Contact!

by Max Velocity

  Formations will be dictated in orders and when they are changed the necessary hand signals will be passed back along the line. A patrol move is a silent tactical affair. Whenever the team stops, all personnel will get into a fire position. No talking, shouting, laughing, smoking or generally goofing off. If the patrol is moving at night then care needs to be given to light discipline.

  For map checks the leader and any additional navigators will need to have small flashlights with the lens covered with tape with a small pinhole in, either a red or green filter. When checking the map, they will need to get low to the ground and pull over a poncho or similar shield so that no light escapes. The red or green lens is to preserve night vision: be aware that under a red or green light, items of the same color on the map will be hard to see, such as contour lines (red) or woods (green).

  ORP: this is the final RV of the route out and some sort of additional activity will take place here depending on the patrol. It may be that a team will remain at the ORP as a rear security element and perhaps the patrol will initially stop in herringbone but then will be re-deployed into a different formation. Because this is the rally point short of the objective, activity will happen such as a recce group going forward to the objective perhaps followed by an occupation plan, depending on the task. The ORP is also a location to cache heavy rucksacks, moving to the objective with daypacks only. More will be covered under specific patrol types below.

  Figure 28 - Patrol Route Out & Back

  Actions on the objective:

  Raid / Deliberate Attack: This is likely to be a larger formation patrol than a simple squad patrol, perhaps more like a platoon sized task depending on what numbers and resources you have. A rear security element will be left at the ORP and the patrol will have been planned as a deliberate attack. There will be a fire support element, and assault elements. There may even be an indirect fire support element if you have the weapons systems and resources.

  Prior to a deliberate attack you need to have already conducted a recon patrol. This may have been done by the patrol commander as a prior operation in the form of a reconnaissance patrol, or perhaps by a separate specialized recce patrol element. Either way, it is better if those that conducted the recce were able to return to base to brief and add the feedback to the orders preparation, rather than simply meeting them on the ground. If it happens the latter way because of time, the commander will have to trust the recce team to lead his elements into the identified fire support and FUP positions prior to the assault.

  Also a less than ideal situation, but you could conduct a final recce from the ORP position, perhaps to confirm fire support and FUP locations, which will make it more of a hasty attack with quick final briefings for the team; however ideally you will have conducted a separate recce in advance and had the opportunity to make a plan and fully brief and rehearse that plan with the team prior to moving out on the patrol. This will make your rehearsals more informed to the actual ground and plan of the assault.

  Once you have reached the ORP for a raid or deliberate attack you will then conduct any final confirmatory reconnaissance and then the elements will move to their respective positions. A raid is only different from a deliberate attack in that a raid is a quick operation with possibly larger enemy forces able to respond and therefore you will need to get in, accomplish the task, and get out. A raid is similar to an ambush in this sense, in that it is a covert attack followed by a rapid extraction away from potential follow up.

  A deliberate attack in contrast may have less urgency about extraction and it may be that you intend to stay at the location, perhaps for a detailed search, forage, or perhaps occupation for a period of time. For the attack you will need to identify a suitable fire support position, for both direct fire assets and also for indirect fire assets if you have them (i.e. mortars). You will also identify an FUP (forming up point) which will incorporate an LD (line of departure) at its forward edge and will be where you launch the assault elements from. If you have to break up the attack into stages with phased objectives or phase lines then you will have assault elements allocated to those stages and they will move through the FUP ‘in echelon’.

  To set up an FUP at day or night you can use the ‘NATO T’ method which is standardized; however, what it essentially comes down to is a ‘T’ shape utilizing markers or lights at night (glow sticks or right-angle flashlights) to mark out the shape. Decide on what lights you want to use and rehearse it. The troops will be led in up the base of the T and will then peel in along the top of the T facing the LD, in preparation for the assault. The NATO T is slightly old-school in that it is best utilized for two formations, such as two squads or two platoons, one peeling to the left and one to the right of the top of the T. This was a slightly older school tactical usage which could still have relevance: you advance across the LD ‘two up’, allowing both elements to maneuver side by side onto the enemy position.

  In more contemporary use, one element (squad or platoon) would cross the LD and the other would wait in reserve and then assault ‘in echelon’ (which basically means in series rather than in parallel) once the first element had secured its objectives. This all the while as the fire support element suppresses the enemy.

  When selecting your various locations for the attack you should do your best to select a fire support and assault FUP position at right angles (90 degrees) to each other, as per the squad quick attack drills already covered. The deliberate attack will be covered further under offensive operations below.

  Ambush: Again, ambush will be covered in more detail under offensive operations. An ambush is a surprise attack, launched from a concealed position, in order to overwhelm and destroy an enemy force. The difference between an ambush and a deliberate attack or raid is, in simple terms, that an ambush takes place from a static concealed position and depends for initiation on when the enemy shows up.

  A deliberate attack is a moving operation that is initiated by the attacker’s choice of timing. Once at the ORP the ambush will be reconnoitered and then there will be an occupation and work phase as the ambush is set up. The ORP will be occupied as a rear security base. The ambush will either be sprung on enemy contact or if not it will be collapsed and either way the elements will move back to the ORP.

  Hostage rescue: this would take the form of a deliberate attack or raid but the emphasis would be on the safety and recovery of the hostages rather than simply on the destruction of the enemy. Supporting fire and the assault will therefore need to be more targeted and not indiscriminate, but the same thing will effectively happen where a fire base is set up and assault/recovery teams will move onto the objective, extract the hostages, and recover them back to the ORP.

  It may be that you have conducted a recon of the location and identified where the hostages are being held, plus enemy positions and guard locations and routines. You would then be able to plan an assault with the limited objective of reaching the hostages, establishing blocking fire positions to suppress the enemy, allowing you to free the hostages and withdraw off the site. The limited objective in this case would be the rescue of the hostages, rather than the clearance of the entire enemy position.

  Capture: this could be a situation where you have decided that you need to capture enemy forces for information, or perhaps an enemy leader for negotiation purposes. It is a snatch operation and can look like an ambush or raid but the idea will be to capture some of the enemy rather than kill them. If you are planning on capturing enemy, make a plan to get unhappy people back with you, who may not want to cooperate. The alternative is a covert type capture which would take the form of a covert patrol where you feel that the situation is such that the person can be taken without the firing of weapons and alerting the enemy.

  Ground Domination Activity (GDA): these patrols have been discussed in terms of creating stand-off and depth to a location. They are not full strength fighting patrols but neither are they fully covert. If they spot enemy in the vicinity they will engage and offen
sively target them. Consider the option of satellite type patrolling as described above.

  Clearance Patrols: these are similar to a GDA patrol but a lot smaller in scope. A clearance patrol will go out around a location, such as a patrol base or a defensive position, usually after a stand-to in order to check for enemy in the immediate vicinity.

  Reconnaissance Patrols: these types of patrol are by their nature smaller and more covert than fighting patrols. The main objective is to gather information and they will seek to avoid contact with the enemy or compromise of their position.

  Close target reconnaissance (CTR): this type of patrol is conducted when you need to obtain detailed information on the enemy or location. You may conduct one of these prior to a deliberate attack, raid or hostage rescue. The patrol will be smaller, maybe four to six persons, and will move to the ORP and establish security there. From the ORP small team(s) of perhaps two will go out and recce the objective.

  Although it is termed a close target recce, you must be careful of compromise and if you can gather the required information from further away utilizing surveillance devices, then do so. A technique that can be used for CTR is the ‘petal method’ where the team or teams will circle the objective, moving in closer to gather information, circling out and continuing the process until a 360 has been completed and all information gathered.

  You need to be camouflaged, move stealthily and with patience, and be aware of enemy sentries and counter-surveillance. Also, be aware of barking dogs, sensor devices, booby traps and early warning systems in general. Be aware of random acts such as the enemy sending out a patrol or even someone relieving themselves out in the woods.

  If there is a danger from tripwires, then a technique that can be used is to move forward slowly holding a light stick or wire between thumb and forefinger. When it touches a wire you will feel it in the movement of the stick.

  While the teams are out on the objective, the remaining patrol will hold security at the ORP. Make sure you have rehearsed actions on compromise and return to the ORP, including identification signals and passwords. A returning team approaching the ORP at night can, for instance, hold out their arms outstretched to the sides with weapon held in one hand, to assist in identification.

  As well as and ORP security party, you can consider the deployment of a cover group to provide potential suppressive fire if the close recce group is compromised as they go in to recce the objective. Depending on numbers, if you are short you may be able to task the ORP security party also as a cover group, which would mean there needs to be a view of the objective from close to the ORP which would require careful siting.

  On return to the ORP from the close target recce the information should be shared among the whole group in case of contact/casualties on the return. One way to record information on a CTR is to pull back after each move into the objective and use a Dictaphone or other voice recording device to quietly record the information on what was seen.

  Observation Post (OP): an OP will covertly watch a designated area and gather information from a distance. An OP patrol will be designated an NAI (Named Area of Interest) that they must cover and they will have to establish a position from which to covertly watch that area. This will be done initially from map study and then reconnaissance from the ORP. Once the site has been established, there will be an occupation and work phase during which, while maintaining security (always!), the OP will be built and camouflaged.

  A simple OP can be created with natural cover, poncho (tarp) and camouflage netting; however it may be necessary to dig an OP in for both concealment and protection, but this will need to be done covertly. Once the occupation and work phase are completed, the routine will be established. Depending on location all personnel may be located in the OP or there may be a separate admin area a short distance to the rear in better cover, perhaps to allow administration.

  An OP is best sited to utilize safe ranges to observe the designated areas. It does not want to be in close proximity to where the enemy may pass. Because of this you will need to consider suitable optics to enhance observation, along with batteries to back that up if required. Binoculars or a spotting scope on a stand (more comfortable for long periods) can be used during the day. At night, NVGs can be used. Thermal imagers, such as a FLIR Scout, can be used both day and night.

  There will need to be enough people at the OP to allow a routine, which will include someone observing, someone on rear protection, plus rest and admin. You should not have to observe for more than an hour, after which concentration will degrade rapidly, so a useful routine is to go from rest or admin to observation, then move to rear protection and then back to rest.

  If you have a rear admin area, you will need more people and the OP and rear area will effectively become separate areas with rotations happening within each area and then both swapping over perhaps after 12 or 24 hours, depending on the duration of the OP. There are many ways to do this. For instance, you could have a squad of eight on OP patrol with four in the OP and four in the admin area getting more rest. The four in the OP will have two on observation (the tired one perhaps writing the log), one on rest and the other on rear protection (if required and not covered by the rear admin area).

  The four in the rear area will have perhaps three on rest and one on protection. Both groups will swap perhaps after 24 hours. Depending on the cover available at your OP location, will determine the comfort level and ability to conduct admin. For any OP, you should carry out anything that you carry in. This includes bodily waste, and you may have to get used to defecating in close proximity to your buddies, into a bag. If you have an admin area, you may be able to dig a latrine.

  Once the OP is complete you will take it down leaving no sign and extract back to base. Be aware that if you cut natural foliage for camouflage, it will degrade and you will have to replace it, perhaps every night.

  Standing Patrol: This is a sort of hybrid between an OP and a fighting patrol. It is a static patrol that deploys to a location and remains there for a specified time, intended to provide early warning, security or perhaps to guard a geographical feature, such as dead ground that cannot be covered from a defensive position.

  The Route Back: specifics of this will depend on the type of patrol that you have just conducted. General principles are that a route back is similar in execution to the route out, with the patrol moving through a series of RVs from the ORP back to the home base. Ensure that the route back is not the same as the route out to prevent enemy observing you on the way to the objective and laying an ambush to catch you on your return.

  Blog Post

  An Unconventional Patrolling Option:

  Something has been pointed out about the mindset of many prepper; the whole barricading yourselves in the homestead, growing tomatoes, and beating off marauders with precision rifle fire at long range, while leaving the actual fighting to 'others.' It is that aspect that I am picking up on and hoping to help with.

  When writing [this Manual] I struggled with this - how to move the manual and mindset from the protection of family and homestead and show the need for tactical teams for light infantry style operations (light infantry being the basis and building blocks of unconventional warfare/resistance operations). There is a point in [this manual] where I move from family/group oriented protection operations to tactics for use by tactical teams in the assumption that the family is safe in a protected area while the teams go out and do what needs to be done. In the novel 'Patriot Dawn; The Resistance Rises' I take this further by describing a fictional near future scenario in which this could be undertaken. These books are there for you to learn from.

  The concept that I would like to introduce today is that of the GDA patrol. This is, as usual with my posts, also covered in [this manual]. GDA stands for Ground Domination Activity. This is not a standard patrol that you would find in a doctrine manual/FM, unless you are reading about British Army experiences in Northern Ireland. The reason that I am bringing up this subject is
because I think that it has a great deal of use to a prepper family/group in a retreat as a form of defensive patrolling. I hope that this concept would bridge that gap between a purely static defensive mentality and a refusal to get up to speed to go and conduct actual patrolling.

  The GDA patrol came about from the need to protect isolated SF bases in Northern Ireland. It then moved on and evolved to other operations including places like Afghanistan and Iraq. It is a local short range security patrol.

  GDA patrols used to be called MBP patrols which stand for 'mortar baseplate patrols', coming from the tendency of terrorist groups to attack SF bases with improvised mortars. These would often be set up inside a parked van, pre-angled and set off on a timer. However, these GDA patrols are also general security patrols. Such patrols would be conducted by the element assigned to base protection duties. The idea would be to cover a footprint around the base out to the range of effective enemy attack, whether that is from mortars or small arms fire.

  Now, conducting GDA patrols is in itself a risk, if you think about it. If you set patterns then the patrols themselves can be targeted, whether that is from sniper fire or from IED. It's a game of cat and mouse, with terrorists constantly observing and targeting. To enhance the survivability of patrols, leaders would ensure that routines and patterns were not set. There should be no such thing as a 'routine patrol'. Routes, times, numbers, formations, compositions, vehicle patrols, foot patrols or vehicle/foot combined patrols would all be mixed and matched to enhance the survivability of the patrol.