Terrain ExercisesWaldron, William H. (William Henry)
History
Terrain Exercises
Waldron, William H. (William Henry)
Tactics
The Director will point out to the class and dwell upon the principle
that, having decided to avoid the enemy’s patrol, the all-absorbing duty
of the patrol leader is to conceal his patrol so that the enemy will
have no information that it is anywhere in the vicinity. The measures to
accomplish this will then be worked out in the minutest detail. It may
be well to have members of the class take post to represent the members
of the patrol and have other members of the class to go out and
represent the enemy’s patrol and advance just as they would under
service conditions. Then have Captain James solve the problem of getting
his patrol under cover without being discovered by the enemy.
Explanation
_The Director_: “We must give the enemy’s patrol credit for being on the
alert and for having such a knowledge of tactics that he will do the
reasonably proper thing. If he sees one member of our patrol, the
difficulty of avoiding him will be doubly increased. Our task, then, is
to get to cover as quickly as possible. It is this seeming trivial
action that sometimes calls for all the ingenuity that the patrol leader
may possess. The road may be open for a considerable distance, so that
if one of the members of our patrol crosses from one side to the other
he will be seen and the position disclosed to the enemy. It may be
necessary for the patrol to fall back a short distance in order to
secure the necessary cover. It may be necessary, in order to avoid
discovery, to direct all men on one side of the road to take cover on
their side and the remainder to seek cover on the opposite side. This
means a dispersion of the patrol and the consequent danger of getting
lost and also the difficulties of assembling again. This points to the
advisability of training the men to all take cover on the same side of
the road when the enemy is encountered as in this case.”
Procedure
When members of the class are in place to represent the enemy and our
own patrol, the Director will give a signal and the movement starts. The
enemy patrol moves along as it would naturally and Captain James
proceeds to get the members of his patrol under cover. His method should
be discussed by the class and the defects of it pointed out. It may be
necessary to enact the solution several times before a satisfactory one
is found.
The demonstration completed and the class again assembled, the Director
proceeds with the problem.
The Problem
_The Director_: “Lieutenant Baker, would you send back any message to
the support commander about the enemy patrol?”
Solution
_Lieutenant Baker_: “I think that is a point that the patrol commander
should consider. I am not clear in my own mind just what should be done
under the circumstances. I would be pleased to have the Director
enlighten us on the subject.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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