b. Location on a Trail:
1. Advantages:
a. Not so apt to encounter large numbers of enemy troops.
b. Advantageous snatch sites are more easily located which will permit good concealment, good vision, hamper the effectiveness of enemy counter fire, and still be close enough to the trail to perform the mission in the least time possible.
c. Enemy personnel are not normally as cautious or alert to possible ambushes when moving down a trail.
d. The ambushing element can more readily and easily cover up signs that anything happened.
e. Rapid and effective enemy pursuit is not as likely as on a road.
2. Disadvantages:
a. More likely to encounter personnel who are familiar with the local area.
b. Dogs, women and children are more likely to be encountered.
c. Preplanned sites/locations for PW snatches are more difficult to locate.
d. The enemy can jump off a trail and disappear easily.
e. Normally you are right on a trail before being aware of it’s presence which could allow for discovery of the team by passing enemy personnel.
c. Never attempt a PW snatch from a village or complex unless you have extraction aircraft available which guarantee immediate extraction. The reasons for this are many. First, the individual will soon be missed; second, village dogs will more likely give away your presence; third, if discovered, pursuit will be immediate and the locals know the surrounding terrain much better than you to include any nearby LZ’s; fourth, most villages of any importance will have security elements surrounding them and they will normally have established preventative measures to preclude such a snatch.
d. Other considerations:
1. Have at least two extraction LZ’s and two rally points selected and ensure that each man knows the azimuth and approximate distance to each before moving into position.
2. Select a good ambush site. Do not place an ambush at the spot where you first come up to a road or trail. This can only get you into trouble.
3. Always search at least 200 meters along a road or trail and on each flank of your ambush site. Look for major road or trail crossings, bunkers, complexes, outposts, and any other signs of the enemy which might prevent the successful execution of your mission.
4. Upon final selection of the actual snatch site, the team leader should trace a diagram, in the dirt, of the site and point out each team member’s position, pertinent terrain features, and ask for questions.
5. Prior to moving into the snatch position, be sure your RTO has notified your base station of your intentions.
6. Cache your rucksacks prior to moving into the ambush positions. Be sure that the carrying straps are in the “up” position for faster and easier recovery.
7. Double check all weapons and essential equipment prior to moving into your final position.
8. Try to attempt your PW capture within the first three to four days. The team members will still be in good physical condition, their morale and spirits will be up, thus giving you a much better chance for success.
4. Types of PW ambushes: Normally, there are four planned and two unplanned PW ambusher. Normally on a PW snatch mission the team leader will select one of the planned types after considering the variables of his own personnel and equipment, knowledge of the enemy, weather and terrain. The team will practice this type of ambush prior to departing on the mission. In addition they should rehearse their actions for the two types of unplanned PW ambushes. The planned and unplanned types are as follows:
a. Gas (Planned): The advantages and disadvantages of using CS Powder or gas are as follows:
1. Advantages:
a. Quickly incapacitates the individual, preventing him from using his weapon accurately.
b. Will prevent the use of dogs being used in the pursuit of the friendly element.
c. Enemy personnel will have to put on masks to enter the area, which will hamper their vision and therefore their effectiveness.
2. Disadvantages:
a. The team cannot hide the fact that they were there and that an incident took place.
b. The CS powder will cling to the PW’s and friendly clothing which may affect the efficiency of the extraction helicopter’s crew members if they do not have masks.
c. Team members cannot see clearly because of the necessity to wear masks.
d. The prospective PW will probably panic when exposed to the gas causing him to run and have to be chased down.
e. CS powder is normally dispersed by using explosives which will alert any nearby enemy elements of the team’s presence and location.
3. Other: When your team is set up for a gas ambush have all personnel place their gas masks on top of their heads. It will only take a couple of seconds to pull the masks over their faces just prior to initiating the ambush.
b. Claymore and Explosives (Planned): This is set up with C4 explosive placed between claymores. Personnel in the zone of the C4 will be stunned and/or incapacitated while the claymores will kill and wound the personnel in their zone.
1. Advantages:
a. As normally set up, with C4 spaced between the claymores, the explosion will incapacitate an individual but not kill him.
b. The team can hit a large element.
c. Will ensure that the enemy is stopped.
d. Will thoroughly disorganize and confuse the element hit, preventing them from reacting effectively.
2. Disadvantages.
a. The noise of the explosive going off will alert enemy forces of the team’s presence and location.
b. C4 takes a long time to emplace properly.
c. The disturbed soil and vegetation will mark the team’s location. This will aid the enemy in his attempts to pick up the team’s departure tail.
d. The additional weight of the demolitions may hamper swift movement.
e. The resulting smoke, rising above the trees and vegetation, could result in enemy mortar fire on the site, if any are located in the general area.
c. Silent Weapon (Planned): Use of a silenced or muffled rifle or pistol.
1. Advantages:
a. The noise from the weapon being discharged is minimal.
b. A well executed and placed round will stop an enemy and prevent his returning fire or using his weapon. Care should be taken to hit the intended PW’s right arm or shoulder. This should prevent him from returning fire, but will enable him to walk.
2. Disadvantages:
a. A wounded PW may die of shock or loss of blood before proper treatment can be given.
b. A wounded PW will have to be assisted and possibly carried, thus slowing down the team during it’s withdrawal from the site.
c. Care must be taken not to leave a blood trail.
d. A silenced weapon is not normally as reliable as an unsilenced one and in the case of a silenced pistol it would necessitate carrying another weapon, both of which must be available, within easy reach when springing the ambush.
d. No Fire/Silent Capture (Planned):
1. Advantages:
a. There is little noise to give the team’s presence or location away.
b. A live and healthy PW is the best kind.
2. Disadvantages: There are no significant disadvantages to a no fire/silent capture.
e. Chance Contacts (Unplanned): Both the friendly and enemy elements may see each other at the same time.
1. A team must always be prepared to take a PW during a chance contact, especially with a small enemy element.
2. If contact is made with a small local or regional force element, they will normally break and run. This is because they seldom carry more than three magazines each for an AK-47. Those who carry the SKS rifle/carbine may have extra rounds in one pouch, making it difficult to reload and of negligible influence upon the outcome of a firefight.
3. The team, after firing the initial rounds, should deploy into a defensive posture and look for enemy wounded. If one is located, don’t move
directly up to him. You may be fired upon or set a grenade thrown at you, forcing you to kill him in self defense. Instead, throw a CS grenade at him. After a few moments in the CS most of the will to resist should be out of his mind and you will have a PW.
4. If there are between two to five enemy, attempt to deploy around them asking them to surrender. If, after a few minutes, you have not received desired results, it is better to break contact and move away before reinforcements arrive, remembering that you are in the enemy’s territory.
f. Hasty ambush (Unplanned): Where the friendly elements may observe the enemy before being seen and take up a hasty position to capture them.
1. There can be no set or prescribed way to set up for a hasty ambush. Each team leader should establish his own SOP.
2. A hasty ambush can result in a capture of a PW only if it is practiced and rehearsed to perfection.
5. Ambush positions and Executing the Ambush:
a. Positioning of Personnel: No attempt will be made here to tell you exactly how to emplace your personnel into ambush positions. Whether you have five or twelve team members it is possible to succeed if you have the desire and training. By constant practice and training, using live ammo and training aids, you will come up with the best disposition for your personnel to suit you, your plans, and your team. One of the best references you will have is your own and the teams experiences. Ask other team leaders of their attempts, both successful and unsuccessful, solicit their advice. The final decision is yours. A good point to remember, when selecting personnel for key positions, is that an indigenous team member firing his weapon normally keeps his finger depressed on the trigger until all the rounds are expended.
b. If you have an 8 to 12 man team give strong consideration to placing three men on each flank for security and early warning. They will psychologically feel more secure and will normally retain their position if one is wounded, thus better ensuring the successful accomplishment of the mission.
c. During a PW snatch, place the M-79 on the flank of the ambush.
d. Claymore should be set on each flank of a PW snatch if possible.
e. Be patient and wait for the right moment and opportunity when one or two individuals come along the road or trail. Without patience your mission will most likely fail.
f. Once you have committed yourself and sprung the ambush, you must be aggressive. By that I mean that you must immediately react. If you have wounded or otherwise halted your prospective PW, you must immediately move to physically secure him. Do not give him a chance to think or react. If you do not do this he will more than likely run or attempt to fire his weapon, forcing you to kill him.
g. If an attempted PW snatch fails, in that the individual dies, his body should be completely stripped and his belongings taken back to the S2. The body should then be taken a great distance away and hidden, if at all possible. When the individual turns up missing, the enemy may assume that he has been captured and has talked. This will necessitate the enemy changing his plans and moving his headquarters; when he could have been doing something else.
Movement Technique Tips
1. Movement Technique: There are five basic techniques of movement that can be employed by small recon teams to avoid being detected or encircled by enemy forces. Each of these are explained and discussed below:
2. The Box Technique: This is a simple and effective method to use and takes very little practice to employ. From a given point the team moves out on a set azimuth for a specific set number of meters or paces, for example let’s say 35 meters. The team then makes a 90 degree turn and moves 75 meters, then another 90 degree turns for 30 meters, another 90 degrees turn for 30 meters, another for 30 meters. You will have formed a “box”. At this point you can do any one of several things. You can wait in ambush for your trackers, or pursuers, walk backwards across your old trail, if the vegetation and soil is such that it is impossible to hide your tracks, or continue on. When you move out, after having formed your first “box”, move for another 50 to 75 meters and form another box. By forming these boxes, it will enable you to ambush your pursuers and will definitely confuse any trackers as to your direction of movement. It will also discourage the enemy if you occasionally booby-trap your back trail. You can maintain a general heading that you desire to go without the enemy force becoming aware of it until you are out of the danger area or until he loses you completely. A word of caution though, and that is not to continually make your boxes the same size or to continually turn to the right or left. Never set a definite pattern of movement. The Figure Eight Technique: The figure eight method is very similar to the box technique in that you are doing basically the same thing except here you will be making circles instead of squares. Angle Technique: Another effective method to use in evasion and takes very little practice to employ. The patrol will change the direction of movement from the present patrol route of march in a series of angle movements. For example the team will make on angle move to change direction such as 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 70 degrees for a hundred or so meters, and then do it again to confuse the enemy. Step Technique: The simple method of changing the route of march in 90 degree turns for a distance of a hundred or so meters.
3. Skip Method: An effective method that requires practice to employ. The patrol will stop in place and on command will move left or right of present route. Each member will move as carefully as possible not to make a trail or leave tell tale signs to the flank for a distance of 20-30 meters and then resume the patrol’s former route of march. The team leader should send the point man ahead to make a false trail for 30 to 50 meters before using the skip method. This method takes practice and team members have to be careful not to leave signs as they move. Additional Information:
a. Never set a pattern if one technique does not work, change to another.
b. In both the box and figure eight techniques the size of the squares or circles will depend on the terrain and vegetation. The box technique is extremely effective at night. Both methods can be used to find a hole or weak point in the enemies encircling perimeter from which to break out. Both techniques have been used successfully in the past by recon teams. One survivor, of an ambushed recon team, succeeded for three days, in ambushing and killing six enemy pursuers by employing the figure eight method before being spotted and recovered by searching aircraft.
c. During the dry season CS powder spread over your back trail is extremely helpful in stopping dogs.
d. During the rainy season CS powder is almost useless or very ineffective against dogs. It is much more effective to drop a CS grenade during wet weather since it will hang low to the ground and remain effective against enemy personnel, especially those that do not have or carry protective masks.
e. In closing I might remind you that your tactics and techniques are only as good or effective as you make them. This can only be done through constant practice, training and rehearsals.
Infiltration/Exfiltration Tips
1. When loading the aircraft for infiltration, insure the team is seated so that they can exit the proper door.
2. Lead the team in reverse team order with the tail gunner being the first one in the aircraft.
3. The senior advisor position inside the aircraft is between the pilot and copilot’s seats. The remainder of the team sits against the firewall of the A/C.
4. Sudden shifts of weight in flight will cause temporary loss of aircraft control.
5. The team leader and pilot will determine direction of approach to the infill LZ for loading of team.
6. The team leader will follow the flight with his map from their FOB to his infill LZ.
7. Team members will unload one at a time to enable the pilot to stabilize his A/C.
8. On a ladder LZ the team leader ensures the ladder is down. Note: If A/C is more than 6-8 foot off ground use ladder to avoid injury to team members.
9. If the point man exits the A/C under fire, the entire team will exit the A/C.
10. If the A/C i
s shot down the team leader is in command on the ground. He will do the following:
a. Account for his team and A/C crew.
b. Secure an area 40-50 meters in front of the A/C.
c. Care for the wounded/dead.
d. With the pilot return to the A/C to ensure the radios are zeroed of frequency, gas is off, destroy the battery, remove maps, SOI, notebooks of the pilots, and M60s and ammo.
e. Call for pick up A/C.
f. Evac A/C crew and wounded/dead on first recovery A/C.
g. Rest of his team on the last recovery A/C.
11. Inform your personnel in what order they will be extracted prior to the arrival of the extraction A/C. The LZ should be secured prior to the arrival of the A/C.
12. Team leader should give pilot a track to fly, and describe his LZ.
13. Team members should approach the exfill A/C from the front. Note; Doing this the door gunner can support the team easier.
14. Team could use both doors if exfill LZ is a sit-down but should notify pilot first.
15. The team leader is the last to enter aircraft and will give the pilot an UP.
16. In selection of LZs avoid likely LZs or large LZ.
Boots on the Ground: The history of Project Delta Page 34