by
Black Jack
In Part I, we covered the foundation of what a patrol is, its missions, organization, responsibilities of the PL, APL, supporting functions, command and control, and how the patrol’s organization is structured to have the mission completed no matter the changes in the field situation. Our focus will now move to more sophisticated tasks to be accomplished before the patrol can go on its way.
The success of any patrol will often depend upon thorough planning, reconnaissance, rehearsals, preparation, and effective leadership once deployed. Every patrol member must direct his efforts toward accomplishing the mission. Simply put: Mission first, everything else is lower priority.
Using tried and true troop leading procedures, the PL issues necessary instructions to subordinate leaders so that the patrol will be better able accomplish its assignment. When issuing instructions, it is wisdom to remember that the lower the echelon of command within the unit (especially in the patrol) the more simple, direct, and rapid the process becomes. This is not to cast and disparagement upon less experienced or ranking members of the patrol, rather, it is to employ economy: A rifleman only needs to know his specific duties as related to the overall mission. He does not need to know the why’s, wherefore’s, and other incidentals that the patrol leader may have knowledge of from command briefings to be successful. Don’t weigh your patrol down with non-essential information. Keep it simple, direct, and to the point while at the same time ensuring each member has enough information to be successful. Pulling this off requires the kind of PL’s that can turn a mission execution, alerting, or warning order into action supporting the overall plan of the command.
Typically a unit or patrol has little time to prepare for combat operations. They must be ready to execute a new mission in a matter of minutes, or at most, a few hours. Efficient use of available time to adequately prepare is vital! PL’s can respond to new mission requirements and direct or redirect their patrols quickly if they have mastered the following troop leading procedures and follow them instinctively. These steps are common, by the way, at all levels of command, up and down the chain. The reader should note that while these steps are very important, they are not rigid. The PL should follow them instinctively, modifying them as necessary to fit the current mission, situation, and available time. These steps are:
1. Receive the mission – In either a written or oral operations order (OPORD) or fragmentary order (FRAGO). The patrol’s mission will usually be stated in terms that are specific as to who, what, when, where, and how. Once the PL receives the order, he analyzes his mission to be absolutely sure he understands what is to be done and plans the use of available time. Time is typically the most critical resource the PL has at his disposal, especially time measured in available daylight hours for preparation. The PL must never waste time which should be used by subordinate leaders for reconnaissance and planning of their own, if required. A good rule of thumb is to use no more than 1/3 of the available time for planning and leave 2/3 for the subordinate leaders’ use. So, if a PL is given 6 hours to prepare for a mission, he uses no more than 2 hours and provides at least 4 hours for his subordinates. One of the best tools available to assist the PL in maximizing the use of available time is the “Backwards Planning Schedule”. For those not familiar with backwards planning, it’s fairly simple, but extremely effective. The PL makes a time schedule starting with execute time/day of the patrol’s debriefing and works backwards to the current time/day, allotting necessary time for each milestone on the patrol Here’s an example:
TIME TASK
0230 Debriefing
0200 Return to friendly area
2330 – 0200 Movement enroute
2300 – 2330 Accomplish mission – reorganize
2230 – 2300 Leader’s Recon
2000 – 2230 Movement Enroute
1945 – 2000 Movement in friendly area
1930 – 1945 Final Inspection
1845 – 1930 Night Rehearsals
1800 – 1845 Rest
1745 – 1800 Inspection
1700 – 1745 Meal
1515 – 1700 Subordinate Leader planning
1400 – 1445 Complete detailed planning
1315 – 1400 Conduct Recon
1300 – 1315 Issue Warning Order
2. Make a tentative plan – The PL needs to determine his concept of operations. How are you going to accomplish your mission? The complexity of the tentative plan is determined by the complexity of the mission and the amount of available time for planning. When given a mission once deployed in the field, the PL will know as much about the enemy as he can under current circumstances, knows his overall mission and what it requires, and all of this to the terrain within his AO. From this knowledge, he develops his tentative plan and it becomes the basis for coordination, unit movement, organization, and reconnaissance.
3. Issue the Warning Order – The PL should issue his Warning Order as early as possible – typically upon receipt his own Warning Order or immediately following the receipt of an order from a higher echelon of command. How does he issue his Warning Order? Usually it is orally given to the assembled men, and informs them of:
The format follows this outline:
4. Coordinate – This is continuous throughout the planning and preparation phases of the patrol. Some items may be pre-coordinated for the PL through or by a higher command echelon at platoon, company, or battalion level, such as the initial coordination passage out of an into friendly units, lines, or areas. Other items will most likely be left for the PL to coordinate; as much as possible should be accomplished at the location the PL receives his OPORD. Typically this location is the company or battalion command post because communications are better at these locations and there are key personnel present to help the PL. Sometimes, to save time, the PL may assign various coordination tasks to his subordinate leaders who are required to report back to him the results of their activities. Here’s a list of some of the routine tasks/items to be coordinated for a patrol (the reader should note that this is aimed at militia operations, therefore, some items such as fire support are left out as they will most likely not apply in today’s world):
5. Conduct Reconnaissance – For the PL to make the best use of his available men and maximize the effects of his available weapons, the PL must study the terrain he will be operating in extensively! During this reconnaissance, the PL will either confirm or modify his tentative plan. Ideally, the PL should make an on-the-ground recon of the AO, but this is not usually feasible for most patrolling missions, and the PL will have to resort to aerial photography, topographical maps, others knowledge of the area, or if he’s really fortunate, an actual aerial reconnaissance so that he has the most information about his target area as possible.
6. Complete the plan – Once the PL has issued his Warning Order, conducted his reconnaissance, and while his patrol members are preparing themselves and their equipment, the PL completes his plan. Based on all the gathered information and coordination task results, he may or may not modify his plan. His main focus will be on the actions at the objective and he will carefully assign his subordinate leaders specific tasks for all phases of the patrol, making sure that all actions fit together seamlessly and effectively.
7. Issue the complete OPORD or Patrol Order – The order is issued in standard Patrol Order format. As much as possible, the PL should use terrain models, sketches, and chalk/white boards to illustrate the plan and highlight important details such as:
Sketches to show planned actions can also be drawn in the sand, dirt, or snow.
8. Inspect, Rehearse & Supervise – The importance of these tasks cannot be understated: they reveal the patrol members’ physical and mental state of readiness. A member who is not mentally or physically ready to go on the mission should not be taken as the results could be disastrous! When inspecting your patrol members, check for the following:
Make sure you have one final inspection just prior to departure to ensure any discrepancy found during the initial inspection has been corrected. Don’t be surprised in the field!
When conducting your rehearsals, remember that they are designed to ensure proficiency in assigned tasks. Rehearsals should be thought through, well directed, and realistic so that your patrol members become thoroughly familiar with their actions during the patrol. If your patrol is going out at night, rehearse in both daylight and at night. Rehearsing actions at the objective is the most essential task to perform during rehearsals!! Always rehearse this portion of your patrol without fail!
A good way to rehearse is for the PL to talk the patrol through each phase of the patrol describing the actions of each element and of each man in the patrol and then have the teams and men perform those actions as a “dry run”. Another method is the “talk-through/brief back”. The PL talks the patrol through and then has the subordinate team leaders and men brief the PL on their responsibilities and tasks. Lastly, if there is no time for rehearsal, the minimum requirement is for the PL to conduct a talk-through. After enough practice, with a well trained group, a talk-through may be all your patrol needs, depending on the mission. Just remember, shortcuts don’t cut it all the time, and apathy is ruthless and will kill you the first chance it gets!
The PL and subordinate leaders must supervise all facets of the operation whether during planning, rehearsing, or executing the mission. Remember, effective supervision does not mean being a tyrant or micromanager! Let your people do their job, step in to help when you need to, and always always always lead by example!
Remember to safeguard all your information to prevent mission compromise. This can occur whenever you are working with partisans, civilians or indigenous troops. Militias, by definition, are indigenous, so it should be a way of life. Not everyone is a dependable as the next guy. If the chance exists that you have an informer in your group, only give out information on a need to know basis, and only that information that is absolutely essential. Always think Operations Security (OPSEC) and Communications Security (COMSEC)! Consider conducting rehearsals as far away from the operational AO as possible—the hills, fields, trees and buildings may have eyes and ears!
Lastly, be flexible as you may also be involved in a patrol that is required by the situation to plan actions at the objective from information gained while moving to the objective area. You may have to set up your Objective Rallying Point (ORP) and perform a reconnaissance of the objective and situation to determine the correct execution method for your mission. If this occurs, and it is very feasible that it could, as much as possible, follow the troop leading procedures outlined at the beginning of this installment. Organize as you need to, but attempt to keep your organizational changes to the original patrol organization to an absolute minimum to maximize the use of already established lines of command and communication within the patrol.
There you have it. That’s all you have to do to take out a patrol. Next time we’ll talk about the patrol’s movement in the field.