Category: Tactics

Most warriors understand reconnaissance – the need for it, it’s objectives, and how to conduct various reconnaissance techniques. Yet when tasked with an Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) asset, few small unit leaders are comfortable with this asset. In fact, it is commonly viewed as a burden.

And so now it’s time for a lengthy lecture on reconnaissance. Blah, blah, blah. Yeah? We’ve all been lectured to sleep over ISR assets. It’s boring. I agree. Let’s not do that.

Instead, let’s take a look at reconnaissance through the eyes of the small unit leader in the nature of The Defence of Duffer’s Drift (1904). I’ll remind you that the young Lieutenant N. Backsight Forethought, the pseudonym for MG Sir Ernest Dunlop Swinton, engages in multiple dream sequences. After each dream’s failed mission, LT BF magically forgets the particulars of the dream, but does recall each lesson learned.

The First Dream

So it is that LT BF and his platoon are tasked with a patrol through enemy territory, and upon this task they are attached a small recon team. Being a burden and not having fit within his original mission order, our lieutenant refuses to deploy the recon team forward, or does so haphazardly and the rest of the story is fairly predictable.

The platoon and/or the recon team run into a formidable enemy position, perhaps an ambush. There are many casualties for our warriors and the platoon turns back, failing to achieve its objective.

Rule #1. Employ reconnaissance teams and assign them specific objectives.

This may involve “reconnaissance push” whereby there are areas of interest such as natural choke points in the terrain or unknown populations of people that require some investigation before being approached. The patrol leader simply identifies these areas of interests and gives the recon team some basic guidance on what he needs to know.

Or, this may involve “reconnaissance pull” in which the recon team moves forward with guidance from the patrol leader regarding targets the patrol is seeking, or intends to avoid. When the recon team identifies such targets, the recon team pulls the rest of the platoon toward or away from these enemy threats.

The Second Dream

Once again our platoon is tasked with a patrol through enemy territory. LT BF will be heading down the exact same route, not remembering much of the previous night’s dream. However our lieutenant does recall Rule #1 and so when he is assigned a recon team, he gladly includes them into the mission.

However, taking note of the team’s small size, LT BF enhances their firepower and even assigns a supporting weapon crew to the recon team. They are given the particulars of a named area of interest and dispatched.

Some time later, a firefight erupts forward of the lumbering platoon. LT BF is on the radio trying to get the recon team to respond and develop the situation for him, but it is clear the recon team is decisively engaged in battle. They do not respond.

Instead, they return an hour later to the stalled platoon. The recon team has taken casualties and appears fairly well mauled. They are exhausted, and the enemy has clearly taken note of the intention of the platoon to pass through the choke point. The LT wisely decides to turn the patrol around. Again, we’ve failed to achieve the mission.

Rule #2. Reconnaissance teams maintain maneuver and avoid decisive engagements.

When we task organize a recon team in the same manner as an offensive combat patrol, we invite the exact same outcome – a decisive engagement. The recon team may very well engage an enemy force with the intent to overwhelm and destroy the enemy. Yet this is an enormous mistake.

When a warrior is engaged in a decisive battle, he cannot extract himself readily, easily or even safely from the battle until it is clear one side or the other has gained an upper hand. If the recon team engages in such activity, their mission to develop the situation as the “eyes and ears” of the patrol leader will take second priority to saving their own skin!

Do not prepare a recon team for decisive engagement. They must maintain maneuver – the ability to break away from the enemy and regain contact to develop the situation for their commander.

Remember that contact might be visual observation of the enemy force. It does not always mean a gunfight. Indeed, it is best if our recon team can visually observe the enemy without them aware of our presence.

The Third Dream

LT BF is back at it again, having no memory of the previous night’s dream except the lessons learned. Our mission takes us through treacherous enemy terrain. Fortunately, we have a recon team attached to our platoon.

LT BF quickly incorporates the recon team into the mission order. They will serve as forward vanguards, having been given the particulars of a named area of interest.

However, knowing that the recon team must retain freedom of maneuver, LT BF disarms the small team. He tells them to travel light, carrying only enough provisions and equipment to observe the enemy during their patrol.

Halfway through the day, LT BF has been in constant contact with the recon team but progress is so frustratingly slow that it is clear we’ll never make it to our destination today. The platoon pulls into a patrol base for the night, and the recon team rejoins the platoon. The mission will have to wait another day.

Rule #3. Reconnaissance teams gain and maintain contact with the enemy.

Without force protection measures (i.e. weapons), a recon team must default to stealthy reconnaissance. A stealthy approach avoids detection and uses concealment to surreptitiously sneak up on the enemy. This is time-consuming!

By contrast, aggressive reconnaissance uses speed as a form of security. An aggressive approach employs direct and indirect fires, smoke screens, and maneuver to develop the situation. Mobility is the key.

In either case, stealthy or aggressive reconnaissance, the objective is to gain and maintain contact with the enemy force. The situation must be developed. That is, the commander must understand quickly the disposition of the enemy force –their location or direction of movement, their numbers, their weapons and capabilities, their vulnerabilities, and so much more.

All information loses value over time. It expires to various degrees. This is all the more true for an aggressive approach to reconnaissance because in most cases the enemy is very much aware that we have gained information about their disposition, and you can bet they will make changes as soon as it is feasible to do so.

Often, in the case of a stealthy approach, the enemy is typically unaware that we have gained valuable information on their disposition. If we slip away unnoticed, that information has a longer shelf life, but ultimately all things change. So this information too will expire in time.

The Fourth Dream

Our platoon is tasked with a patrol through enemy country in order to link up with a Forward Operating Base. It is a daylong trip, if we get it right. A small recon team has been attached to our platoon.

LT BF assigns the recon team to a named area of interest. After a short mission order, we are underway.

Within the hour our recon team is engaged at a natural choke point. They have broken contact with the enemy and are maneuvering to the enemy flank. They inform LT BF that they have found an alternate route that will take our platoon to an adjacent hilltop on the enemy’s flank.

In 20 minutes our platoon has linked up with the recon team, navigated the alternate route, and positioned ourselves on the flank of the enemy. We are exhausted due to the high altitudes, but we conduct an attack by fire immediately. Enemy troops begin to fall.

The enemy wants no part of this and they break contact. LT BF has already reassigned and dispatched our recon team to seek out the enemy escape routes in the rear of their position. As the enemy pulls off the high ground, the recon team observes the enemy in an orderly retreat in a draw. On order by LT BF, the recon team engages the enemy at distance. Their accurate fires put the enemy into disarray.

Our platoon is now moving quickly to link up again with the recon team. However, even before we achieve this, LT BF sees the enemy spread across the far ridgeline frantically fleeing in various small groups. It is clear they are no longer a threat to our patrol, and they are likely falling back on their reinforcements and supplies in the village beyond the ridgeline.

LT BF senses culmination and recalls the recon team. We will not pursue the enemy.

Our platoon is back on the route of movement. LT BF dispatches the recon team forward again with a new named area of interest to investigate. At this rate, we will make it to the Forward Operating Base before sundown.

Rule #4. Leaders ensure continuous reconnaissance.

The recon team is the eyes and ears of the patrol leader, the commander. When one objective has been developed or is no longer relevant to the mission, reassign the recon team to a new objective! Do not hold them in reserve.

Yes, the recon team is adequately armed and equipped to defend itself, and in rare instance may engage the enemy. However, it will only do so for brief periods of time and at reasonably safe distances. Remember, the recon team must retain maneuver.

There is no silver bullet to reconnaissance and ISR asset management. However, patrol leaders should wield these assets masterfully. Regrettably, seldom has that been the case. But with a little practice and adherence to these four simple rules, patrol leaders can master ISR assets.

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This article was originally published on odjournal.com (Olive Drab: the journal of tactics) and has been transferred here with permission.

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We’re bound to be outnumbered sometimes. That is unless the MILSIM scenario planners intentionally set the opposing forces at exactly an equal number of troops – and that almost never happens!

The natural instinct under such conditions is to bunker-down tight and form the team into a small defensive perimeter. And who’s kidding whom? That makes perfect sense. After all, the defense is stronger than the offense, and we are told to use the defense as long as it takes to form into an effective offensive force.

“I was too weak to defend, so I attacked.” – Gen. Robert E. Lee

Here we’re presented with a paradoxical statement. While the defense is the logical conclusion to being significantly outnumbered on the battlefield, the defense is rarely used with positive effect. How can that be true, is MILSIM plagued with ineffective leadership? Not necessarily.

The defense requires significant resources of time. Energy is spent developing and coordinating fortifications from which to repel the attack. In MILSIM, and indeed on actual battlefields, these resources and energy are scarce!

A viable alternative to frantically working toward an effective defense is to mount an effective offense. There are numerous types of offensive tactics: deliberate attack, movement to contact, pursuit, and exploitation. Each offensive tactic is employed in different situations against specific targets.

Deliberate Attack

The deliberate attack is employed for situations in which the enemy’s disposition in known. That is, the attacking force knows where the enemy is, what their strengths and capabilities are, and what obstacles lay in front of the enemy position. Remember that the defending enemy force must cover down its resources over the entire front of the terrain they wish to defend. Ironically, this means that the larger enemy force is vulnerable to attacks by a smaller force IF the attacking force has cleverly chosen a time and place that allows the attackers to outnumber and overwhelm the local defenses along their point of attack.

The key element for the deliberate attack is that the smaller assaulting force only has to outnumber the enemy at the local point of the engagement! This is true for all forms of offensive tactic.

Movement to Contact

Likewise, the movement to contact (MTC) merely needs to identify those enemy targets that it can outnumber and overwhelm. Remember the MTC is used when the attacking force has little information regarding the enemy disposition. Still, the conclusion that only a superior force can conduct a MTC is patently wrong (though admittedly ideal).

Smaller forces can conduct MTC. In such case, the forward vanguard teams are instructed to identify enemy targets that can effectively be destroyed by the reserve force.

The offense must employ either stealth or mobility to remain elusive. Otherwise, the larger enemy force will press a decisive engagement and use their superior numbers to defeat the MTC.

The key element for the MTC is that the smaller assaulting force must maintain elusiveness. Elusiveness helps achieve the element of surprise. And again, the element of surprise is key to any offensive action.

Pursuit

The pursuit is a transitional offensive tactic. That is, the pursuit is used to maintain momentum after a successful attack when the enemy is on the run. The pursuit has the expressed goal of destroying or capturing an enemy force.

The mistake that is often made is the assumption that the pursuit must destroy or capture the escaping enemy ENTIRELY. This is all but impossible, particularly so when the enemy significantly outnumbers the attacking force. Instead, the pursuit must quickly identify the target exactly. That might be the enemy’s command element, or it might be critical weapon teams such as the mortar section, rocket section, or marksmen teams.

The key element for the pursuit is that the smaller assaulting force must immediately identify targets for the enveloping team. The enveloping team bounds rapidly forward of the main pursuit and attempts to fix the assigned target in its escape route. The main pursuit must bypass any and all enemy pockets of resistance and maneuver quickly to destroy the identified target!

Exploitation

Exploitation is also a transitional offensive tactic. The exploitation is used to seize critical terrain or facilities after a successful attack.

Again, a common mistake is that the successful attack force will attempt to exploit every enemy resource simultaneously. This is a difficult task when the attacking force outnumbers the enemy. It is futile for an attacking force that is significantly fewer in number than the enemy!

Instead, the commander must have an idea of what lies beyond the initial engagement area. With this knowledge, the commander can communicate his intended target to the troops once the initial offense has achieved success. And again, the exploitation bypasses all other enemy pockets of resistance while maneuvering to the target.

The key element for the exploitation is that the smaller assaulting force must be informed of the critical (secondary) target to exploit. Without this information, tactical success will stall. The victory is for nothing. Remember that troops must ALWAYS have an objective! A tactical victory that is not followed upon with an operational victory is a useless expenditure of resources.

Let’s be clear on this. When significantly outnumbered by an enemy force, the optimal solution is to have a prepared defense into which our force might fall back. From this stronger position, the defending force seeks the opportunity to conduct a counterattack.

However, the defense requires time and energy. Often the case is that a series of quickly, carefully placed counter-strikes will produce the desired effect of defeating the larger attacking enemy force.

Key to a successful assault by an outnumbered team is that (1) the troops are informed of the commander’s intent, (2) specific objectives are identified, (3) elusiveness is employed to achieve surprise, and (4) the offense needs only to outnumber the enemy at the local point of engagement.

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This article was originally published on odjournal.com (Olive Drab: the journal of tactics) and has been transferred here with permission.

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What is the objective of armed conflict? The answer, in its purist form is to impose will. This means to impose our will upon our opponent, both for brief moments of time and for a lasting duration. Imposing will for a lasting duration is decidedly not a military objective – at least not solely a military objective. That would require the influence of diplomatic, economic, and informational coercion. However, to impose will for brief moments of time is very much a military objective of armed conflict.

Imposing will begins at the tactical level. Each opponent attempts to force the other to yield terrain, facilities, material resources, or influence over an indigenous population.

Tacticians tend to think of this in terms of purely attrition – that is, shooting more numbers of the bad guys than they can shoot of friendly forces. And attrition is certainly a factor, though there are more decisive and progressive means of imposing will.

Consider two incidents within your own repertoire of experiences.

Remember the last time you waited weeks to get back out into the field? You spent a couple hours prepping for the mission and searching for the enemy. And at the first sound of the firefight, everyone dove for cover and – nothing. No assaulting enemy. No mad push through to overwhelm an enemy patrol. There was just a short burst of fire and now complete silence. You look around to see another member of your patrol peering through the vegetation to try to get a fix on what’s going on. This is called the ‘bunker-down’ effect. It is not decisive. And in fact, it is most often a tactical error in which the friendly patrol hopes to win through attrition. But hope is not a plan, nor is it a combat multiplier.

Now think back to the time you and your buddies were pinned while conducting an assault. The rest of your team has lost its forward momentum and is taking unbearable casualties. It’s just you and a few of your fireteam members huddled together, only meters away from the enemy line. Retreat seems hopeless because you’ll expose yourself to withering enemy fire, and you cannot coordinate with the rest of your quickly depleting force to move left or right.

There are only two choices left – sit here and be picked off one-by-one, or charge forward into a certain wall of fire. Insane. Desperately you turn to your few buddies and say, “On the count of three.” And it’s one, two, three! With a vicious yell you charge fifteen meters forward and catch an opponent off guard, then another. A heartbeat later you’ve taken the enemy position and your buddies are firing back into the enemy line.

Now something very unexpected happens. The enemy defense scatters like BBs hitting the kitchen floor! Amazed, you’re left exhilarated, and asking yourself, “What just happened?”

The answer is the phenomenon known as violence of action (VOA). This is the exact opposite of the bunker-down effect.

While an experienced tactician recognizes that such a desperate charge could have just as easily ended in catastrophe for your fireteam, in this case it worked because you surprised the enemy.

Surprise? The enemy, after all, knew exactly where you were. They had been pouring on suppressive fire just moments before your charge. Yes. But they had not anticipated (and readied themselves) for your violent charge forward. They expected your fireteam to take another course of action, and your charge forward caught them off guard. The inability to react to an enemy’s action is also an element of surprise.

More to the point, your application of VOA at the local point of engagement had a more generalized effect on the entire enemy’s defense. But why?

The simple answer is perception. Perception is a fickle thing that can change at the blink of an eye. It may be that the enemy thought they had the upper hand. Or it may be that they had no idea of their devastating effect on the assaulting force. Whatever the case, when your fireteam managed to seize a foothold within their defensive line, their perception changed. The enemy now began to see themselves on the losing end of the engagement. Too, it is very difficult to place effective fires within one’s own defenses, so your opponent decided it was time to fall back and yield the terrain to you.

This all happened almost instantly. And the single greatest contributing factor was the violence with which your fireteam displayed in your attack forward. In a very real sense, VOA renews or continues the forward momentum of the engagement.

VOA is a combat multiplier. It is not a silver bullet. Good tactics and successful engagements still rely on careful planning and an excellent mastery of battle drills. Still, when engaging an opponent, or engaged by an opponent, the immediate application of extreme violence lends a ferocious momentum forward that is irresistible. Nine times out of ten, this VOA dominates the engagement because the enemy is caught by surprise – regardless of how ready they think they are!

So, in addition to planning and well-rehearsed battle drills, VOA is a factor in determining success, more commonly than not. If you were to break down the variable components of a successful implementation of VOA, you would notice that VOA is most effective when (1) you mass your force at a local point that outnumbers the enemy force, (2) you maneuver your force violently forward, and (3) your actions have caught the enemy by surprise.

The last element of a successful implementation of VOA is the enemy’s perception. Yes, the enemy gets a ‘vote’, too, and perception can be very fickle. It may work in your favor, or against you. This fourth variable is the unknown – you cannot control it, only your opponent can.

When we analyze the military objective of conflict, it comes down to imposing our will over an enemy force. For small unit tactics, this relies heavily upon the implementation of violent acts, and VOA is the forward momentum of our action. When employed by smaller units against a superior sized enemy force, VOA is a combat multiplier.

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This article was originally published on odjournal.com (Olive Drab: the journal of tactics) and has been transferred here with permission.

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It happens. Weapons jam no matter how sophisticated or primitive. Even a club can break. Frankly, the more moving parts in a weapon system, the greater the chance that something will fail—particularly in the rugged demands of the battlefield.

Let’s be clear here. A weapon may fail for many reasons. It might be out of ammunition, air, or batteries. It might have experienced a double-feed or some similar malfunction. Most of these failures are not catastrophic. They’re fixed quickly through a simple drill that is learned as part of the warrior field craft.

But what happens when a weapon fails catastrophically? What is the best course of action?

For many MILSIM paintballers and airsofters, the nurturing effect kicks in. A wail of “My Baby!” can be heard over the roar of battle as the troop carefully attempts to nurse and coax a collection of metal gadgetry back to life. (Okay, in truth what is more commonly heard is a series of vulgar expletives that really shouldn’t be repeated.)

A bit embarrassed and with a sheepish grin the troop typically resigns to the situation and walks off the field, upright and seemingly oblivious to the projectiles whipping about his head. Okay, for sake of posterity—don’t do this!

Let this be the first rule of a weapon jam. Don’t leave the battlefield. We could add to that rule by saying that standing up in middle of a BB storm is generally a bad idea, too.

But why not leave? The weapon system is useless. Ah true, grasshopper. But you are not useless.

First, look at this situation from the opponent’s perspective. It’s simple mathematics. If your opponent has six troops to contend with, and one of them gets up and walks away, that opponent now has only five troops with which to contend. You’ve made it easier on the bad guys by abandoning your team. And you’re not going to win popularity points like that!

Remember that your opponent is likely unaware of your weapon jam. By simply moving with your team you are continuing to complicate the enemy’s situation.

Second, consider your leader’s perspective. When high-speed projectiles are zinging about the field, most troops head right for the ground. That’s good, but their situational awareness is just as diminished as their view of the battlefield. More sets of eyes on the battlefield are a good thing. Without a functioning weapon, you can still act as a spotter and communicate what you see. This adds to everyone’s situational awareness, most notably for your leader and crew-served weapon teams.

Last, consider your combat buddy. What’s that you say? You don’t have an assigned combat buddy? Well, shame on you. Every warrior needs a combat buddy. They keep you out of trouble, and you should do the same for them. When coupled together as combat buddies, the life expectancy of troops in battle is significantly increased.

If you experience a catastrophic weapon jam, you should maneuver quickly to your combat buddy to assist in any way you can. Act as a spotter, fill ammunition magazines, work the radio, or carry burdensome equipment. The point is that you move with your combat buddy not only to help him, but to complicate the situation for the enemy. They will easily pick off your combat buddy if he has to go it alone. So go with him!

Will you eventually have to walk off the field to fix your weapon system? Of course. But timing is everything here. First, deal with the battle at hand. Remain focused on the objective and loyal to your team.

If you experience a catastrophic weapon jam during battle:
Do NOT leave the battlefield.
Link up immediately with your combat buddy.
Assume roles as a spotter, radio operator, ammunition re-loader, or pack mule.
Keep moving forward with your combat buddy and team members!
It’s simple mathematics. Your opponent has no idea your weapon went black and so he still must deal with you. After all, you’re not a casualty—so why go back to the casualty collection point or assembly area? Equally as important is that your combat buddy and team members have multiple tasks they must achieve in the heat of the battle. Your assistance will be welcomed, as will your presence.

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This article was originally published on odjournal.com (Olive Drab: the journal of tactics) and has been transferred here with permission.

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