SECTION II
TOW MILES Rules of Engagement (ROE)by CPT John M. Keeter, O/C, NTC
Following are TTPs regarding the care and feeding of TOW MILES. Tried and tested by a salty O/C at the National Training Center!
Do
Not Bring Home-Station MILES to the NTC. |
TOW TROUBLESHOOTING
The most common problems are due to faulty day-sight trackers. The MILES laser transmitter is not aligned with the sight's reticle. There is no calibration facility at NTC. The only fix is to exchange the ones you can't accurately boresight. Here are some more TTPs that should help troubleshoot the problems most often encountered.
a.
If all major components are replaced, yet the problem is not fixed.
Solution. Set the TOW system up pure with actual components and perform a self test to identify problems in the traversing unit.
b.
ATWESS Cartridge. The MILES contact team will have a dummy ATWESS cartridge
available to test the TOW system. These cartridges sometimes go bad, hampering
the fault isolation process.
Solution. Checking to make sure the dummy cartridge works properly prevents unnecessary MILES component exchanges.
c.
Boresighting during RSOI week. Often TOWs are low priority.
Solution.
- Identify TOW MILES issues early during RSOI to establish priority.
- Consider
coordinating the use of a boresight range with Heavy units.
- Use a boresight panel to quickly determine whether the footprint of the laser (day-sight tracker) is hitting where aimed.
- Tag faulty day-sight trackers and return them to the MILES warehouse. Be specific (e.g., "kills at 1500m, but not at 3,750") to avoid getting the same piece back later on.
- Continue to re-boresight until you can consistently kill at 3,750 meters.
- Be patient with exchanges of day sights. Expect a 50-percent failure rate at first draw. (Failure = inaccurate long-range fires.)
d.
Field boresighting/collimation.
Solution.
- Conduct field boresighting and collimation at every opportunity during the preparation phase of each battle.
- Key the HMMWV's MILES console box as a T-80 to replicate the TOW's long-range capabilities. If left as "HMMWV," the crew will not be able to kill.
- Collimating after a cross-country move and before engaging the enemy at night is imperative.
- Collimate after any boresight adjustments (i.e., beginning of the day, cross-country moves, 10-degree change in temperature, every 4 hours, after a component change).
- Disconnect the J-1 cable prior to changing the batteries in the daysight before each mission or the system will self-kill when the batteries are re-installed.
TRENDS/TTPs BY BOS
MANEUVER
Dismounted TOW
- Work on PCCs, crew drills and assignment of who carries what for dismounted operations.
- MGS battery charge status should be a PCC. MGS batteries must be charged for at least 18 hours to be used for dismounted operations.
- Normally
it takes a TOW PLT section to employ one dismounted TOW and one TOW missile.
For light units, potentially all four TOWs and more missiles could be employed
with help from rifle companies. Technique for a TOW platoon to pack and employ
a dismounted TOW:
- Tripod and launch tube carried by squad leader.
- MGS carried by gunner.
- Daysight tracker (one squad member).
- Traversing unit (second squad member).
- Night sight and battery Power conditioner (third squad member).
- Collimater and one missile (fourth squad member).
- Radio with binoculars (platoon leader).
Air Assault. Conduct Home-Station sling-load training with the aviation unit supporting the rotation. If this cannot be arranged, the unit's RSOI trainup should include TOW HMMWV (combat loaded) sling-load procedures for the appropriate aircraft (UH60-L, CH-47, etc.). SOPs should address static-load PCI, rehearsals and hookup teams.
Engagement Area (EA) Development
- Prepare techniques for TRPs before deployment. Techniques for heated TRPs include reverse polarity panels or coffee cans with sand, rocks and diesel fuel.
- EA development in the defense should begin as soon as the WARNO and timeline are given.
- Dozer assets for light units are usually a low priority. Address coordination for dozer support early to quickly dig two-tier positions for the TOW platoon.
- Rehearse
direct fire plans.
- Minimum = direct fire controls.
- Maximum = engagement line, triggers, indirect plan, enemy composition (COA, formations, capabilities, vulnerabilities), engagement/disengagement criteria, integration with adjacent rifle company, and CASEVAC plan.
- Conduct actions on contact and reload crew drills during the preparation phase.
- Coordinate for security with the adjacent rifle company. Rehearse their integration with the direct fire plan.
Weapons Mix. METT-T dictates the TOW platoon's weapon mix. The leader should address this for each mission to ensure proper employment of the MK19, TOW or .50-cal based on the enemy threat and constricted terrain.
LOGISTICS
CASEVAC
- Marking by casualty type assists the platoon sergeant's to prioritize evacuation.
- TOW platoons usually integrate their casualties with the adjacent rifle company's Casualty Collection Point (CCP).
- Address load plans for the internal CASEVAC vehicle (usually Platoon Sergeant's vehicle) in the SOP.
Maintenance. The first 5988E should be issued to each driver by RSOI -4 (Thursday before deploying Saturday). Ideally, only 5988Es should be issued during the rotation. But units usually tend to generate 2404s in addition to existing 5988Es. This causes confusion and duplicate requests from the PLL clerks. 5988E/2404s turned-in "by exception" are acceptible if there is a tracking system in place.
INTELLIGENCE. During the "Red Zone" fight, reporting is critical to paint an accurate picture to the chain of command. Reports should address friendly combat power and enemy situation, enemy formations and impact, plus a recommendation on how the TOW unit can meet the commander's intent.
RISK MANAGEMENT. Units do well in risk assessment, yet fail to go to the next step in developing controls using the 5-step risk management process.
- Identify the hazards using METT-T as a guide.
- Assess the probability of the hazard occurring.
- Develop controls to reduce the risk.
- Make a decision to accept or deny a task based on the risk and ability to effectively control its probability of occurring.
These TTPs should go a long way towards fixing the commonplace problems encountered using MILES at NTC. The most important item to remember is that units should notify their O/Cs if there are repeated MILES equipment problems or for issues concerning the MILES contact team (e.g., the contact team did not bring enough daysight trackers to exchange with the player unit).
Table
of Contents
Section
I: Patrolling TTP for Crossing Linear Danger Areas
Section
III: Named Areas of Interest
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