by Max Velocity
The command “GET ON LINE!” is useful in many circumstances when reacting to contact. If you call it in a contact left or right, after peeling back, it means that now you will change the drill to fight back as a per a contact front.
Another very useful way to use the command to ‘get on line’ is to change the way you are breaking contact. An example would be for a contact front (or a left/right that has evolved into a front as described above) where you see an exit to the left or right. It may not be ideal to continue to fight directly back. What you could do, as an example, if to call ‘get online’ and then give further instructions to ‘peel left’ or ‘peel right’. This would take a command decision by a leader and takes the break contact action away from being a straight reaction drill, but it may be an effective way to move to a flank and out of enemy fire.
Figure 35 - Contact Left evolving into Contact Front - 'Get On Line'
Figure 36 - Use of the Peel to Move to a Flank
Remember also that real enemy will move, and reinforcements may arrive after the initial contact, so as they try and pursue you, your initial contact left or right may evolve as you move back the way you came, into a contact front as more enemy arrive.
Fight Back to a Suitable Rally Point:
However the contact began you will fight out of it using one of the previously mentioned techniques. As you move away from the enemy you will be hoping to break contact. You will also be looking for a suitable rally point. You may break contact with the enemy and be able to rally up right there. Alternatively, you may break contact but not at that point be on suitable ground. To rally, you really want a natural bit of cover to get into, allowing you protection and the ability to set up security, however temporary.
If you break contact and still have not found a suitable rally point, and you still feel exposed to the enemy, then continue to move back as you were, but doing it as bounding overwatch rather than fire & movement. Effectively, this means you are doing exactly the same thing, but you are not firing, you are just ready to fire if you identify further enemy or come under fire. Remember that the enemy thinks, and may move or pursue you, or even appear at your flank.
Rally / Hasty Ambush:
You can have the leader call out the rally, or have it done by the first person that gets back to a suitable place. Once the rally point has been identified then “RALLY, RALLY, RALLY!” is called and the team will come together. A hasty ambush and also rear protection will be established while the team rapidly organized itself to move out.
You do not want to spend much time at all in a rally point. Remember that the enemy could well be following up on you. That is why you establish the hasty ambush – if the enemy follows up, you hit them hard and then begin the break contact drill again to fight back out of there. So, if you get hit again by following up enemy, you have to launch into the drill again and fight back to another rally point.
At a rally point you want to do personnel check and see if anyone is injured. This is a good time to change magazines, not everyone at the same time, and redistribute ammo as necessary. Take a drink to rehydrate. If you do have a casualty then things get complicated and you are going to be slowed down. You probably don’t want to go into the full tactical field care phase at this point; although theoretically you could, you are facing the danger of enemy follow up so it is likely best that you rapidly do any interventions intended to prevent imminent death or deterioration and then move out of there to work on the casualty at a later point.
Figure 37 – Team Rally Point: Hasty Ambush + Rear Protection
An alternative tactical option to the hasty ambush is to simply adopt a position of all-round defense, which is a basic tactical security position. This is less oriented to expected enemy follow-up from a likely direction, and more focused on 360 degree protection in an unknown environment.
Figure 38 - Team Rally Point: All Round Defense
Move Out:
This should be at a fast patrol pace and may even be at a jog/run, at least initially till you get further away, when you will slow down to a steady patrol place to allow yourself to be more situationally aware. This intent is to get out of there and not get caught up in an enemy follow up. Just be aware of the potential for cut-off groups if it is a well laid ambush, or for running into potential enemy quick reaction or response forces.
Your ‘bug out’ is a balance between speed of movement and observation of your surroundings. Depending on the situation you may well be going into a full escape and evade phase and as such you will need to consider your actions in term of foiling enemy follow up: changing direction unpredictably, masking your trail, using unlikely routes etc.
If you have a casualty, then you need a plan to carry them out of there. Hopefully you will carry equipment that is either a lightweight stretcher or can be made into one – an example of the latter is using a poncho. If you have to carry a casualty out of there then you will not be able to move fast. You will need a litter party with replacements and front and rear security at minimum.
Patrol Bases
If you are conducting operations as an independent patrol away from your home base then you will need to set up patrol bases for rest, admin and to conduct the operations if you are out for anything more than one night. You will preferably move into a patrol base in daylight, so you should identify an area on the map and move towards it in good time.
In some circumstances it is a good idea to cook and eat at one location before moving on and establishing a base and sleeping at another location. This will not be possible if you plan to occupy a patrol base for several days, but may be used if you are moving in jungle-style or heavily wooded terrain and are looking to eat an evening meal then move to an overnight spot before moving on again in the morning.
It should be noted here that for any of these tactical operations described here there cannot be any wood fires, particularly at night. Also, if you have solid fuel or fuel stoves in order to heat rations, then they should be dug in and only used in daylight. In severe circumstances in close proximity to the enemy you can do ‘hard routine’ with no cooking but in any other circumstances it is advisable to look after yourself well and eat hot food and consume hot beverages to maintain both body and spirit.
Most patrol base drills are designed for platoon size formations containing three squads and as such as based around triangular shapes. You may well not have three squads and either way it does not really matter what formation you create. A three squad platoon can occupy a triangular harbor but they can just as well occupy a linear one with the three squads next to each other.
It may also be that you use these drills adapted from a woodland setting to occupy a building for a short period of time, and you can adapt them accordingly. It may also include vehicles in a similar concept. The triangular concept is a way of simply creating 360 degree security with three elements, with platoon headquarters in the center for command and control.
Look at the formations that you have and decide how best for you to achieve this effect. The phases for the occupation of a patrol base are as follows:
Hasty Ambush
Recon
Occupation
Stand to
Clearance patrols
Sentries
Work Phase
Routine
Hasty Ambush: As the patrol is moving along, perhaps along a small trail, the leader gives the signal for hasty ambush (hand covering the face for ambush) and points to the side of the trail. The squad breaks track 90 degrees to the trail, heads off the trail a short distance, and then peels back another 90 degrees back parallel to the route they just walked up, peeling in on line into a hasty ambush (don’t forget rear protection).
The idea of the hasty ambush is to wait for a period of time to ensure that you are not being followed or tracked. The idea of breaking track and peeling back is so that by the time any tracker realizes that you left the trail, he is already in the killing area of t
he snap ambush, in front of you. If this was a platoon move, they would have peeled into a triangular ambush, with a squad on each side of the triangle.
Figure 39 - Break Track & Occupy a Hasty Ambush
Recon: Once a suitable period has elapsed, the leader will depart on a recon of the potential patrol base. At platoon level he will take with him security to place down at each apex of the triangle and a buddy pair to send back and lead in the patrol. At squad level you will not be able to spare so much manpower so he will likely take a small security element and perhaps return to the snap ambush himself.
A patrol base is not designed to provide a dominating defensive position or fields of fire, but rather it is designed for concealment. So, ideally the leader is looking for an area in deep cover, perhaps with an accessible water supply, on a reasonable slope and without any obvious trails or tracks through it. The idea is to get hidden in the woods.
Occupation: The patrol peels out of the snap ambush and moves to the patrol base location. For a platoon level triangle, there are specific drills as to how the three squads move into the position and you will have to play with the occupation procedure to make it work for your group. For smaller formations you will decide how the patrol base will be laid out, either in a line or perhaps in a small circular perimeter. Usually the patrol is led in through the base, or 6 o’clock position. For a triangle, the apexes and thus sentry positions would be at the 6, 10 and 2 o’clock positions (upside down triangle). For a small group, it may only be possible to have one or two sentry positions and if only one it should be at 6 o’clock which is the direction facing the greatest enemy threat. The leader places each buddy pair down in their position and they will take off their packs and use them as fire positions as they watch out and cover their arcs of fire.
Figure 40 - Patrol Bases
Stand To: the patrol will remain silently at stand to for a suitable period of time, probably 30 minutes, listening for any enemy activity or follow up.
Clearance Patrols: at the close of the stand to period, clearance patrols will be sent out. These should only consist of two or three men and the idea is to clear the immediate area around the patrol base. A simple technique, given that you are likely in the woods, is for the first man to move out to limit of sight from the base, the next to limit of sight of him, and the third to limit of sight of the second man; they will then circuit the base and return inside. The patrol remains ‘stood to’ throughout.
Sentries: on completion of the clearance patrols sentries will be posted. These will initially be posted at the limit of sound from the patrol base due to the requirement for the coming work phase. There will be two different sentry positions in a patrol base, which will be day and night. Night time sentries are brought in to the base and at daytime the positions are pushed out.
Work Phase: once the sentries are posted then the patrol will stand down and begin the work phase. There are various things that may or may not happen:
Track plan: Use paracord or string (green) as comms cord to mark out a track plan inside the perimeter around the position, linking the sentry position, buddy positions and the command location. This will allow the track plan to be followed at night and prevent people wandering off into the woods. Clear brush and sticks from this track.
Positions: in conventional warfare shell scrapes should be dug and the buddy pairs will live in these. They are 12 inches deep and large enough for two people to stretch out and sleep with all their equipment, which should be covered by a tarp or poncho at night against the rain. Tactically you may not do this but individual positions are still laid out with arcs of fire allocated. Your tarps will only go up at night, after evening stand to, and will come down again in the morning, prior to dawn stand to. If you are not digging in then do something to camouflage and build up your location and fire position, maybe using logs, branches and leaves etc. Also, clear your sleeping area of ground cover to reduce noise and keep away the bugs on the forest floor.
Latrines: a deep drop latrine will be dug. This should be just outside of the position and yes unfortunately under the eyes of the sentry position. You can get behind a little cover for privacy, and if you have a mixed gender post-event infantry team then you will have to make other allowances, but the latrine must be covered by the sentry because people using it are vulnerable and you do not want them snatched.
Defenses: if you have any defenses such as claymore mines or improvised equivalents, and also trip-flares etc., these will be placed out during the work phase to protect the base.
Routine: Once the work phase is complete the patrol base will go into routine. A sentry roster will be written and once that is done there will be time for weapons cleaning, admin and sleep. There should be stand to for at least 30 minutes spanning dawn and dusk which marks the change from day to night routine. There should be a clearance patrol after dawn stand to. This is now the time when the patrol will rest and administer itself in the patrol base and also conduct any operations that it has planned, such as recce missions. There should always be a security element left at the base when a mission goes out, so long as the patrol intends to return to the base.
Bug-Out Plan & Battle Discipline: A patrol base is a covert affair, a temporary base to conduct operations from. It should not be seen as similar to a contemporary ‘Forward Operating Base’ (FOB) or even the Firebases of Vietnam era. That would be a different animal, the establishment of a defensive position. The patrol base will need an ERV and will usually plan to stand-to for any enemy threat or incursion. If the patrol base is ‘bumped’ by the enemy then there will be a plan for a withdrawal under fire to the ERV and then break contact.
If true battle discipline is applied, then shell scrapes will be dug as fire positions and all gear that is not in use will be packed away ready to go at all times. This means that when you are woken in the night for your turn on sentry, you will not doze back off but waken, get out of your sleeping bag and pack all your gear away in your pack silently in the darkness, without use of light. You will re-deploy your sleeping gear once you get off duty. When dawn stand to comes, everyone will pack away their gear, take down their tarps (also known as ponchos or ‘bashas’) in the pre-dawn and be ready in their fire positions for the dawn.
It is useful to rig up your basha with bungee cords attached which can rapidly be used to put up and take down the tarp using nearby trees; make sure that when you set up the basha, it does not sag in the center or it will collect rain water and collapse on you. Strategically located bungees will help with this, including one or two to hold up the apex. If you are bumped, then the patrol base will be stood to and all gear will be rapidly packed away in buddy pairs, stuffing sleeping bags away etc. If the order is then given to withdraw, packs will go on and the patrol will fire and maneuver out to the ERV.
The triangular patrol base has also been successfully used as a long term ambush position because it conforms to the principles of defense, and has also been used to defend against overwhelming numbers of enemy attacking. With the triangular configuration it is usual to have any support machine-gun weapons systems at the three apexes of the triangle, where they are able to cover down the front of each side of the triangle with enfilade fire.
Sentries: Sentries need to be alert and motivated and should not be on watch for more than two hours, which can be less depending on environmental conditions. During the day sentry positions are usually pushed out and can be occupied by a single sentry, but ideally a buddy pair. At nighttime there will be two sentries and the position will be brought back in to the perimeter.
All patrols will usually leave and return via the 6 o’clock position and sentries must be familiar with passwords and recognition signals. Sentries must be alert, not asleep or distracted, and must watch and scan their sector.
There should be a challenge system in place for situations where the sentry is not sure who is approaching. There will also be rules of engagement so that if the sentry recognizes an enemy
approach, he will engage without hesitation. If an unknown patrol approaches the sentry, he will challenge them to halt at a suitable distance. If he has some sort of communications system he will also alert the patrol leadership who will stand-to the patrol base. He will then advise the approaching group to “Advance one and be recognized.” At which point he will either be able to recognize them or give his part of the password and wait for a response. Once he has identified the group as friendlies he will ensure that he gets the number count from the leader and counts them back in to the patrol base, in case of any ‘tag-ons’.
The watch rotation should be staggered so that there is always a fresh sentry in his first hour, and another who is in his second hour. The off-going sentry can wake the next on the roster 15 minutes prior to his duty, in order to give him time to pack his gear, put on warm clothing as necessary, and make his way to the sentry position.
Sentry rotations should be written down, depending on the level of trust in your team and the numbers involved, because there is always a temptation among less well-disciplined soldiers to skip rotations and if the specific names and times are not written down there is no way to really check this when you are woken at, for example, 3am.
Infiltration
In the sense of tactics, an infiltration is to move your group in smaller elements via separate routes to an RV where they will join up to proceed with the mission. This is not the same sense of the term that is used for, for example, for an undercover cop infiltrating a criminal group, although this tactic may also have its merits post event.