by Max Velocity
The Squad
As previously stated this manual is not intended to be a re-hash of current U.S. Army doctrine and available manuals. The standard U.S. Army squad consists of nine soldiers: one squad leader, two teams of four each with a team leader. For your purposes, it makes sense to remain flexible depending on the numbers that you have and the way you are organized.
For the purposes of a site visit as explained above, a four man protection ‘bubble’ is used with additional PPOs, plus the drivers and gunners remaining in the vehicles. If you are moving in vehicles, then you should plan your ‘actions on contact’ based around vehicle crews, for example you may have three vehicles each containing two or three people, or a mix of this. These crews when dismounted will act as individual teams to cover each other as they move, and in the tactical bigger picture each of the crews will cover the other crews as they maneuver.
A dismounted squad could contain six people in two teams of three. That is a useful number if you have a patrol of two vehicles each manned by three people. For the purposes of the dismounted drills demonstrated here we will assume a squad of eight. The eight man squad will be divided into two teams of four. The squad leader will be integral to one team that will be named ‘Charlie’ and the squad second in command will be integral to the other team, to be known here as ‘Delta’. Call them what you want: ‘chicken’ and ‘biscuits’ may confuse the enemy, it really does not matter!
Depending on what you are doing and what weapons you have available, you may also want to consider the potential of an ‘attachment’ to this squad of a ‘gun group’. A ‘gun’ is the generic name given to a 7.62 x 51 support machine gun, what used to be the M60 and is now the ‘240 Bravo’. If you have weapons such as the ‘Squad Automatic Weapon’ or ‘SAW’ this should be kept at squad level. This 5.56 machine-gun is an excellent easily carried weapon at squad level, with one in each team and used to boost the firepower generated by each team as it maneuvers and supports the other. A NATO 7.62 x 51mm weapon, such as the 240B, is excellent to provide additional fire support and with the right fitness levels can be happily carried dismounted at squad level.
If you have access to this capability, having additional two man ‘gun groups’ that can be ‘attached’ to squads is a very useful force multiplier. This would make a temporary ten man squad, two four man ‘rifle’ teams and one two man ‘gun group’. The gunner carries the weapon and he should carry it in such a way that there is a limited amount of ammo belt on the weapon and ready to go for an initial engagement. The ‘gun’ should be carried with the sling not over the shoulders but hooked just over one shoulder so that it can be brought into action immediately. The other gun group member carries the extra ammo and is the ‘number two’ on the gun.
A 240 can actually be fired from the ‘hip’ in the standing crouched position for short close range engagements, but for correct use as a fire support weapon it should be carefully deployed to a flank and sited so that the gun group can support by fire the maneuver of the two rifle teams. There is an incredibly reassuring feeling to hearing the beat of a 240 as it provides support fire and tears up the enemy position.
The eight man squad will look something like this:
Charlie Team: Squad Leader
Rifleman
Rifleman (possible designated marksman)
Rifleman (possible SAW gunner)
Delta Team: Squad 2 I/C
Rifleman
Rifleman (possible designated marksman)
Rifleman (possible SAW gunner)
(Gun Group: If Available and allocated)
Gunner
No. 2
For dismounted tactical movement there are various formations that will be used. Single file, file and line were already mentioned. Generally, the ‘order of march’ will be Charlie team followed by Delta team. The squad can either move as one unit together with no effective separation between the two teams, other than the natural spacing between each person that will be dictated by the ground and thickness of cover.
If the squad leader deems it useful, he can create a tactical bound between the two teams. This is known as travelling over-watch as per U.S. Army tactics. The idea is to keep a small separation so that the rear team is free to maneuver if the front team comes under enemy contact or vice-versa given that contact can come from any direction. However, the squad leader should be careful because a good rule to live by is to not split the squad too far or on opposite sides of an obstacle. A good squad leader will keep an account of his team and keep them together in contact.
Satellite Patrolling
An exception to this rule about not splitting up further than a tactical bound is if you decide it is appropriate to move a little further away from conventional tactics towards more counter-insurgency or counter-terrorist tactics. This will depend on the threat that you are facing and the tactics that the enemy employs. If you expect to come under contact from groups operating as consolidated units in a more conventional way, then keep the squad together (this does not preclude splitting teams to maneuver and flank the enemy).
If you are facing a more irregular type threat, perhaps a ‘shoot and scoot’ type scenario, then there is value in organizing your squad into separate teams that work together but apart. An example would be the ‘satellite’ model with perhaps three teams of four, which can be rapidly switched to two teams of six to confuse the enemy or adapt to a tactical situation.
With the satellite model there is a primary team containing the overall leader. The other two teams act as satellites and move around the primary team in a designated manner. As part of the orders given prior to the mission, roles and positions can be designated to these satellite teams for each task the patrol will carry out. For general movement the primary team will be moving along an axis or route. The satellite teams will be moving either ‘two up’ forwards and to the flanks or ‘two back’ rearwards and to the flanks of the primary team. Thus it is a triangle shape between the teams as they move.
The idea is that using a limited amount of stealth and good use of the ground it will be difficult for the enemy to locate all the teams and also if one of the teams is engaged then the other teams will be in position to move up and to the flanks and outmaneuver the enemy. This is an effective deterrent against small enemy groups that will employ shoot and scoot type tactics and expect to live. It is not as effective as a deterrent against those that will throw away their lives, because they will engage you anyway. Given that we are planning for a post event scenario in America, it is more likely that the enemy will be of the type that will want to inflict damage and then run, rather than suicide types.
This satellite technique is useful to employ of you are engaged in any sort of ‘ground domination patrol’ (GDA) activity around your secure base. If your base is not of the covert type but perhaps a bigger retreat, small town or defended compound, then this is useful if there are bad guys out there trying to raid you for supplies. Run regular GDA patrols of the satellite type to dominate and deter in the surrounding area. The satellite model also works in urban areas where teams can be moving on parallel streets and will be able to interdict fleeing enemy who have engaged one of the teams and fled out of the back of a building.
To be really effective, the satellite model needs to be done with an offensive mindset. If a team comes under fire it will return fire and communicate the location/direction of the enemy. The satellite teams will go ‘hard and fast’ into depth in the direction of the enemy in order to either cut off escape or bring them under flanking fire. The contacted team will also move hard and fast onto the enemy firing point once effective fire has ceased. This is a good way to capture or kill harassing type attackers. It means running towards the sound of the guns, so it is not for the faint hearted.
This technique can also be used for patrols with vehicles, or in some combination with vehicles in support. Thus you will have a vehicle mounted ‘mobile’ element and a ‘foot’ element in support of each other; t
his all ties in with the principles of threat mitigation, avoiding patterns and confusing the enemy. It also relies on good planning and orders, effective map reading and navigation skills, and communication. However, if communications do fail, all is not lost: plan for rendezvous points along the route where the teams will come together in concealment and therefore if communications are lost, teams can link up, check in and then continue on mission.
Trust is also involved: you need to know that when you are on task at a location, your satellite teams are out there providing over-watch as you do what you need to do.
Figure 14 - Satellite Patrolling – ‘One Up’
A satellite patrol may look something like this:
Primary Team: Squad Leader i.e. callsign “Alpha One Zero”
Rifleman
Rifleman
Rifleman
Satellite Team: Team Leader i.e. callsign “Alpha One One”
Rifleman
Rifleman
Rifleman
Satellite Team: Team Leader i.e. callsign “Alpha One Two”
Rifleman
Rifleman
Rifleman
In a patrol, every person is a sensor and every person is a ‘link man’. It is very important that signals are passed back and forwards along the line. For hand signals there are two distinguishing types. If the signal is given for a change in formation, such as between single file and file, then it is important to only pass back the hand signal when you get to the place where it was given. Otherwise, if you pass it back down the line, people will change formation right then, which will be inappropriate to the ground.
Figure 15 - Satellite Patrol - Reaction to Contact
Communication & Movement
If it is another signal, such as stop or enemy seen, then it needs to go back immediately. When the situation goes noisy and you are in contact, there is no need for quiet anymore unless you are engaged in moving around to a flank and want to retain an element of tactical surprise. When it goes noisy, every man is a link man and extraneous chatter and shouting needs to be minimized. When an order is shouted it should be shouted down the line so everyone gets it.
Also, leaders should be vocal because it will help to break any freeze and also if you order the squad to take action, such as engage the enemy, then they are more likely to do it if you have ordered them, rather than being left to figure it out on their own for the first time: the danger here is the potential for freezing and also for a non-firing response.
Train well, condition the team to respond aggressively, and WTSHTF get vocal and reinforce all the drills with shouted orders to take action. Depending on what comes at you, it may be shocking and violent and you need to hit back aggressively and avoid the potential for people to cower.
Communication is very important and you should plan for the following types:
Radio
Voice
Hand signal
Visual signal i.e. flags or flares, depending on the situation and requirement.
Audible Signal i.e. whistle or horns, depending on the situation and requirement.
When moving you can be in single file, file, arrowhead or half-attack. Extended line or ‘skirmish line’ is usually used when advancing into an attack, or perhaps for searching or sweeping an area. Squad wedge is an arrowhead formation used within a team as per U.S. Army tactics. Often, the lead team in travelling over-watch or perhaps both teams will adopt the squad wedge. It is perhaps just as or more useful to move in file, which is effectively a box formation within each team, and allows greater all round security. That’s just an opinion, do with it what you want. Arrowhead at squad level is simply an arrowhead formation with Charlie team on one side and Delta on the other. Each team slopes back from the point of the arrow, one to the left and one to the right. It can be used short of a full extended line when moving towards expected contact.
Figure 16 - Squad Formations
Half-attack is a very useful formation that can be used when moving towards contact in closer country or if you are echeloned back from the point squad and want to move tactically in reserve. Half attack looks just like file, except Charlie is on one side (left or right) and Delta is on the other (right or left). Remember that in file, each man steps left or right but Charlie is still at the front and Delta is at the rear. Half attack can easily be pushed out (i.e. imagine extending the wings) to an arrowhead or extended line formation.
Squad Battle Drills & The Hasty Attack
We are considering a post-event survival scenario, not deploying to combat. However, battle drills will be covered here because they perform a useful training function and illustrate the process. You should train and be competent in them in case you need to use them as a response to the scenario you may find yourself in, and perhaps need to create tactical teams. The next section is primarily offensive; later, break contact drills will be covered as actions on enemy contact under patrolling. Those dismounted break contact drills more closely follow the techniques described under the vehicle drills already covered, and are primarily ‘run-away’ techniques to get you out of contact. However, if operating in a tactical environment, you should be familiar with squad battle drills.
Squad battle drills are useful as part of your preparation for any operation but are primarily aimed at an ‘advance to contact’ situation where you are moving cross country and expect to come into contact with the enemy. You may or may not ever have to do this, but the techniques within these drills are applicable across all tactical situations. The steps of the squad battle drills are as follows:
Preparation for Battle
Reaction to effective enemy fire
Locate the enemy
Win the fire fight
The Attack
The Reorganization
Preparation for Battle: The mnemonic was already covered: SAWPERSO.
Security: make sure you are either in your secure location or that wherever you are has been secured by your integral security. This may be a patrol base that you have set up and have been occupying, or it may be a stop in the woods where you place security out. Normally, for a tactical halt, you will have 50% security up with the team preparing in buddy teams, while one provides security.
Ammunition: ensure it is distributed and loaded into magazines. Make sure each team member has enough and there should be a reserve carried. Consider ammunition requirements for whatever weapon systems you have.
Weapons: ensure that they are clean, zeroed and serviceable. At a minimum conduct functions checks and if possible test fire the weapons if the tactical situation allows.
Personal Camouflage: consider clothing and equipment and if they are appropriate for concealment for the mission. Are you using ghillie suits (sniper / hunting suits), natural camouflage and/or camo face cream? If you are using any of it, make sure it is correctly applied.
Equipment: make sure each team member has the equipment appropriate to the task, including the right personal equipment, clothing, rations and water.
Radios: check operation, batteries, spares, frequencies and callsigns.
Special equipment: whatever you have decided to take along for the task. Maybe breaking and entering gear for a forage mission into a distribution center? Make sure the designated individuals have the gear they are supposed to have.
Orders: This will take the form of a briefing by the team leader to his team. Depending on the size of the operation the orders group may get bigger and more complex. Some suggestions for orders headings are:
o Situation:
Enemy: what do you know about them:
Numbers
Weapons
Intentions
Capabilities
Ground: specific to the task:
Map coordinates and area of operations
Terrain type
Vegetation type
Roads and features.
> Weather: relevant to the task:
Rain
Heat
Cold
Sunset/sunrise/moon state.
Friendlies: any friendly force operations expected in or around the area of operations. Supporting troops or activities?
o Mission: i.e. Alpha squad will conduct a GDA patrol in sector 5 in order to deter further enemy indirect fire attacks against the home base.
o Execution:
Intent: what is the commander’s intent?
Concept of operations: how do we intend to achieve this? This may include phases of the operation or similar and scheme of maneuver.
Tasks: specific tasks to sub-units.
Coordinating instructions: times, locations, rendezvous points etc.
o Summary of Execution: everyone puts their notebooks down and looks in to the map or model of the ground and the commander reiterates how the task will be done.
o Service Support: admin instructions. Rations, water etc.
o Command and Signal:
Frequencies
Callsigns
Location of team leader and chain of command succession
Hand Signals
o Questions:
From the team
To the team to check on understanding
o Rehearsals:
Noisy (day)
Silent (night)
o Pre-combat inspections (PCIs).
Following the preparation stage the patrol will head out on mission in whatever way was designated: walking out of the base, being dropped off by vehicle, or perhaps taking their own vehicles and establishing a secure vehicle rally point (‘Zulu muster’). They will then take off on foot and patrol via the route out, the objective and the actions on the objective, and the route back. Formations will be changed and adopted according to the terrain they are crossing and the designated route. The route will be via a series of nominated ‘RVs’ which are rendezvous points.