Military

RESULT: The unnecessary loss of life and placing mission accomplishment in jeopardy.

Why do these problems consistently occur? Most likely because units have decreasing collective training opportunities to build fighting positions to standard at Home Station.

However, building fighting positions is actually an individual skill. It is also a skill that can be practiced at Home Station at squad and fire team levels if unit leaders creatively plan and resource the training.

Do not expect to send your soldiers to a training center for on-the-job training in fighting position construction. Rather, make such training a priority at Home Station - particularly when battalion- and/or company-level maneuver training opportunities may be fewer and farther between than before.

Fighting positions can be dug anywhere (except a paved lot), as long as they are filled back in when the training is over.

There are numerous field manuals, training circulars and Graphic Training Aids (GTAs) that describe the how to of fighting position construction, and the standards, etc. This article focuses on solving the training and leadership problems that result in poorly constructed positions.

By tackling these problems head on, and then referring you to existing doctrine, you should be able to more effectively supervise fighting position construction, or, if you're the rifleman, you should be better prepared to learn how to effectively build your fighting position.

We'll concentrate on deliberate two-man fighting positions. Keep in mind that numerous other types of fighting positions exist, i.e., for crew-served weapons, DRAGONs, etc. However, the basic position is still the two-man. Plus, the techniques for the two-man can be used if you're constructing another type fighting position.

Just a note about hasty fighting positions.

PROBLEM: Too many soldiers forget that as soon as they halt and assume a defensive posture - they better begin digging in.

Technique: As soon as there is a "lull in the action," you'd better be prepared to start digging in. As the grunt private, you'll be the last to know when/if the unit is going to move out. If the squad/platoon/company etc. is going to actually assume a hasty defense, then you'd better have a priority of work established to begin immediately improving your position.

Here's where the adage "What can be seen can be killed" really means something. What's the point of digging a dismounted fighting position that can be easily spotted from hundreds of meters away? For some examples of what I'm talking about, take a look at the NTC-produced How To videotape "Individual Fighting Positions/Vehicle Fighting Positions." (An order form for this and other free CTC-produced videos is at the back of this publication.) The video shows numerous examples of fighting positions that are dead give-aways from long ranges. No matter how well your position is constructed, the most important step in building a fighting position is to be sure that it cannot be seen. That includes from the air.

Techniques:

FM 5-103, Survivability, provides specific guidelines on a chart for the time it takes to build various fighting positions under different conditions. The FM will at least give you a reference point from which to start. There's also no substitute for experience. What's important is that the leadership understand the time necessary to prepare, and plan accordingly.

Technique:

In many cases the failure to supervise is linked to leaders lacking the necessary skill and expertise to properly inspect. In other instances, the failure to supervise and inspect is just another indicator of poor leadership.

Junior officers should learn how to properly construct infantry fighting positions by constructing them. There is no substitute for learning by doing. This hands-on skill development then provides the expertise and credibility to subsequently inspect positions constructed by their platoons.

Senior noncommissioned officers have a responsibility to pass this skill to their officers as well as their junior soldiers.

If laziness is the reason there is no leader supervision or inspection, your unit has a much larger set of problems to deal with than the mere construction of fighting positions.

There's also a graphic training aid, GTA 7-6-1, Fighting Position Construction, Infantry Leader's Reference Card.

Use FM 5-103, Survivability, for the doctrinal time factors in construction. Remember, the tables in the FM are guidelines. Temper these with your own experience in varied terrain.

Technique: Construct a dismounted infantry fighting position -to standard- right outside in the company area.

Figure 2-44, Stage 1, preparations of a fighting position.

STAGE 2. The retaining walls for the parapets are prepared at this stage. These ensure that there is at least one helmet distance from the edge of the hole to the beginning of the front, flank, and rear cover (Figure 2-45).

Figure 2-45. Stage 2, preparation of a fighting position.

Figure 2-46. Stage 3, preparation of fighting position.

Figure 2-47. Stage 4, preparation of a fighting position.

Table of Contents

Indirect Fires and the Combined Arms Team, Part 3

Keeping Our Eye on the Target