troops are deployed and working in hot environments. When wearing body armor and equipment, you spend your whole day with a sweat soaked t-shirt under your armor anyway, so get used to it.

  Countering Aerial Thermal Surveillance

  Thermal Imaging is a different thing than normal image intensifying, which magnifies available light. FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) or TI (Thermal Imaging) picks up heat, and really it is about heat differentials, which allows it to create an image. It can be seen as white (hot) on a black (cooler) background, or the color view can be flipped. You can also be seen as a cooler spot on a hotter background. The thing about FLIR is that it can be blocked by some form of cover. In a similar way to cover from view and cover from fire, the best form of protection is hard cover, and things like foliage, if you have enough, will also protect your from view by the operator. That is why FLIR is so useful in places like the desert where there is not a lot of cover, and you get almost perfect images of people.

  What you have to watch out for is your body heat starting to heat up the thing you are taking cover behind. So, if you want to hide from FLIR, you want to block the image of your body heat, and also the view of any non-environmental heat that you may generate into your cover. It has been talked about that you can use blankets to help with this, but eventually you will heat up the blanket so that can only be a short term fix.

  A good idea, if you were mobile and had no choice, would be to carry a combination of a space blanket sandwiched in something like a normal blanket or better a military camouflage poncho liner blanket. Be aware that you also have to be camouflaged against normal non-IR naked eye. A flip problem is appearing as a hole in the background, so you want to think about your cover being the same temperature as the background if possible.

  Movement is always a problem, and will attract the eye of an operator. So, if you think you may be under observation, don't move. But unless you can disguise your human shape, you will be seen anyway. Best thing: get in a cave!

  It’s a big topic, but basically your night vision type goggles (NODS/NVGs) are image intensifiers, which simply help you to see via available light at light, such as moonlight. They can also use active infrared light in the near infrared spectrum, which is like a spotlight that you can't see with the naked eye. So, image intensifiers can be passive or active. Active is a problem if someone else has one, then they can see your light like daylight to them, even though it is dark to the naked eye. That is why US technology works well at night against low tech insurgents who don't have the gear.

  Thermal imaging is the system where you see the heat differential, such as the clips you can find online or from a police tracking helicopter. That uses IR technology, but IR is a big spectrum so has a lot of uses. To simplify, the thermal/IR imaging cameras see the thermal signature.

  Military BDUs are usually designed to be IR retardant, which reduces IR signature. Often, this comes with specific care and washing instructions, and you can ruin the capability. There are also issues of how a material matches the background in terms of emissivity/reflectivity, and I would beware use of a tarp due to the way the surface reflects. That is why something like a Mylar blanket could be used but to line something with less reflectivity, such as some kind of camouflage material or a blanket type thing. So, wearing IR retardant gear will help, you will be "less white" on the imager, but you will still be seen.

  Thermal imaging is just that, it is not an x-ray machine, but it will see radiated heat and if you warm the object you are under or behind it will be able to see you. Bottom line is you need some way to block the heat signature but also have that material matching the background in a decent way. For instance, something like a ‘ghillie’ suit would probably work well. Maybe you could create a ‘ghillie’ blanket’ with an inside Mylar space blanket that would be bulky but that you could pull over you, hopefully the ‘ghillie’ material side would match the background a bit better and would not reflect. Carried on the outside of a ruck you would hope that it would adapt to the background temperature and then be ready to deploy and get under as necessary; if you hear the chopper in time. If you don't hear it (i.e. Drone) you won't know it’s up there.

  The whole IR thing is a little confusing because ‘IR’ or infrared is basically a non-visible part of the light spectrum that has lots of uses (ask a science teacher....). The confusion comes in when we talk about Image Intensifiers and Thermal Imaging. They both actually use IR technology, but in different ways. Image intensifiers just amplify ambient light. Thermal images see the heat differentials, but they both use IR. I went on the net and found this on Wikipedia to help describe it:

  "Active infrared night vision: the camera illuminates the scene at infrared wavelengths invisible to the human eye. Despite a dark back-lit scene, active-infrared night vision delivers identifying details, as seen on the display monitor. Infrared is used in night vision equipment when there is insufficient visible light to see. Night vision devices operate through a process involving the conversion of ambient light photons into electrons which are then amplified by a chemical and electrical process and then converted back into visible light. Infrared light sources can be used to augment the available ambient light for conversion by night vision devices, increasing in-the-dark visibility without actually using a visible light source. The use of infrared light and night vision devices should not be confused with thermal imaging which creates images based on differences in surface temperature by detecting infrared radiation (heat) that emanates from objects and their surrounding environment."

  "Thermography: infrared radiation can be used to remotely determine the temperature of objects (if the emissivity is known). This is termed thermography, or in the case of very hot objects in the NIR or visible it is termed pyrometry. Thermography (thermal imaging) is mainly used in military and industrial applications but the technology is reaching the public market in the form of infrared cameras on cars due to the massively reduced production costs. Thermographic cameras detect radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum (roughly 900–14,000 nanometers or 0.9–14 μm) and produce images of that radiation. Since infrared radiation is emitted by all objects based on their temperatures, according to the black body radiation law, thermography makes it possible to "see" one's environment with or without visible illumination. The amount of radiation emitted by an object increases with temperature, therefore thermography allows one to see variations in temperature (hence the name)."

  Much as I would not like to contemplate our own assets being used against citizens, there are theoretical situations where knowledge about mitigating the threat could be useful. However, never assume an enemy has an all seeing ability and just give up. Friction, assets and battlefield clutter, plus human error, comes into play. We survive in those gaps.

  For instance, often people do not give enough thought to the full scope of a collapse, beyond stocking up and having a couple of weapons. What if in a post collapse power vacuum another power moved in? What about China? Then, rather than a civil war you may be fighting as insurgents/partisans/freedom fighters, if you so choose. The foreign invader may not have, or perhaps be left with after some combat, full all seeing capability. Perhaps the main threat is Chinese FLIR equipped hunter killer helicopters?

  For an interest discussion, this is something that may be considered and you may need emergency counter measures in case you are caught out. Also, you can amend your operating procedures to have camps in suitable defiles in densely forested areas, or even ratlines on urban areas, to counter the threat.

  The key factors in mitigating the threat or aerial TI surveillance are good use of ground and vegetation cover, considered movement an
d the use of air sentries. Think about creating Mylar based ‘thermal ponchos’ similar to how they are described above. If you use them, string the poncho up from poles or trees to keep the material away from your body and avoid heating it up.

  Basic Movement

  There are many factors to movement; some will be covered in greater detail below. Generally, you will be in a formation, whether you are dismounted or vehicle mounted. The formation will be determined by the team leader and will be suited to the ground that you are crossing. The team will want to avoid obvious places where ambush can occur, so that will probably mean hand railing any trails or roads, staying out of sight in the cover to the flank. Some basic formations:

   Single File: ‘one behind the other’.

   File: it’s just a double file. If following a trail and it widens out to a track or road, individuals alternately step left or right to the edge of the trail all the way back down the line.

  Figure 1 - Basic Formations

   Line: everyone ‘gets on line’ facing a direction, usually where the enemy are. Make sure you keep spread out tactically. This is a skirmish or assault line.

   Herringbone: This is a stop formation. Imagine a file or single file. Everyone stops and gets down, alternatively facing out either left or right. If it’s close country legs will touch. It it’s a trail then there will be the space of the trail up and down the middle. Looked at from above, the alternately prone individuals make up the impression of fish bones

  Taking Cover

  When the team comes under effective enemy fire the team leader should make the decision to take cover; this does not preclude individuals taking cover if they feel a pressing need, but the idea of the leader call is to prevent inexperienced troops taking cover if it is just stray ineffective rounds and not effective fire directed at the team. The command is “Take Cover!” and everyone will instantly get down. There are two ways to learn this.