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Lesson 2

Practice Exercise
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1. Identify natural and cultural obstacles that may exist on the battlefield and describe their effects on military operations.
Natural obstacles (such as lakes, mountains, and forests) and cultural obstacles (such as towns, railroads, fences, and dams).
   
2. What are battlefield obstacles emplaced by military forces called, and how do they achieve their effects?
Obstacles that are emplaced by military forces are called reinforcing obstacles. Reinforcing obstacles achieve their effects by strengthening terrain in order to stop, slow, or canalize enemy forces.
   
3. After performing a terrain analysis, the staff engineer has identified the locations of the principal mobility corridors and the trafficability, key terrain, fields of fire, and choke points within each mobility corridor. What other factors should the staff engineer consider concerning mobility corridors?
The staff engineer should also identify the size of the mobility corridor or AA and the size of enemy force that it will accommodate.
   
4. Analyze the water obstacle in the following figure (Figure PE 2-1). Can this obstacle be crossed by armored vehicles using self-bridging? Can it be crossed by armored and wheeled vehicles? What is its value as an obstacle?
This stream has limited value as an obstacle. Since it is only 2 meters across, tanks can self-bridge across it. However, wheeled vehicles will have difficulty fording it since the banks are steep and the current is swift (2 meters per second).
   
5. A minefield placed on an advancing enemy force's most likely AA is what type of reinforcing obstacle? Why?
This is an example of a tactical obstacle. It was placed in front of the advancing enemy (not in front of a defensive position). This obstacle will cause the enemy to alter their plan of execution by forcing them to slow down and deploy their breaching assets or by causing them to find a way around the obstacle.
   
6. In the following figure (Figure PE 2-2), which cut (A, B, or C) will act as an expedient obstacle to tracked vehicles? Why?
A minimum cut of 1.2 meters is required to create an obstacle for a tracked vehicle on this slope.
   

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