Tag Archives: Warfighting

Posted on

Fight for Information (ABCT PLT Recon)

The Company Leader TDG 19-06

by

You are a scout (recon) platoon leader in Apache Troop, 5-7 CAV, 1st ABCT, 3rd ID. You and your troop are conducting a zone reconnaissance in Donovian occupied territory of Atropia, from PL MIAMI (Whale Gap) north to PL BOSTON (the northern wall). Over the previous two weeks, your brigade has traded blows with elements of the 111th Brigade Tactical Group (BTG) in your fight to liberate Atropia. Your squadron has been critical in answering Brigade PIRs and informing the Brigade Commander’s decisions. But now isn’t the time to hit the breaks. As your infantry battalions shift their movement northward, it’s again time for you to cross LD in advance to provide space in time and fight for information.

Header 8
Posted on

Operationalizing the Battle Staff in Garrison

Part II: Processes and Procedures

by

Now that you replicated your tactical command post in your unit headquarters (Read Part I HERE), you need to put it to use. If the Command Post exists to enable Commander decision-making and to synchronize and support the efforts of subordinates, then we must implement the processes and procedures necessary to facilitate those efforts. Establish a battle rhythm focused on Commander touchpoints, build the running estimates that efficiently inform his or her decisions, and enforce tactical reporting as the mechanism to update those running estimates.

Engineer Advisors from A Co, 5th BN, 1st SFAB work with FORSCOM units to enable their advisory missions in the Indo-Pacific region. Photo Retrieved from Facebook.
Posted on

Operationalizing the Battle Staff in Garrison

Part I: Train Like You Fight

by

In the next Decisive Action (DA) conflict, we will be outnumbered, outgunned, and potentially matched in every other domain. If this is the case, then we can only win by synchronizing and massing combined arms at the decisive point faster than the enemy. We must anticipate the enemy’s scheme of maneuver, develop a collection plan to confirm it, synchronize fires and effects to attrit enemy forces, and provide subordinate commanders with a detailed plan to execute the enemy’s destruction–all while conducting protection and sustainment operations. To quote the 25thCommander of Operations Group, “We have to do this perfectly and continuously, every time.” Developing and retaining proficient and cohesive battle staff teams is essential to winning the next first fight.

1st Cavalry Division Troopers at NTC. Image retrieved from Twitter.
Posted on

Attacking Razish – Part I

Top 5 Keys to Success

by

Twenty-four hours after completing our assault on the National Training Center’s largest urban objective, Razish, I took two pages of notes on the things that I felt made us successful. Like all lessons in the Army, none of these are new or novel. And, like all lessons at NTC, just because you know what you need to fix doesn’t always mean that you can pull it all together in the face of the short timelines, harsh conditions, and the ever-present 11thArmored Cavalry Regiment. Here are my top 5.

Posted on

Call for Fire

The Company Leader TDG 19-04

by

After a long night supporting your reconnaissance troop’s zone recon mission, you do a final radio check with your Fire Support NCO in his OP on hill 509. The scout platoons are settled in to their positions on the screen line, watching the valley known as the 15 tango for enemy movement. So far, the troop has encountered Skolkan alliance Special Purpose Forces in trucks, as well as wheeled recon vehicles from the enemy’s Brigade Tactical Group (BTG) recon company. The troop’s 120mm Mortars are sitting at 60% of their base ammunition load after suppressing those enemy Ops the night before, with 30 rounds of HE between the two tubes. The troop commander is huddled in the CP on his headset, receiving an intel update from the Squadron on the enemy’s anticipated attack. The call concludes, and he looks at you. “You’re going to be busy today”, he says, only half-jokingly.

Posted on

Combat, Orders, and Judgement

The Nightingale Series

by

Combat is decidedly mortal to the participants. Leaders, officers, and enlisted soldiers, are charged with execution of orders and the strict adherence to commander’s intent as the responsible agents for the men they serve—both above and below them. Failure to do so in peacetime can be professionally suicidal. Failure to do so in combat may be either suicidal or the key to success. The difference is called judgment. And good judgment is the Holy Grail of any combat unit. One case of leaders on the beachhead, on June 6, 1944, provides a sense through which to view disciplined initiative via calculated disobedience.

Posted on

TLDR – RE: CAVLOG

by

TLDR is a popular culture acronym standing for Too Long; Didn’t Read. Urban Dictionary says it is a “frequently used by […] people in Internet Forums [whose] urge to type exceeds their ability to read…” A few weeks ago we published an Excel tool to aid troop and squadron-level leaders in logistics planning. CAVLOG, posted to The Rucksack, received a lot of attention on Social Media page via The Company Leader, Doctrine Man, and Army Leader Exchange. We appreciated and were humbled by the volume of interest and engagement. Some of it was praise. Other comments provided constructive feedback. And then some commentary fell into the realm of clear “TLDR.” Below, we hope to clear-up a few things about CAVLOG.

A U.S. Army Task Force Brawler CH-47F Chinook flies while conducting a training exercise with a Guardian Angel team assigned to the 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, March 26, 2018. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Gregory Brook)
Posted on

The Combined Arms Battalion TDE – Defense

Guest Tactical Decision Game

by

One aspect of the National Training Center’s (NTC) mission is to identify training deficiencies for Rotational Training Units (RTU). Simply identifying re-occurring or one-off training shortfalls is not enough to improve the readiness and proficiency of leaders, units, and the Army. To provide feedback on home station training, Operations Group and the National Training Center routinely conducts Outreach to the Force. This set of Tactical Decision Exercises (TDE) is one example of that outreach.

Posted on

Defend Forward (IBCT CO Defense)

The Company Leader TDG 19-03

by

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.
Posted on

You Can Lead, But Can You Fight?

Leadership as a Conduit to the Real Mission

by

The leader development space, especially within the military community, experienced massive growth in the last decade. We are dining at a leader and self-development buffet. The myriad resources range from Army sites like MWI and AUP to blogs like The Military Leader and The Field Grade Leader. We are discussing emotional quotient, social intelligence, and strategic communication – topics formerly reserved for academic journals and college classrooms. Leaders are learning about building consensus and motivating as opposed to the hierarchical and command/control crutches of Army generations past. But, is the pendulum swinging too far to the leadership art and science over the tactical? You can lead….but can you fight?