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Military

MANEUVER

Lessons Learned: Use Dismounted Infantry in the Defense

Problem: Enemy infiltrators gather key intelligence and enemy and vehicle crewmen breach obstacles.

Successful Tactics, Techniques and Procedures

  • Use dismounted infantry in observation posts (OPs) in depth forward of the FLOT to detect enemy infiltrators. Cover these OPs with the BFVs or tanks to gain the advantage of thermals at night and long range reinforcing fires. The OPs can kill enemy infiltrators preferably with indirect fire or alternately with responsive reaction forces or ambushes. Use the IPB process to site the OPs on likely infiltration routes. Integrate these OPs with local security OPs.

  • Infantry positions with good grazing fire can cover likely enemy breach sites in obstacles with small arms fire and observed indirect fire. This precludes infiltrators or enemy vehicle crewmen from quickly breaching key obstacles. The result is the obstacle will force the enemy to do what we want him to do. A technique is to dig the infantry in near to the obstacle with strong overhead cover to protect against indirect fire. This greatly increases the range that small arms can keep enemy dismounts away from the obstacle.

  • Another technique is to shape the battlefield using dismounted infantry strong points at chokepoints to force the enemy into prepared engagement areas. The strong points, if reinforced with obstacles and direct fire, can dissuade the enemy from attacking that point and force him where we want him to go.

Lessons Learned: Use Dismounted Infantry in the Offense

Problem: Units that don't use all available resources to confirm IPB templates allow enemy tanks to remain in defensive positions and kill large numbers of friendly vehicles. If the infantry assault is not synchronized with the mounted attack, a piecemeal attack results and is normally unsuccessful.

Successful Tactics, Techniques and Procedures

  • In the attack, reconnaissance is vital. Dismounted infantry can use stealth, darkness, and restrictive terrain to reconnoiter enemy positions and obstacles. They find and mark obstacle bypasses, begin to breach, secure the breach site or conduct supporting attacks with the main mounted attack. Dismounted infantry owns the night.

  • Dismounted OPs in key terrain can determine all anti-tank vehicle positions, obstacles, and enemy repositioning. They can use directional antennas to communicate this key intelligence back to the task force. Use more than one OP to observe a named area of interest.

  • Use the "bird dog" technique to flush enemy tanks in rough terrain. Friendly tanks overwatch an area while dismounted infantry clears it. An enemy tank should be forced to choose between accepting a rear or flank shot from the infantry's DRAGON or attempting to outrun the overwatching tanks. The infantry can infiltrate before the attack begins or attack with the tanks.

  • When using dismounted infantry in the offense, plan to use EW assets to find enemy indirect fire nets during the preparation phase. When dismounted infantry comes under indirect fire during execution, priority of jamming is the enemy indirect fire nets until the infantry breaks contact.

Lessons Learned: Shoot Them in the Back

Problem: Weapons sited in front of an advancing enemy are easy for him to acquire, suppress, and destroy. In addition, long range frontal shots are less effective due to the heavier frontal armor on enemy tanks.

Successful Tactics, Techniques and Procedures

  • Position tanks and anti-armor systems for flank and rear shots. This takes advantage of the need and natural tendency of enemy crews to focus their attention in the direction of travel. It presents the least armored areas of enemy vehicles to your weapons.

  • Reinforce terrain with obstacles and minefields with the objective of turning the enemy rather than stopping him. Mounted troops will try to bypass before trying to breach. One of their primary concerns is to maintain the forward momentum of the attack. Therefore, an oblique obstacle, which allows some movement forward and the hope of a bypass, will be more successful at exposing the enemy's flank to your guns. Summarized, you create a funnel and plan your fires to control access to the bypass points.

  • Reverse slope positions provide excellent cover from long range direct fires and an edge in killing the enemy. If the enemy comes over your hill, you can shoot him in the belly plate before he can get his guns depressed far enough to shoot back. If the enemy bypasses your hill, you will be in good position to fire and maneuver into his flank and rear.

Lessons Learned: Keep It Simple . . . Use Battle Drills

Problem: There are certain common combat situations, such as ambushes and meeting engagements, which require instantaneous actions to ensure survival and success.

Successful Tactics, Techniques and Procedures

  • When units reinforce and refine company and below battle drills through repetitious training at home station, they provide soldiers with the instinctive reactions to an enemy action.

Lessons Learned: Use the Aviation Liaison Officer (AVN LNO)

Problem: Effective employment of attack helicopters in conjunction with ground forces requires detailed planning and coordination down to the lowest applicable level. The AVN LNO is the lynch-pin for air-ground interaction. He must have a thorough knowledge of the tactical situation to preclude aviation assets being sent into an unfamiliar situation at the height of the battle.

Successful Tactics, Techniques and Procedures

  • The AVN LNO must be part of the brigade commander's staff training.

  • The AVN LNO must understand armor and mechanized maneuver doctrine (FM 71-2, FM 71-3).

  • The AVN LNO must involve the air mission commander in the brigade war gaming/planning process. All aviation leaders must know and understand the ground brigade commander's intent.

  • Attack aviation needs locations of enemy platoons and companies "now" rather than a fix on battalions and regiments an hour ago. The AVN LNO must ensure the aviation task force commander is monitoring the brigade command and operations & intelligence (O& net or battalion task force/battalion command net. This ensures the timely flow of intelligence to aviation units on the shape and movement of the battlefield so they can correctly position their assets.

  • During combat operations, the AVN LNO must "sell" the doctrinally correct use of aviation to the maneuver commander. Conversely, the maneuver commander must understand aviation's capabilities and limitations.

  • To track the battle, some units have put the AVN LNO in the Air Force ALO's track. In this position, the Army AVN LNO is mobile and has direct access to the battalion or brigade commander during operations, in person, or on the radio. Additionally, the track has the radios to talk to all aviation elements and provides direct coordination with the ALO.

  • The AVN LNO must track crew and equipment status and relay this information to the ground maneuver commander. Unlike armor and infantry units, aviation may require Class III and IV many times each day and in large quantities. The brigade must compensate for this resupply in the tactical plan. The efficient operation and careful positioning of Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARPs) are critical to massing attack helicopters. Management of aviator crew endurance is a command function.

Lessons Learned: Task Units to Destroy Enemy in Specific Engagement Areas

Problem: Simultaneously positioning weapons/units, emplacing obstacles, digging in, and siting target reference points (TRPs) results in engagement areas and obstacles ineffectively covered by fire. On the average, less than half of friendly weapons engage the enemy.

Successful Tactics, Techniques and Procedures

  • The defensive goal must be to destroy the enemy with massed fires. Mass fires by tasking units to destroy the enemy in specific engagement areas versus defending a battle position. Given this clear goal, leaders can easily position weapons/units to mass fires on the enemy. Only then can leaders precisely site obstacles which are effectively covered by fire. Leaders then rehearse the plan to confirm its validity and to ensure that subordinates understand the concept. As such, the most effective priority of work in the defense is normally to:

    1. Establish security
    2. Analyze mission
    3. Identify avenues of approach using IPB
    4. Use IPB to determine where/how to kill the enemy
    5. Site target reference points (TRPs) and engagement areas (EAs)
    6. Assign TRPs/EAs to units as their mission
    7. Site weapons, weapons systems and units based on their TRPs/EAs
    8. Site obstacles
    9. Rehearse to include fire support and repositioning of forces to confirm plan
    10. Dig in
    11. Emplace obstacles
    12. Rehearse buttoned up in MOPP 4 and at night
    13. Register indirect fires

Note that 1-9 have to take place very quickly to allow troops time to complete the work intensive 10 and 11. Using the leaders recon as an orders group to war game and complete the plan will speed up 1-9. Remember that a repositioning plan is doomed to failure unless it is rehearsed as a minimum by all leaders and drivers.

Table of Contents
Intelligence and Electronic Warfare
Fire Support



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