why you ask? because if the poo does fly and your situation forces you to actively run "combat ops" you should know what your doing right? lol these arent really going in any particular order.
IMO the most important basic tasks you should train up and learn now are
1. communication-radios/shooting and moving.
2. SALUTE/GOTWA/METTTC report with accurate intel.
3. tactical movement-moving at night with kit, tactical formations, movement techniques.
4. Battle Drills-1A,2,3,4 and 6 mainly, ambushes, LDAs, Pricipals of Patroling.
5. establishing an LOA, ORP, Patrol Base
6. EPW searches and handling
7. basic combat live saving.
8. your TLPs-the more everyone on the mission knows, the better.
1.Talking on a radio of whatever sort- this can be very tricky as you will most likely not have secure coms in a SHTF situation, unless your prep that now, then you'll be doing ALOT better than most. but in the case of the average guy, using good OPSEC will be key, that means not using ANYTHING by its actual name. so the use of Phase Lines, Rally Points and Check Points will be key. so if there is a thick woodline right before a lake, make the edge of the wood line a Phase Line and the lake another Phase Line (or Check Point) thats just a quick example. callsigns will also be key, just in case someone knows your name, you dont want to be yelling "Jones!!" over the unsecure net. quickly and accurately relaying battlefield intel, dont want to go messing that up. Also knowing how to accurately identify major, minor, suplemntary terrain features on a map and physically. 5 major terrain features (Hill, Valley, Saddle, Ridge, Depression) 3 minor (cliff, spur, draw) 2 suplementary (cut and fill) man made*
Shooting Moving and Communicating- you are no good in a fight if you dont know whats going on. there are plenty of videos out there that can teach you how to communicate while fighting, and they can do it alot better then i could typing it out. but i cant stress enough how important it is to be loud and thunderous, and screw it if your shooting they know your there...
2. SALUTE Report- now sending this over an unsecure net isnt the best idea but we work with what we got. and you dont have to send it over a radio you could just walk back and relay the intel lol. but the SALUTE Report is probably the simplest format you could ask for to relay enemy,
Size
Activity
Location
Unit (uniform, any identifying traits)
Time
Equipment
GOTWA- where you are Going, Others you are taking with you, TIme you will be gone, What to do if you dont return, Actions to take upon contact. you give this the the remainder of your element if at any time it has to split up for any reason.
METTTC- Mission, Enemy, Troops, Terrain, Time, and Civilian concideration. knowing your METTTC prior and during mission will help out just like an OCOKA.
3. Movement- now this might not seem like such a big deal but it takes some practice, moving in a wedge, keeping spacing, employing the 70:30% (70% scanning your sector 30% looking back at your team for communication on the move.) moving at night with a combat load can also be a pain in the butt, your tired, weighed down, top heavy and you cant see to top it all off so any wrong step could send you down in a not so quiet manner. Learning how to walk in a wedge, mod. wedge, file, staggard column ect is not the easiest thing in the world either, just takes some practice keeping your dispersion, and that ratio of scanning your sector and looking back at the other dudes in your team. learning the 4 movement techniques, bounding (successive/alternating), bounding over watch, traveling and traveling over watch.
4. Battle Drills- if you do happen to take contact or need to initiate contact it would be a good idea that everyone knows what cog they are in the machine. knowing how to 'properly' get on line with each other and assault, bound or break contact is also a skill that requires some practice and communication. the battle drills go as follows,
1. Platoon Attack
1a. squad attack
2. react to contact
3. break contact
4. react to ambush
5. knock out bunker
6. enter a building and clear a room
7. enter and clear a trench
8. conduct initial breach of a mined wire obstacle
as you can see not all of these are super important for our situation but it couldnt hurt to have a warm and fuzzy on all of them.
also ambushes, knowing the different types of ambushes, hasty, deliberate, L, linear and are they for point or area targets? how to emplace your support and security, how to emplace and withdraw (SSA in and ASS out, security support assault in first, and on withdraw assault support and security) and code words for each phase of withdraw (red, white, blue ect..) knowing sectors of fire during the ambush.
LDAs- Linear Danger Areas- large open areas with little or no cover and concealment. with these you want to avoid them as much as possible but if you have no time or its small enough to cross you should know how, litteraly 1000 ways to skin this cat, just need to set some SOPs and practice them. and the thing with LDAs what determines the size is the time its going to take you to cross it.
5 Pricipals of Patroling- Planning, Recon, Security, Controll, and Common Sense.
5. LOA- your Limit Of Advance, this would be used after taking any sort of contact that you assaulted through, you would generally set this 35-50m past the objective as to get out of hand grenade range. you set this so you can pull some sort of security on the OBJ while your Aid and Litter and EPW teams do there jobs QUICKLY so you can beat feat before a QRF element comes by and waxes everyone.
ORP- and Objective Rally Point- now this can be used as a hasty Patrol Base if need be, or with small numbers where a traditional Patrol Base would be pointless to use. but the real idea of an ORP is to set in and pull security for a leaders recon of the OBJ, Patrol Base, pretty much anything that is gona take some time to figure out.
Patrol Base- a patrol base is used when you are on several day movements/patrols its a 'cold camp' of sorts set in a formation where you can pull good security while you proceed with the priorities of work (real fast example security, weapons/equipment maintenance, food, sleep.) you want to set these in the most god forsaken piece of terrain you can find, a peice that the enemy wont need or go near, a place of little tactical value. but you still need to set one where you can a good OCOKA (observation and fields of fire, cover and concealment, obstacles, key terrain features, avenues of approach.) that needs to be running through your mind pretty much when ever you are on a movement. you dont want to stay in these for over 24hrs.
6. EPW searches and handeling- Enemy Prisoner of War. this is one of those commonsencical things, you search him fast and through, checking everything. but im sure there are some videos out there with the EIB standard for EPW searches.
7. CLS- Combat Life Saver- there is whats called TCCC (tactical combat casualty care) and in TCCC there are 3 stages, Care Under Fire, Tactical Field Care, and Tactical Evacuation Care. Care Under Fire the only things you do are check the AVPU (Alert, Verbal, responds to Pain, Unresposive) of your patient, and apply a tournaquet and you apply it as high on the limb as possible and as tight as possible, all you do. Tactical Field Care is where you have more time because your not under direct fire or the enemy is suppressed, dead or just not in the fight. this is where you do your 'advanced treatment' run through your HABCs (Hemmoragaing, Airway, Breathing, Circulation) you take care of those things in that order, the main foucus is on hemmoraging. and when you get to C is when you do all your little stuff like cover that small laceration on the casualy's arm, expose the wounds (not pulling anything out of them) ect. Tactical Evacuation Care is the same as Field Care in a nutshell but you are most likely moving the casualy to some sort of evac. in case you need to re-check and fix all interventions you have made everytime you move the casualty.
8. TLPs- Troop Leading Procedures- now the TLPs specifically are an 8 step 'guide' if you will on how to prep your guys for a mission, but in this case i am using the term very generally. now you might think making an OP Order is kind of silly to go on a small R&S patrol but having everything up in the air and being discussed is a good thing, so your guys know phase lines, check points, where rally points will be, the key terrain in the area, contigency plans, sucession of command ect...
TLPs-
1 recevie the mission
2 issue a WARNO
3 make a tenative plan
4 start necessary movement
5 recon
6 complete plan
7 issue completed plan
8 supervise, reherse and inspect (PCCs PCIs)
5 pharagraph OP Order-
1 situation
2 mission
3 executuion
4 service and support
5 command and signal
4 pharagraph WARNO-
1 situation
2 mission
3 general instructions
4 specific instructions
all of this you can find in a Ranger Handbook, and a whole lot more...
now i know there is soooo much that can be added to this but i wrote this before bed and i really wanted to finish it, and this is what i thought would be important off the top of my head. add to it and correct if im wrong. there is going to be some spelling errors because my computer doesnt have Micro. Word so i had to use the shitty word pad. sorry again.
