Post by Administrator on May 6, 2008 13:00:26 GMT 8
Basic Field Operating Procedures:
Infantry Minor Tactics or IMTs are the very basic tactics that are
employed at the squad, section, or platoon level. They are, generally
speaking, reasonably similar across most modern armies.
In most situations, except static defense, IMTs are based on the
principle of "fire and movement" - that is firing and moving, often in
pairs. One soldier is firing to suppress or neutralize the enemy while
the other soldier moves either toward the enemy or to a more
favorable position to attack/counter-attack. The movement often uses
only 5-10 feet per move. This technique is sometimes referred to as
"pepper-potting" (British) or "fire team rushes"(US).
IMTs are typically taught to all arms and services both in basic
training and often also whilst undergoing non-infantry specialty
training. In some military forces, such as the Australian Army and the
United States Marine Corps, all units in the field force regardless of
corps, regiment, trade, or specialty are supposed to undergo annual
refresher training in IMTs, on the basis all soldiers in a conflict can be
expected to be involved at least providing local security for their unit
or formation.
Most IMTs are taught in the form of a drill – i.e. a series of
choreographed steps that occur in reaction to a certain stimuli, such
as sighting an enemy to the front, or being engaged by enemy from
flank etc. The initial stages of the drill are reutilized, and therefore,
action doesn't require full appraisal of the situation by individual
soldiers or unit commanders. Such stimulus-response training allows
coordinated responses without the need for direct orders. In combat,
this allows the first few moments of the engagement to occur almost
automatically and gives the soldiers a way to respond appropriately
and predictably (i.e. take cover and start returning fire, or shift the
flanks to becoming in enfilade to a surprise attack) while the unit
commander assesses the actual situation and issues orders further
orders.
Perhaps the most basic of all IMTs is the "Basic Drill". The Basic
Drill is the drill all individual soldiers are supposed to perform if they
come under "effective fire".
The basic drill is:
• Run two or three steps
• Drop to the ground or into cover
• Crawl a few yards (or move under concealment/cover)
• Observe
• Shoot (identified targets of opportunity within effective range)
• Move
• Observe
• Shoot
• Move
• Repeat until issued orders.
The basic drill is designed to provide the soldier with simple steps to
follow under the stress of combat. The essential goal of the basic drill
is to move the soldier into cover, remove him from the last position
where he was likely to be seen by the enemy, and keep him
"positively engaged” (identifying and shooting) with any targets in his
effective area until his commander makes an appraisal and issues
instructions.
Fire and movement is the basic military tactic used by small unit
commanders on the modern battlefield. It uses the power of
suppressive fire to decrease the enemy's firepower, organization,
intelligence, and morale. This tactic has been brought to a new level
with the advent of automatic weapons, but also has been used in its
basics since ancient times with slingers and archers providing
covering fire for advancing infantry and cavalry.
Fire and movement work on the basis of suppressing an enemy with
an appropriate level of fire, while at the same time advancing. This
will take the form of two units of whatever size appropriate - two
soldiers or larger.
Base of Fire
One unit will provide a base of fire from a position in order to
suppress the enemy. This will take the form of sustained fire on the
enemy position as to prevent movement or return of fire on the
advancing unit.
Suppression
Heavy and continuous fire keeps an opponent suppressed and
therefore limits the overall firepower of a unit (if a platoon has 30
soldiers, but only 15 are shooting back because the other 15 are
being suppressed, you have tactically limited that unit's firepower by
50%). It also builds up confusion and sometimes panic for
undisciplined forces. The fire cuts down on an enemy's intelligence in
that they are not able to assess the situation as clearly. Finally the
suppressive fire hurts an enemy's morale by scaring them, for the fire
is continuous. In actuality, it scares more then it kills, but an enemy
who hesitates the least bit is at a great disadvantage.
Advance
While a base of fire is set up, the second unit will advance to cover in
front, in the process setting up a new base of fire at this point.
After a new base of fire has been set up the first unit will advance,
under cover of the new fire base, to a new position and set up
another fire base there. This continues on and on till the enemy is
either captured or killed.
Assault
The “advance” is repeated until the units have closed upon the
enemy position. At this point a unit will close in on the enemy and
destroy them.
Overwatch:
In modern warfare, overwatch is the state of one small unit supporting
another, while they are executing fire and movement tactics. An
overwatching, or supporting unit has taken a position where it can
observe the terrain ahead, especially likely enemy positions. This
allows it to provide effective covering fire for advancing friendly units.
The term overwatch originates in U.S. military doctrine.
An ideal overwatch position provides cover for the unit and
unobstructed lines of fire. It may be on a higher piece of ground or at
the top of a ridge, where a vehicle may be able to adopt a hull-down
position. If the overwatching unit is in a position to fire over advancing
friendly units, great care must be taken not to let fire fall short. The
friendly units should be within tracer burnout (the range at which
tracer rounds are visible).
Overwatch can be performed by platoons during company fire and
movement, infantry sections, in platoon fire and movement, or even
by fire teams or individual soldiers, in the final stages of an assault.
Offensive Tactics:
These following tactics are basic offensive tactics on how to outsmart
the enemy and how to defeat them by basic common
knowledge of tactics.
A flying wedge or flying V is a charging technique in which troops
are arrayed to form a V- shaped wedge formation or boar's head.
Military uses:
If the point of the wedge can breach the enemy line, the following
troops can widen the gap. As successive ranks of the wedge engage,
they can draw their opponents' attention away from previous ranks,
thereby protecting them.
This tactic relies on momentum and penetration. If the point of the
wedge can be stopped for even a moment, the wedge can be easily
enveloped in a pincer attack which will be discussed later. The tactic
is especially effective when used by heavily-armed infantry against
shield wall defensive formations, where defenders link their shields to
form an all but impenetrable wall. The flying wedge can be used to
knock a small section of the wall open, and flank the enemy from
inside their own line.
The pincer movement (double envelopment) is a basic element of
military strategy which has been used, to some extent, in nearly every
war. The maneuver is mostly self-explanatory; the flanks of the
opponent are attacked simultaneously in a pinching motion after the
opponent has advanced towards the center of an army which is
responding by moving its outside forces to the enemy's flanks, in
order to surround it. At the same time, a second layer of pincers
attacks on the more extreme flanks, so as to prevent any attempts to
reinforce the target unit.
Most infantry combat, on every scale, is based in some fashion on
this military tactic and it is commonly used by aircraft as well.
In military tactics, a flanking maneuver, also called a flank attack, is
an attack on the sides or rear of an opposing force. If a flanking
maneuver were to succeed, the opposing force would be surrounded
from two or more directions, which often grants victory to the flanking
side. As the flank is usually the weaker part of an army, flanking often
gives the attacker an advantage on the psychological condition or the
practical condition of an army, depending on the situation.
The flanking maneuver is one of the most basic tactics used in
battles. There are two types of flanking. In the first type, the principle
of the flanking maneuver is to be sudden and able to catch the enemy
by surprise, causing the enemy to overreact or retreat when they are
surrounded from a few directions. Usually this type of flanking is
concealed in an ambush.
The second type is obvious and transparent, and thus gives the
enemy a chance to prepare. A typical example will be a platoon
encountering an isolated enemy combat outpost. Taking fire from the
combat outpost, the platoon commander may decide to flank. In this
case, one third to two thirds of his platoon may remain in position and
"fix" the enemy with suppressive fire. This prevents the enemy from
retreating or reorienting to a new threat. The remainder of the platoon
will advance discreetly to the flanks of the enemy, before destroying
the enemy in rushes. Because of the possibility of fratricide,
coordination is very important.
The most effective form of flanking maneuver is the doubleenvelopment
that involves simultaneous flanking from both ends of
the line of battle.
To prevent from being flanked, a unit could be sent to engage the
enemy flanking unit before the enemy reached its target.
Motti is a Finnish military slang for an encircled enemy unit. This
tactic of envelopment was used extensively by the Finnish forces in
the Winter War and the Continuation War to a good effect. Basically
motti is a double envelope maneuver using bad terrain and light
troops to encircle an enemy restricted on good terrain or roads. They
are heavily outnumbered, but mobile forces could easily immobilize
an enemy twenty times larger than itself.
The idea is to cut the enemy columns, or battle groups, into smaller
groups and then encircle them by light and mobile forces, such as
ski-troops during winter.
A raid is a brief attack, normally performed by a small military force of
commandos, or by irregulars. A raid may be conducted to demoralize
or confuse an enemy, to ransack a camp, to obtain or destroy goods,
to free POWs, to kill or capture people important to an enemy force,
or to gather intelligence. Raids are especially common in guerrilla
warfare also called Special Ops.
Hit-and-run tactics is a tactical doctrine where the purpose of the
combat involved is not to seize control of territory, but to inflict
damage on a target and immediately exit the area to avoid the
enemy's defense and/or retaliation.
These tactics are a cornerstone of irregular warfare. Like guerrilla
warfare, militant resistance movements, and terrorism where the
enemy typically overmatches the attacking force to the point where
sustained combat is to be avoided
Offensive Maneuvers:
Offensive Maneuvers are different from offensive tactics because
offensive maneuvers are some of the ways on how to conduct
offensive tactics.
Skirmishers are infantry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside of a
larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish
line to either harass enemy troops or to protect their own troops from
similar attacks by the enemy. Skirmishers are generally lightly armed
and armored for increased battlefield mobility.
Human wave attack is a military term describing a type of assault
performed by infantry units. This type of maneuver is in which
soldiers attack in successive line formations, often in dense groups
and generally without the support of other arms or with any
sophistication in the tactics used. The term is usually connected to
conscript armies, whose poor training usually leaves them little
tactical flexibility. The term has come to be used as a pejorative. In a
human wave attack, there is no attempt to minimize casualties; on the
contrary, part of the tactic involves presenting the defender with the
shock value of overwhelming numbers of attackers. This dense
concentration of troops in the open tends to lead to very high
casualties.
Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military
doctrine based on the use of "overwhelming decisive force",
"dominant battlefield awareness", "dominant maneuvers", and
"spectacular displays of power" to "paralyze" an adversary's
perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight. The doctrine
was written by Harlan K. Ullman and James. P. Wade and is a
product of the National Defense University of the United States.
Defensive Tactics and Maneuvers:
Again, as with offensive tactics and maneuvers, don’t get the two
confused: Maneuvers are the way on how to conduct tactics.
------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.officialusasocmagazine.co...st%20Issue.pdf
Infantry Minor Tactics or IMTs are the very basic tactics that are
employed at the squad, section, or platoon level. They are, generally
speaking, reasonably similar across most modern armies.
In most situations, except static defense, IMTs are based on the
principle of "fire and movement" - that is firing and moving, often in
pairs. One soldier is firing to suppress or neutralize the enemy while
the other soldier moves either toward the enemy or to a more
favorable position to attack/counter-attack. The movement often uses
only 5-10 feet per move. This technique is sometimes referred to as
"pepper-potting" (British) or "fire team rushes"(US).
IMTs are typically taught to all arms and services both in basic
training and often also whilst undergoing non-infantry specialty
training. In some military forces, such as the Australian Army and the
United States Marine Corps, all units in the field force regardless of
corps, regiment, trade, or specialty are supposed to undergo annual
refresher training in IMTs, on the basis all soldiers in a conflict can be
expected to be involved at least providing local security for their unit
or formation.
Most IMTs are taught in the form of a drill – i.e. a series of
choreographed steps that occur in reaction to a certain stimuli, such
as sighting an enemy to the front, or being engaged by enemy from
flank etc. The initial stages of the drill are reutilized, and therefore,
action doesn't require full appraisal of the situation by individual
soldiers or unit commanders. Such stimulus-response training allows
coordinated responses without the need for direct orders. In combat,
this allows the first few moments of the engagement to occur almost
automatically and gives the soldiers a way to respond appropriately
and predictably (i.e. take cover and start returning fire, or shift the
flanks to becoming in enfilade to a surprise attack) while the unit
commander assesses the actual situation and issues orders further
orders.
Perhaps the most basic of all IMTs is the "Basic Drill". The Basic
Drill is the drill all individual soldiers are supposed to perform if they
come under "effective fire".
The basic drill is:
• Run two or three steps
• Drop to the ground or into cover
• Crawl a few yards (or move under concealment/cover)
• Observe
• Shoot (identified targets of opportunity within effective range)
• Move
• Observe
• Shoot
• Move
• Repeat until issued orders.
The basic drill is designed to provide the soldier with simple steps to
follow under the stress of combat. The essential goal of the basic drill
is to move the soldier into cover, remove him from the last position
where he was likely to be seen by the enemy, and keep him
"positively engaged” (identifying and shooting) with any targets in his
effective area until his commander makes an appraisal and issues
instructions.
Fire and movement is the basic military tactic used by small unit
commanders on the modern battlefield. It uses the power of
suppressive fire to decrease the enemy's firepower, organization,
intelligence, and morale. This tactic has been brought to a new level
with the advent of automatic weapons, but also has been used in its
basics since ancient times with slingers and archers providing
covering fire for advancing infantry and cavalry.
Fire and movement work on the basis of suppressing an enemy with
an appropriate level of fire, while at the same time advancing. This
will take the form of two units of whatever size appropriate - two
soldiers or larger.
Base of Fire
One unit will provide a base of fire from a position in order to
suppress the enemy. This will take the form of sustained fire on the
enemy position as to prevent movement or return of fire on the
advancing unit.
Suppression
Heavy and continuous fire keeps an opponent suppressed and
therefore limits the overall firepower of a unit (if a platoon has 30
soldiers, but only 15 are shooting back because the other 15 are
being suppressed, you have tactically limited that unit's firepower by
50%). It also builds up confusion and sometimes panic for
undisciplined forces. The fire cuts down on an enemy's intelligence in
that they are not able to assess the situation as clearly. Finally the
suppressive fire hurts an enemy's morale by scaring them, for the fire
is continuous. In actuality, it scares more then it kills, but an enemy
who hesitates the least bit is at a great disadvantage.
Advance
While a base of fire is set up, the second unit will advance to cover in
front, in the process setting up a new base of fire at this point.
After a new base of fire has been set up the first unit will advance,
under cover of the new fire base, to a new position and set up
another fire base there. This continues on and on till the enemy is
either captured or killed.
Assault
The “advance” is repeated until the units have closed upon the
enemy position. At this point a unit will close in on the enemy and
destroy them.
Overwatch:
In modern warfare, overwatch is the state of one small unit supporting
another, while they are executing fire and movement tactics. An
overwatching, or supporting unit has taken a position where it can
observe the terrain ahead, especially likely enemy positions. This
allows it to provide effective covering fire for advancing friendly units.
The term overwatch originates in U.S. military doctrine.
An ideal overwatch position provides cover for the unit and
unobstructed lines of fire. It may be on a higher piece of ground or at
the top of a ridge, where a vehicle may be able to adopt a hull-down
position. If the overwatching unit is in a position to fire over advancing
friendly units, great care must be taken not to let fire fall short. The
friendly units should be within tracer burnout (the range at which
tracer rounds are visible).
Overwatch can be performed by platoons during company fire and
movement, infantry sections, in platoon fire and movement, or even
by fire teams or individual soldiers, in the final stages of an assault.
Offensive Tactics:
These following tactics are basic offensive tactics on how to outsmart
the enemy and how to defeat them by basic common
knowledge of tactics.
A flying wedge or flying V is a charging technique in which troops
are arrayed to form a V- shaped wedge formation or boar's head.
Military uses:
If the point of the wedge can breach the enemy line, the following
troops can widen the gap. As successive ranks of the wedge engage,
they can draw their opponents' attention away from previous ranks,
thereby protecting them.
This tactic relies on momentum and penetration. If the point of the
wedge can be stopped for even a moment, the wedge can be easily
enveloped in a pincer attack which will be discussed later. The tactic
is especially effective when used by heavily-armed infantry against
shield wall defensive formations, where defenders link their shields to
form an all but impenetrable wall. The flying wedge can be used to
knock a small section of the wall open, and flank the enemy from
inside their own line.
The pincer movement (double envelopment) is a basic element of
military strategy which has been used, to some extent, in nearly every
war. The maneuver is mostly self-explanatory; the flanks of the
opponent are attacked simultaneously in a pinching motion after the
opponent has advanced towards the center of an army which is
responding by moving its outside forces to the enemy's flanks, in
order to surround it. At the same time, a second layer of pincers
attacks on the more extreme flanks, so as to prevent any attempts to
reinforce the target unit.
Most infantry combat, on every scale, is based in some fashion on
this military tactic and it is commonly used by aircraft as well.
In military tactics, a flanking maneuver, also called a flank attack, is
an attack on the sides or rear of an opposing force. If a flanking
maneuver were to succeed, the opposing force would be surrounded
from two or more directions, which often grants victory to the flanking
side. As the flank is usually the weaker part of an army, flanking often
gives the attacker an advantage on the psychological condition or the
practical condition of an army, depending on the situation.
The flanking maneuver is one of the most basic tactics used in
battles. There are two types of flanking. In the first type, the principle
of the flanking maneuver is to be sudden and able to catch the enemy
by surprise, causing the enemy to overreact or retreat when they are
surrounded from a few directions. Usually this type of flanking is
concealed in an ambush.
The second type is obvious and transparent, and thus gives the
enemy a chance to prepare. A typical example will be a platoon
encountering an isolated enemy combat outpost. Taking fire from the
combat outpost, the platoon commander may decide to flank. In this
case, one third to two thirds of his platoon may remain in position and
"fix" the enemy with suppressive fire. This prevents the enemy from
retreating or reorienting to a new threat. The remainder of the platoon
will advance discreetly to the flanks of the enemy, before destroying
the enemy in rushes. Because of the possibility of fratricide,
coordination is very important.
The most effective form of flanking maneuver is the doubleenvelopment
that involves simultaneous flanking from both ends of
the line of battle.
To prevent from being flanked, a unit could be sent to engage the
enemy flanking unit before the enemy reached its target.
Motti is a Finnish military slang for an encircled enemy unit. This
tactic of envelopment was used extensively by the Finnish forces in
the Winter War and the Continuation War to a good effect. Basically
motti is a double envelope maneuver using bad terrain and light
troops to encircle an enemy restricted on good terrain or roads. They
are heavily outnumbered, but mobile forces could easily immobilize
an enemy twenty times larger than itself.
The idea is to cut the enemy columns, or battle groups, into smaller
groups and then encircle them by light and mobile forces, such as
ski-troops during winter.
A raid is a brief attack, normally performed by a small military force of
commandos, or by irregulars. A raid may be conducted to demoralize
or confuse an enemy, to ransack a camp, to obtain or destroy goods,
to free POWs, to kill or capture people important to an enemy force,
or to gather intelligence. Raids are especially common in guerrilla
warfare also called Special Ops.
Hit-and-run tactics is a tactical doctrine where the purpose of the
combat involved is not to seize control of territory, but to inflict
damage on a target and immediately exit the area to avoid the
enemy's defense and/or retaliation.
These tactics are a cornerstone of irregular warfare. Like guerrilla
warfare, militant resistance movements, and terrorism where the
enemy typically overmatches the attacking force to the point where
sustained combat is to be avoided
Offensive Maneuvers:
Offensive Maneuvers are different from offensive tactics because
offensive maneuvers are some of the ways on how to conduct
offensive tactics.
Skirmishers are infantry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside of a
larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish
line to either harass enemy troops or to protect their own troops from
similar attacks by the enemy. Skirmishers are generally lightly armed
and armored for increased battlefield mobility.
Human wave attack is a military term describing a type of assault
performed by infantry units. This type of maneuver is in which
soldiers attack in successive line formations, often in dense groups
and generally without the support of other arms or with any
sophistication in the tactics used. The term is usually connected to
conscript armies, whose poor training usually leaves them little
tactical flexibility. The term has come to be used as a pejorative. In a
human wave attack, there is no attempt to minimize casualties; on the
contrary, part of the tactic involves presenting the defender with the
shock value of overwhelming numbers of attackers. This dense
concentration of troops in the open tends to lead to very high
casualties.
Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military
doctrine based on the use of "overwhelming decisive force",
"dominant battlefield awareness", "dominant maneuvers", and
"spectacular displays of power" to "paralyze" an adversary's
perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight. The doctrine
was written by Harlan K. Ullman and James. P. Wade and is a
product of the National Defense University of the United States.
Defensive Tactics and Maneuvers:
Again, as with offensive tactics and maneuvers, don’t get the two
confused: Maneuvers are the way on how to conduct tactics.
------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.officialusasocmagazine.co...st%20Issue.pdf
