“Before going further let us consider the process by which our battalion commander arrived at his decision to halt and make the disposition indicated in his order. He has sized up the situation with respect to his mission, the enemy, our own troops; considered the plans of action open to him and the enemy; and the terrain. Based on all of this he decides to halt for the night with the advance guard as the outpost and the other companies bivouacking as indicated in the order. Now, let us see how well this order conforms to the form laid down in Field Service Regulations. Captain Hall, what are the elements of an order as applied to the halt of a command on the march?” _Captain Hall_: “The first part contains information of the enemy and our own troops. The next is the plan of the commander in general terms. In this case it is merely to halt for the night, with the added sentence to the effect that march conditions cease. Next comes the tactical dispositions in which each element of the command is given orders as to just what it is to do. The last section of this paragraph tells what action is to be taken in case the enemy should make an attack. Then comes the disposition of the trains or administrative arrangements, and finally the location of the battalion C. P. is indicated by telling where messages are to be sent. All of this is included in the order, and I should say that every essential point has been covered satisfactorily.” _The Director_: “Lieutenant Baker, why is Company E detailed to furnish the outpost?” _Lieutenant Baker_: “It is the general rule that troops are detailed on covering duty for a period of twenty-four hours. Company E has been our advance guard for today’s march. If the battalion continues the march again tomorrow morning, another rifle company will be detailed to form the advance guard. It will get into advance guard formation before it reaches Company E’s outpost line, and when the advance guard support crosses the line of outpost supports it assumes responsibility for the protection of the column, the outpost troops are withdrawn and take their proper place in the column. Then, too, the advance guard is in the best position to continue the protection of the battalion. It has merely to change its formation from an advance guard to that of an outpost, which involves the least marching on the part of the troops.” Procedure _The Director_: “We will now go forward to the point where the support of the advance guard is halted on the road. How far would that be, Captain James?” _Captain James_: “I should say that the support should be about 500 yards in advance of the main body of the battalion.” The class is now conducted about 500 yards down the road to the place where the support of the advance guard is supposed to be halted.