Category Archives: TDGs

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Defend Forward (IBCT CO Defense)

The Company Leader TDG 19-03

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The bitter taste of Army coffee stings your tongue, but the warmth as it goes down your throat makes up for it. The drastic desert temperature swings in Atropia continue to shock your system. It’s March 5th, and while the days are warming up the nights remain frigid. Moments like these you almost rethink your dedication to being a paratrooper…almost. You look down at your watch and see it’s almost 1800. Realizing you need to get to the BN TOC for the OPORD, you call for your RTO,  “Specialist Ayala, please grab two copies of the map of our AO, your map markers, a roll of acetate, and your notebook. We leave for the TOC in 15 minutes. New orders – intelligence suggest the enemy is mounting a counterattack and we have to defend forward of this town if we have any chance of making it until 2-325th reinforces our position.”

Paratroopers from 1-325th PIR conduct night live fire exercises to improve lethality and drill the fundamentals. Photo retrieved from @1_325thAIR on Twitter.
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The Goat Trail Foothold (SBCT PLT Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 19-02

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It’s 0200hrs and you’re awake. You’ve been going for the last twenty-seven hours. Your vision blurs as you stare at the FBCB2-JCR inside your M1126 Stryker. Your driver is getting some much needed rest. The sound of snoring from your FO is making you regret choosing to have him in your vic while you sent the RTO with your PSG. You remind yourself that this was a calculated decision, both for purposes of allowing for more reliable communications support and for spreading these two C2/MC assets across the platoon. Sure, one grenade may not kill both your FO and RTO while inside your Stryker – but more lessons from Ranger School than not translated from humping it through the Appalachian Mountains to now being holed up in a vehicle in Atropia. You’re going on day seven of continuous combat operations and are currently in the company tactical assembly area (TAA). On day three you could smell yourself, the mix of sweat and the beginning stages of ketosis, but now it’s just the norm. Just as you start to doze off you are startled by Sergeant Wilson – your Gunner – “Sir! Message for you on the JCR. Looks like we have a WARNORD and the CO needs you to confirm receipt.”

Soldiers of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California July-August 2018. (U.S. Army National Guard Photo)
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Right of the Line (IBCT Attack to Clear)

The Company Leader TDG 19-01

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You are the Company Commander of A Company, 2-14 Infantry Battalion of 2nd IBCT, 10th Mountain Division. Your unit is deployed to Southern Afghanistan. For the last three months you’ve been partnered with the Afghan National Army and conducting offensive operations in Zharay District of Kandahar Province. In the last month, Taliban forces have establish a complex defensive belt along the primary north to south running main supply route (MSR) in your area of operations (AO). This is disrupting the movement of military logistical supplies to the Afghan National Police and, more importantly, is limiting the local populous’ access to the primary water supply during the rainy season – the Arghandab River. Your company is tasked with conducting a clearance operation along RTE Hope.

Soldiers of Strike Brigade, 101st ABN DIV (AASLT) during Operation Dragon Strike in Zharay District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Photo taken on September 21, 2010 by Army Sgt. Joe Padula and found HERE.
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Refrigerator Gap (ABCT CO TM)

The Company Leader TDG 18-12

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You are the Company Commander of A Co/ 1-64 AR. Your unit is in a TAA VIC NV 585215 at REDCON 2. You are waiting to receive orders to conduct an FPOL with B Co and continue the attack to OBJ Chicago. Your current combat power is 1x Armor PLT with 3 operational tanks, 2x BFV platoons with 1 PLT of 3x BFVs and the other of 4 BFVs. Each Platoon has 14x dismounts divided into 2x squads each and all Javelins are operational.  Additionally, you have an engineer platoon attached with 3x operational engineer BFVs, a MCLIC, and a sapper squad of 6x Soldiers. Your Company HQs is 100% and you are fully resupplied.

U.S. Army Armor Basic Officer Course Class 18-006 conducts STX at the Good Hope Maneuver Training Area. Photo Retrieved from the U.S. Army Armor Basic Officer Course Facebook Page.
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Coming to a Company Near You

A TDG for Administering the ACFT

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Much has been said about the Army’s new fitness test. The Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) is the replacement for the Army Physical Fitness Test, and there are no shortage of opinions on it. Just take a look here, here, or here. Even Business Insider is getting in on the fun. But, barring slight changes from the ongoing field testing, it looks like the ACFT will be coming to a company near you in the near future. So let’s prepare for it. You’ve read the ACFT handbook (TRADOC 18-37); consulted the dietician, physical therapist, and strength & conditioning (S&C) coach assigned to your battalion; and integrated exercises and recommendations into your unit’s health and fitness program. With all that preparation complete, how would you plan a company-level execution of the new ACFT? What does that day look like?

A Soldier with the Washington National Guard positions a 10-pound medicine ball as part of the standing power throw test event during a pilot Army Combat Readiness Test Aug. 4, 2017, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. (Stephanie Slater/Army). Retrieved from Army Times.
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Route Canada (IBCT PLT MTC)

The Company Leader TDG 18-11

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This TDG is set in the war in Afghanistan. It has its roots in COIN operations, but is relevant to any current DATE scenario. While approaching this TDG, familiarize yourself with the MTOE of a platoon in an IBCT, within the constraints provided below. Be creative, consider what you know about the enemy, and the relevant information about your friendly forces’ operations the day prior. Spend some time understanding the enemy, the terrain, and yourself. Think critically and creatively. Good luck and enjoy!

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Tanks in the Hedgerows (ABCT Co Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 18-10

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You are the company commander of B Co, 2-7 IN. You have been operating in the Sherka Province of Urzustan, a military state under dictator rule with ties to other terrorist and near-peer adversaries of the United States. Over the past 24 hours, your BN TAA has been receiving indirect fire from the north. Your sister FA BN and BN FiST determined the point of origin (POO) to be a hill approximately 1000 meters outside of the town of Jurju. Human Intelligence (HUMINT) reports indicate that mortar teams use that hill and quickly displace to Jurju where a local militia tied to the current regime gives them safe haven. You report to the Battalion Tactical Operations Center (TOC) at 2300hrs to receive a FRAGORD.

Students of ABOLC and IBOLC execute the Combined Competitive Maneuver Exercise. Photo of D Troop, 2-16 CAV, ABOLC, U.S. Army Armor School. Photo retrieved from U.S. Army Armor Officer Basic Course Facebook Page.
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Patched-Prairie (SBCT PLT Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 18-09

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You are the Platoon Leader of 2nd PLT/C Co/1-23 IN fighting on the Korean Peninsula. You have an MTOE Stryker (SBCT) Infantry Platoon with an attached Engineer Squad equipped with an M1132 Engineer Squad Vehicle. The Korean peninsula has been divided since 1953. Over six decades of heightened regional tensions and economic instability led to the collapse of the northern dictatorship when their dictator died suddenly and without an immediate successor. At this time, the north’s nuclear program has fallen and radical groups to the north are moving to secure chemical weapons depots across the region. It is assessed that these enemy forces have already infiltrated into the Republic of Korea through maritime routes. You will conduct a Platoon Attack on a patched prairie (OBJ COLT) as part of a greater battalion operation in AO Freeman.

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Tactical Decision Games (TDGs)

An Introduction

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The worst time to prepare for war is when you find yourself in the middle of one. Tactical Decision Games (TDGs) – also called Tactical Decision Exercises (TDEs) – are, simply, situational narratives of a tactical scenario that provide leaders the opportunity to develop a plan based on abbreviated information and in a time-constrained environment. They are tactical/situational puzzles. They require little in resources and provide huge returns for decision-making and critical-thinking. TDGs are, in my opinion, an underused tool in the institutional, organizational, and self-development domains. Let’s fix that.