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APPENDIX R

MILITARY OPERATIONS ON URBANIZED TERRAIN

Section I. INTRODUCTION

Villages and small towns are a common sight in much of the world, particularly in Central Europe. Larger towns, small cities, and major urban centers will often be avoided by mechanized forces. Even so, mechanized infantry unite must be ready to fight in urban areas when required. (See FM 90-10-1 for details.) Fighting in urban areas is usually characterized by house-to-house fighting, restricted maneuver space for ground vehicles, and restricted observation and fields of fire. As a result, the dismounted infantry role increases markedly.

Platoons and squads will seldom fight alone in urban combat. Normally they will fight as part of their company or company team. Combat engineers will normally support the infantry.

The rapid rate of expenditure of small arms ammunition, grenades, and demolitions is another characteristic that must be taken into consideration during urban combat.

Streets and alleys make ready-made firing lanes and killing zones. Vehicles, being greatly restricted and canalized, are subject to ambush and short-range attack. Tanks are at a disadvantage because their main guns cannot be depressed enough to fire into basements at close range, nor can they be elevated enough to engage targets on upper floors of tall buildings nearby. The APC has a more flexible capability in this role. The squad can be organized so that the caliber .50 machine gun as well as other weapons can provide overwatch and suppressive fire to dismounted elements while the APC provides the carrier team with limited armor protection.

Fighting in urban areas will be centered around prepared positions in houses and buildings. These positions should be designed to cover street approaches, and should be protected by mines, obstacles, and booby traps. Hence, bridges, overpasses, and buildings must be inspected and cleared of any mines before they are used. Also, reconnaissance parties must determine the weight-supporting capacity of roads, bridges, and floors to find out if they will support APCs and tanks. Engineers can be used for these tasks.

APCs and tanks should not be employed alone. Dismount teams should be responsible for protecting specific tanks or their carrier teams. Carrier teams should move along the sides of streets, stay close to buildings, and observe and cover the buildings on the opposite side. Carrier team members must remain alert for signals from the dismount teams. Close cooperation between the dismount team and the carrier team in the urban environment is critical.

Section II. OFFENSE

In urban areas, fighting will be mostly dismounted. The carrier teams employed chiefly in a fire support role. Tanks follow and, as needed, move to provide heavy direct fire support from locations secured by the leading infantry.

The attacker has the advantage of maneuver and can isolate a built-up area. Once a built-up area has been isolated, a force can either assault it or conduct a siege until the defender surrenders.

The missions of dismount teams engaged in the attack of a built-up area include:

Typical carrier team missions during attacks in urban areas are:

Platoons and squads use the same general movement techniques on urban terrain as on other terrain. When moving toward an urban area and contact is possible, traveling overwatch should be used. Upon entry into the urban area, dismount teams should be deployed, and the platoon should move using bounding overwatch. Dismount teams should move alongside and through buildings, avoiding open areas when possible. When moving down a street, dismount teams should move staggered on alternate sides of the street. Teams must guard against ground level positions along the street and also should assign two or three men to observe the upper floors of buildings on the opposite side of the street. Carrier teams, overmatching the dismount teams, should travel staggered on alternate sides of the street.

In the offense, the APC is best used to provide direct fire support for the dismount team. The carrier team should move well behind the dismount team and move up when needed to engage targets located by the dismount team.

Communications between the dismount element and the carrier element are crucial. Communications can be visual or voice signals, radio or telephone. There is a phone jack on the rear of each APC.

The speed of the APC lets the carrier team rapidly cross streets, open areas, or alleys.

When attacking an urban area, the most common mission of the platoon is to clear a building or a group of buildings. The platoon leader designates the composition of the dismount element and the carrier element. The makeup of these elements can change with the situation. Each dismount team is organized into two- or three-man assault teams. The platoon leader also may designate a part of the dismount element as a demolition team.

The entire dismount element normally is used to attack one building at a time. (Against smaller buildings, the platoon leader may have a single dismount team conduct the attack.) The attack is conducted in three steps:

To isolate a building, the carrier element takes an overwatch position. It fires the caliber .50 machine gun and the 7.62-mm machine gun to suppress enemy troops, in the building and those in nearby buildings, who can fire at the dismount element.

The dismount teams move to the building along covered and concealed routes. Smoke grenades and smoke pots can provide additional concealment. The dismount teams enter the building at the highest point they can, because:

If there is no covered route to the roof, the foothold quickly fight to the highest story, and dismount teams may enter at a lower story or at then clear room-by-room, floor-by-floor, from the ground level. In this case, they should seize a top down.

To enter a building, one of the assault teams moves (covered by fire) to the entry point. One soldier throws a grenade into the room. After the explosion, the assault team enters, one man at a time, overwatched by the other men. The first man rushes in firing his weapon in two- or three-round bursts. He takes a position that gives him coverage of the whole room. The other men enter the room and make a quick but thorough search.

The same procedure is repeated from room to room and floor to floor (to include the basement, if there is one) until the building is cleared of all enemy. It then is considered secured. If it fits in the scheme, the secure building becomes the position from which the assault on the next building is overwatched. This assault may be made by other dismount teams of the same platoon, or by a dismount element from another platoon. The building should be marked to indicate that it is clear of enemy. (Put white engineer tape or chalk marks over the door.)

Section III. DEFENSE

As in the attack, most of the fighting in the defense is done by dismount teams. It is harder to build the platoon's defense around the APC in urban areas than in other types of terrain. But the carrier element's role is no less important. A platoon normally defends from positions in one to three buildings. This depends on the size and strength of the buildings, the arrangement of the buildings, and the size of the platoon.

Typical missions for dismount teams in the defense include:

Typical missions of carrier teams in the defense include:

Other aspects of defense in urban terrain that the platoon leader should consider are:

The APC, after being refueled and uploaded with ammunition, should be integrated into the platoon fire plan. Once placed in position, APCs should not be moved for logistical or administrative functions. Other vehicles should accomplish these functions, when possible.

Once the platoon leader picks the building(s) he will defend, he should position his carrier teams and dismount teams. Dismounted machine guns should be positioned to have grazing fire. Dragons should be positioned on upper stories for longer range and for firing at the tops of tanks. If it can be done, supplementary and alternate positions should be designated for dismount teams and carrier teams. These positions should permit continuous coverage of the primary sector and allow all-round defense.

It may be advisable in certain instances to move to alternate positions with the onset of darkness to deceive the enemy as to the actual location of the platoon.

When firing the LAW or Dragon from within a room, backblast must be taken into account. In urban combat, the backblast area for these weapons is more dangerous because of rubble and the channeling effect caused by buildings, narrow streets, and alleys. Antitank weapons should not be fired from unvented or closed rooms. By wetting down the floor of the room or building, the signature produced by the backblast may be significantly reduced.

The platoon can use obstacles to hamper enemy mobility and allow longer engagement time for tanks and infantry. Mines and demolitions should be planned for the outside and inside of buildings to neutralize enemy forces attempting to gain a foothold. Buildings can be selectively rubbled to improve fields of fire and create obstacles.