Terrain ExercisesWaldron, William H. (William Henry)
History
Terrain Exercises
Waldron, William H. (William Henry)
Tactics
_Captain Harvey_: “I would get the men of my squad together and while
they are assembling I would size up the situation and determine just
what orders I am going to give. When the men are together I would give
them their orders:
“‘Manley, Harrison and Kline will be the first visiting patrol.
“‘Oliver, Hasker and Payne will be the second visiting patrol.
“‘We go out at 12 and 2 o’clock tonight. Be ready at those hours.
“‘I am going over the route of the patrol before dark.
“‘Dismissed.’
“I do not think of anything else to say at this time.”
_The Director_: “Captain Hodges, have you any criticism to make of
Captain Harvey’s order?”
_Captain Hodges_: “Yes, sir. In the first place, he has left out several
things that ought to be told to the men. He has not provided any
instructions for one man of the squad. He has not made it clear just
which patrol each man belongs to. He has not told the men what equipment
they are to carry with them.”
_The Director_: “To what do you attribute these omissions?”
_Captain Hodges_: “Well, sir, I could not say. The thing that appeals to
me is that if I were one of the men I would want to know about them.”
_The Director_: “I think, if you will all reflect, that the underlying
trouble with Captain Harvey’s order is that he has not followed our five
paragraph order. Had he done so, I am sure he would not have omitted
these essentials. Now I am going to have Captain Harvey give the order
again and follow the five paragraph order system and see how he comes
out. Your first paragraph would be ‘Information of the enemy and our
supporting troops.’ All right, Captain Harvey, what would your first
paragraph contain?”
_Captain Harvey_: “Well, sir, the men know everything that I do
regarding the enemy and our own troops. They all heard the Lieutenants
order when he established the support. So I would say:
“‘There is no further information of the enemy or our supporting
troops.’”
_The Director_: “You have stated it exactly in your last sentence. Now
for your plan.”
_Captain Harvey_: “My plan would be to have the squad furnish two of the
visiting patrols—I see what you mean.
“‘Our squad will furnish two visiting patrols tonight.’”
_The Director_: “Now comes the disposition of troops and orders for each
element.”
_Captain Harvey_: “I would divide up the squad as I did in my previous
order and provide for that extra man that Captain Hodges spoke of. He is
my Automatic Rifleman. I would say:
“‘Manley, Harrison and Kline will be visiting patrol No. 1. It will
go out at 12 o’clock midnight.
“‘Oliver, Hasker and Payne will be visiting patrol No. 2. It will go
out at 2 o’clock a. m.
“‘Bailey (automatic rifleman) will be supernumerary.’”
_The Director_: “The next is your administrative arrangements, paragraph
4 of an order. What would you include in that?”
_Captain Harvey_: “The equipment to be carried. I would say:
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