• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

DISCUSSION: Units were not using vehicles with mine rollers as the lead vehicles during initial route clearance or deliberate sweep of a route or lodgement/assembly area. MICLICs and probing can provide breaching or location capability.

LESSONS: That units lead with mine roller vehicles when conducting route clearing, route proofing, or lodgement area clearing. That SOPs be developed for using MICLICs and probing for breaching non-metallic/buried minefields.

OBSERVATION: Units were not positioning tow cables across the rear of the lead vehicles when engaged in road clearing, route proofing, and lodgement area/assembly area clearing.

DISCUSSION: Positioning tow cables across the back of the lead vehicle will allow the vehicle to be towed backwards in its own tracks if the it strikes a mine, thereby preventing further damage to the vehicle and enabling first aid to be administered in a more timely manner.

LESSONS: That units position tow cables across the rear of lead vehicles when engaged in road clearing, route proofing, and lodgement area clearing.

OBSERVATION: Minefield marking continues to be an issue with training units.

DISCUSSION: Standard Minefield Marking/Degraded Minefield Marking & Tracking. Units did not have standard mine/UXO marking kits. A simple standardized marking system, known to all, will save lives and materiel. Once the mines are reported and marked, engineers or EOD personnel can be dispatched to permanently mark the danger area, or neutralize the mines/UXO. When the ground is frozen and pickets can not be emplaced units must have an alternate method of marking minefields. Periodic re-verification of the minefield and marking system must be conducted, since markings may be moved due to weather, or have been removed by factional elements. Additionally, mines may have shifted in the snow and mud.

LESSONS: That each vehicle in the unit carry materials for a standard marking. The following materials could be used: 15 short U-shaped pickets and one roll of engineer tape. That the corners of the minefield be "slugged-in" and annotated on both a "dirty battlefield" overlay and a tracking matrix.

OBSERVATION: Route status marking continues to be an issue.

DISCUSSION: Route Status Tracking. Units did not have a standardized method of tracking route status within their AOR. Continuous verification of routes allows units to adjust their risk assessment appropriately and task organize IAW their updated risk assessment. Verification can be any vehicle driving along the route.

LESSONS: That units develop a standard method of tracking route status within their AOR. One method follows:

• Routes or segments that have been cleared or verified within the last two hours are GREEN. *

• Routes or segments that have been cleared or verified within the last two to six hours are AMBER. *

• Routes or segments that have been cleared or verified within the last six to twelve hours are RED. *

• Uncleared routes or segments are denoted as BLACK.

(*Times of the status are based on METT-T.)

OBSERVATION: Soldiers did not have picket pounders and the proper gloves when pounding pickets or when handling concertina and barbed wire.

DISCUSSION: Picket pounders are fabricated devices that allow a person to drive a picket into the ground. Engineer units normally carry their own picket pounders but do not have sufficient numbers for distribution to non-engineer units throughout the task force, brigade, or division sector. Picket pounders enable dismounted soldiers to drive pickets into hard-packed dirt which enables units to quickly develop checkpoints to standard. Soldiers handling concertina and barbed wire without the proper gloves injure their hands and take longer to construct obstacles and check points.

LESSONS: That all deployed units take "picket pounders" with them to section/platoon level. That each soldier deploys with serviceable work and barbed wire gloves (NSN 8415-00-926-1674) for handling concertina and barbed wire.

OBSERVATION: No SOP for heliborne mine marking and reporting.

DISCUSSION: Aircrews will discover minefields in the ZOS. There needs to be a standardized method of marking minefields from the air to aid ground units in locating same.

LESSONS: Standardize a method for aircrews to mark minefields from the air. One method may be weighted, high-visibility streamers thrown from the helicopter. Streamers should be compact for storage under seat or in helmet bag but at least 10 feet long once deployed.

OBSERVATION: Centralized management of Engineers is essential to ensure best use of this critical asset.

DISCUSSION: Engineer assets are often sitting idle and the engineer effort is piece-mealed throughout the TF AOR. The effort, location of the Engineers, location of the CLASS IV materials, and priorities of work must be synchronized with the TF priority of work / effort. The TF often loses visibility of the engineer assets and their status and the TF remains vulnerable while survivability assets lay idle. Sustainment of engineers in direct support of the maneuver unit must be monitored by the supported unit in order to get maximum effort and efficiency.

LESSONS:

1. Treat the engineer effort as if it were a daily preparation of the defense in HIC.

2. Do not piece-meal the effort; assign teams of engineers to complete entire projects before they move on to the next site; weight the main effort.

3. Assign a 'CINC ENGR' within each CO/TM who tracks all digging and mine clearing efforts.

4. Have a positive hand-over of assets from company to company by the XO.

5. Develop a system in the TOC to track route clearance and engineer effort for checkpoints, observation posts, lodgement areas, survivability positions, etc.

6. Review and update the daily priority of effort and work and then synchronize the delivery of CLASS IV to the sites. Ideally, when the engineers arrive the right amounts of CLASS IV are there and ready for construction.

7. Place command emphasis on the TF priority of support to engineers for all classes of supply and maintenance.

8. Monitor status of critical assets (rollers, plows, ACEs, SEEs, CEVs, etc.) in the TOC.

Table of Contents

Air Defense Artillery

Combat Service Support