Category Archives: TDGs

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Objective Argon (Ambush)

A Tactical Decision Game for Cadets

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The Scenario

A week ago, when the last of the Arianan conventional forces withdrew from southern Atropia, your Battalion was tasked with clearing a AO Dagger in Northwestern Kurdamir province of remaining irregular forces.  Intelligence suggests that these irregular forces, consisting of approximately a company-sized element of the South Atropian People’s Army (SAPA), seek to disrupt US operations in the AO to prevent a massing of combat power while Arianan forces reconsolidate and prepare to defend or counterattack.  Their task organization as team-sized elements, and marked skill at avoiding decisive engagement make them a particularly frustrating opponent.

Though they have been attrited by approximately a third, identifying and maintaining contact with their elements continues to prove difficult.  Every opportunity to close with the SAPA brings the mission closer to completion.

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Red Dragons on OBJ Sword (IBCT CO Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 20-06

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The Atropian air helps to cool the sweat under your body armor. Your company has been moving all night to get to this point. You look at your watch…2200, March 5th.  The three weeks you’ve been conducting operations are beginning to take a toll. It seems more like a two months since you arrived in Atropia, but it’s only been two weeks. 1st Battalion is wrapping up its movement to contact covering nearly 24 kilometers since last night. You’re starting to feel the effects from a lack of sleep. The platoons are set in their positions and you were just about to close your eyes when your RTO comes over.  “Sir, new orders – intelligence  suggest the enemy seized an airfield about 5 clicks from our position.  BN wants us to seize the airfield NLT 12 hours from now.”

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On Watch (Sniper Emplacement)

The Company Leader TDG 20-05

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You are the Battle Staff NCO of 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, 199th Brigade. Your Brigade’s AO is Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in support of NATO forces. Recently, your battalion has been focusing on the southern sector of the area of operations. Your units intercepted arms and explosives flowing from Pakistan into Afghanistan through the mountains of tribal Pakistan into the Tora Bora region. This region has three major tribes in the area – Pashtun, the Wakhi, and the Tajik tribes. The clans, led by family patriarchs continue to fight each other, regardless of tribe, over water rights, territory, and trade rights. The BDE has started to establish allies and informants in the area.

A competitor in the United States Army Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition uses a digital range finder on his weapon while engaging long-distance targets at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, March 19, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by K. Kassens)
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Come in Fighting (ABN PLT Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 20-04

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Looking around your C-17 and the paratroopers heavy laden with gear and a parachute, you would never known they all had just been laying in their own beds  only a week ago. When the missiles fell and our airbases in Atropia were overrun, they mobilized the 82nd Airborne Division to seize key airfields. That much you knew was possible when volunteering for an airborne assignment; the 80lbs ruck and Carl Gustav gunner to your right crushing you was not as well advertised. As the aircraft pitches into its evasive maneuvers you know you must be getting close to the drop zone. Heart pounding, they give the jump commands and you give yourself to the darkness with a vigorous up 6 and out 36.

U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, participate in an airborne operation in northeastern Italy, Aug. 8, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Henry Villarama)
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Objective Rhino (IBCT PLT Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 20-03

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You press your hands deeper into your pockets, hoping they find warmth. “What the hell did this place do to piss off God?” You want a pinch of Copenhagen, but it’s too damned cold to pull your hands out to get one. Your platoon has been in its patrol base for six hours, but you haven’t slept. In just fourty-five minutes you can rotate out to the D Company vehicle that is in a security position. They might not let you run the heat, but maybe you can find some relief from the wind. ”Hey, you awake?” your squad leader says as he shoves you. “Get your team up and moving, Red Warrior 6 just called into the CO. We got a mission. WARNORD brief in 5 minutes.”

Photo retreived from 1-12 IN from their 2019 PLT LFX. Image by Capt. Chelsea Hall.
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Set the Trap (IBCT PLT Ambush)

The Company Leader TDG 20-02

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You have never been quite this tired, wet, and this cold in your entire life. You could have sworn that Atropia was primarily a desert. But no, your unit  – Task Force 1-28 Infantry – had to deploy to the other side of Atropia. No sweeping landscape and warm winters for you. And here you sit – a different day, a different puddle. You are in the middle of your platoon’s patrol base, next to your RTO,  while your squad leaders ensure security is set. “Ma’am – Crusher Main says there is intelligence that enemy forces are moving in our AO. They will be traveling to a resupply point along RTE ORION in the morning. CRUSHER 6 says we need to set an ambush.”

Image Retrieved from Task Force 1-28 Infantry, Black Lions Facebook Page.
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Fires on OBJ Sheridan (IBCT CO Fire Support Plan)

The Company Leader TDG 20-01

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Your light infantry company is preparing to complete an air assault and secure a key intersection necessary for your division’s counterattack. The enemy’s airborne forces  defeated the Atropian Army units, forcing them to withdraw and consolidate. You haven’t encountered the enemy, but expect your base ammunition load to be at 90% after maneuvering to your objective. You are responsible for completing a fire support plan for the company attack and follow-on operations to secure the intersection. Your company will need to secure the intersection for at least 48 hours until the counterattack forces reach your position.

Sgt. Aaron Sweeny and Staff Sgt. Robert Novak, both with 3rd Platoon, Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, Task Force Spartan, watch explosions from a mountain top near Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, during a call-for-fire exercise, Feb. 3, 2012.
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What Now Lieutenant?

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The Company Leader community is far-reaching and diverse. As iron sharpens iron, so does one person sharpen another. We are reminded of this with the daily engagements on social media and the email submission we receive. Recently, a Captain from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reached out with a fantastic tactical decision game (TDG) resource for our archives. And now, we share it with you!

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Attacking Razish (ABCT CAB Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 19-12

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Sitting in your MOPP gear, you reflect on your current situation. “Decades of sustained combat against these guys and here we go again…” you think as you dig through your assault pack looking for your map markers. You are in the third month of your battalion’s deployment to Donovian-occupied Atropia. The 3rd ABCT “Bulldog Brigade” of 1st Armored Division cut its teeth during continuous operations south of the Tiefort Mountain complex. Your battalion, specifically, served as the BCT decisive operation–seizing Guba. Now you are being called upon again to apply your expertise in urban operations. This time though, you will be attacking Razish. “I wonder how many times and how many units have fought to take back this city…”

ABOLC Class 19-007 executes a Platoon Situational Training Exercise at the Good Hope Maneuver Training Area; Fort Benning, GA.
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Reconnaissance Guidance (SBCT Recon)

The Company Leader TDG 19-11

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No rest for the wicked…nor for the recon squadron. After a 24-hour fight for Ujen and Razish, the infantry squadrons are consolidating and reorganizing. They are establishing defensive positions and preparing for the 111th BTG’s integrated attack. The regimental staff is conducting MDMP and developing their operations order. Regiment published WARNORD 1 last night. As the sun rises over the central corridor of Donovian occupied Atropia, the Brigade Headquarters is preparing to publish WARNORD 2 – plenty of time for the infantry squadrons before their BPT defend mission. But, to the recon squadron WARNORD 2 means it is time to cross LD.

(U.S. Army Photo retrieved from 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division Facebook Page.)