Terrain ExercisesWaldron, William H. (William Henry)
History
Terrain Exercises
Waldron, William H. (William Henry)
Tactics
_Captain Harvey_: “If the point encounters the enemy, we would want to
conduct a little reconnaissance before committing the automatic rifleman
to action. If he is any farther to the front, he is most likely to get
involved early in the encounter and perhaps in a position hastily
chosen, where his weapon could not produce his maximum effect. The
automatic rifle has the fire power of several rifles, and we want to
take advantage of this fact. We must therefore get the weapon into the
position where it can be done, and this cannot usually be determined
with the first few shots of an advance guard meeting engagement.”
_The Director_: “Those are very good reasons—ones which I believe all
the members of this class will remember when it comes to training their
own non-commissioned officers. Are there any other questions?”
_Lieutenant Williams_: “Why did Captain Harvey omit to designate a
second in command?”
_The Director_: “The succession in military command is determined by
seniority. Corporal Smith is the next senior and will automatically
assume command. If there were no non-commissioned officer with the
squad, Sergeant Roberts would have designated one of the privates as
second in command. Any other questions? (_Pause._) There appear to be
none. I wish you would ask questions to bring out points that are not
fully understood. It is by a discussion of these points that we arrive
at a reasonable solution of these problems. Now, a few remarks before we
pass on to the next situation.”
Explanation
_The Director_: “When you come to the training of your own men you
cannot be too particular about insisting upon their learning the form of
tactical orders and the language to be used in expressing their
contents. It takes long practice to be able to do this without getting
confused and omitting essentials.
“When a non-commissioned officer takes charge of a detachment for any
tactical duty and gives his instructions in a clear and concise manner,
leaving nothing to be guessed at, he inspires the confidence of his men.
They realize immediately that there is someone at the helm who knows his
business and they cheerfully respond. Noncommissioned officers should be
practiced in stating the instructions that they would have to give under
the various tactical situations that they may be called upon to handle.
There is no surer way to gain that confidence so necessary to military
efficiency.[6]
“If there are no further questions we will proceed with the problem.”
* * * * *
=Advance Guard= =Card No. 2=
=Director’s Key=
1. Explain necessity for learning the details of tactics.
2. Hand out Situation No. 2. Have members of class explain their
understanding of it.
3. The Point. What it is. Formation. Distances. Dispersion.
4. Where commander marches.
5. Deployment of point as skirmishers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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