Rifles - Moving and Shooting

[vlazlow]

I borrowed heavily from FM 7-8. This action assumes you have at least 4-6 people with you.


BATTLE DRILL: REACT TO CONTACT

SITUATION: The individual(s) are moving through an area with enemy activity of an unknown nature

STEP 1. Action on Enemy Contact.

a. On receiving fire take up nearest positions that afford protection from enemy fire (cover) and observation (concealment).

b. The individual in contact immediately returns heavy volume of suppressive fire in the direction of the enemy.

(1) Other individuals (Fire team 1, FT1) in contact move to positions (bound or crawl) from which they can fire their weapons, position themselves to ensure that they have observation, fields of fire, cover, and concealment. They continue to fire and report known or suspected enemy positions to the group leader.

(2) The team leader directs fires using standard fire commands.

(3) The individuals not in contact (FT2) takes covered and concealed positions in place and observes to the flanks and rear of the group.

(4) The group leader moves toward the individuals (FT1) in contact.

STEP 2. Locate the Enemy.

a. Using sight and sound, the individuals (FT1) in contact acquires known or suspected enemy positions.

b. The individuals (FT1) in contact begins to place well-aimed fire on suspected enemy positions.

c. The group leader moves to a position where he can observe the enemy and assess the situation.

STEP 3. Suppress the Enemy.

The group leader determines if the individuals (FT1) in contact can gain suppressive fire based on the volume and accuracy of the enemy fire.

a. If the answer is YES, the fire group leader continues to suppress the enemy:

(1) The individuals (FT1) in contact destroys or suppresses enemy crew-served weapons first.

(2) The group leader continues to control fires using standard fire commands. Fires must be well-aimed and continue at a sustained rate with no lulls.

(3) Buddy teams fire their weapons so that both are not reloading their weapons at the same time.

b. If the answer is NO, the group leader then deploys the individuals (FT2) not in contact to establish a support-by-fire position.

STEP 4. Attack.

If the individuals in contact can suppress the enemy, the group leader determines if the individuals (FT2) not in contact can maneuver. He makes the following assessment:

• Location of enemy position(s) and obstacles.

• Size of enemy force engaging the group. (The number of enemy automatic weapons, the presence of any vehicles, and the employment of indirect fires are indicators of enemy strength.)

• Vulnerable flank.

• Covered and concealed flanking route to the enemy position.

a. If the answer is YES, the group leader maneuvers the fire team in the assault:

(1) The squad leader directs FT1 in contact to support the movement of the other fire team. He then leads or directs the assaulting fire team leader to maneuver his fire team along a route that places the fire team in a position to assault the enemy. (The assaulting fire team must pick up and maintain fire superiority throughout the assault. Handover of responsibility for direct fires from the supporting fire team to the assaulting fire team is critical.)

(2) Once in position, the group leader gives the prearranged signal for the supporting fire team to lift fires or shift fires to the opposite flank of the enemy position.

(3) Theassaulting fire team fights through enemy positions using fire and movement. (The supporting fire team must be able to identify the near flank of the assaulting fire team.)

(a) The team leader selects the route that allows him to reach his objective, while providing the best available cover and concealment for his team. The team leader then leads his team, from up front, in a shallow wedge throughout the attack.

(b) Fire team members conduct individual movement techniques as individuals or buddy teams, while maintaining their relative position in the assault formation. At the end of each move, individuals take up covered and concealed positions and resume firing.

b. If the answer is NO or the assaulting tire team cannot continue to move, the group leader deploys the assaulting fire team to add its fires against the enemy and disengages using an Australian peel or other method.

STEP 5. Consolidate and Reorganize.
a. Once the assaulting fire team has seized the enemy position, the group leader establishes local security. (The group leader must quickly prepare to defeat any enemy counterattack. At the conclusion of the assault, the group is most vulnerable.)

(1) The group leader signals for the supporting fire team to move up into a designated position.

(2) The group leader assigns sectors of fire for both fire teams.

(3) All individuals take up hasty defensive positions.

b. The group performs the following tasks:

(1) Redistribute and re-supply ammunition.

(2) Redistribute critical equipment (for example, radios,
NVDs, etc).

(3) Treat casualties and evacuate wounded.

(4) Fill vacancies in key positions.

(5) Collect enemy weapons and ammunition. If weapons and ammunition cannot be used, ensure that enemy forces cannot re-deploy the weapons by destroying them or removing key parts.

[Cold War Scout]

IIRC the NVA and VC were very effective in Vietnam in initiating ambushes in which the real intent was to get the Americans to assault through the apparent near ambush (a standard tactic for a near ambush), however, the real ambush was the one that was set and executed about where the Americans assault ended.

A clever adversary may just be able to mask from you what is really being served up.

[Kobra]

Why wouldn't it be a better ambush to face away from the enemy in an extremely well concealed position, let him pass you and then shoot them from behind? Secondly, in the video it seems like the only reasonable tactic would be to laterally towards cover and keep moving until the bullets didn't seem to be coming for you any longer. Only then could you begin to employ counter measures. The two guys who move to the right ditch don't fare well at all.

[The Searcher]

Why wouldn't it be a better ambush to face away from the enemy in an extremely well concealed position, let him pass you and then shoot them from behind?

It is.

However, many ambushers are not that disciplined and buck fever can ruin such plans.

This was a favored tactic of the Japanese. They even constructed some of their pillboxes and spider holes to face the rear. Not only does it aid in concealment and surprise but such fortifications are extremely difficult to knock out with support weapons since they are on the wrong side of a hill.

IRRC the VC did such things too.

[Kor]

...provoked by the discussion on this thread:

- Given the 3-second acquire-aim-fire cycle, shouldn't we also train to limit ourselves to a 3-second exposure when initiating/returning fire from cover?

- Assuming that you have allowed yourself to get caught all alone, and farther than a 3-second rush away from cover, what about self-covering suppressive fire? Would you actually be able to shoot accurately enough while moving to keep your enemy's head(s) down, or would you be better off with an all-out sprint to cover instead of trying to divide your efforts between shooting and moving? On the one hand, you CANNOT outrun your enemy's bullets, but on the other, you MIGHT be able to outrun his decision cycle, especially IF you can keep him worried enough to keep his head down...

[InTheBlack]

>>>
if we have discovered some very valid info with regards to pistol fights, and if fights truly are the same accross the board, only difference being reach angles and weapons, how do we modernize the rifle disciplines?
>>>

Perhaps some of the discoveries about the pistol are actually what the Rifleman has been doing all along...

[Anthony]

This is a great thread.
I have a few thoughts on the subject.

I have always been a simple man. And being simple, I like things to be simple. The more complicated - the more chance of things going wrong !
Both the UK & US militaries, along with many others of course, have been successfull in armed engagements for a long time. Yet it would seem that the simple techniques just don't seem to get passed on by some schools, or that the schools just don't teach correctly ? - This comment is based on what I have read. In the same way that Cooper's original techniques have been much distorted by later MT followers, proper rifle technique has become too 'square range' oriented. - This is NOT to say that we shouldn't do good square range basic shooting training of course.

We read on WT, fine posts from people like Mathew Temkin and Cruel Hand Luke, about what worked for the old gunfighters/trainers etc.
We see that nothing seems to be new, but there is certainly a need to bring it all together which is what Gabe seems to be doing just fine. - If it works, don't fix it !
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that Cooper abandoned IPSC when it stopped being a realistic type of competition, as people started using 'race guns' and race gear, instead of what they would really carry on the street etc ?

As civilians we need to practise 'reactive' much more than 'pro active'.
Why ?
Obviously we are carrying to REACT to an enemy. An enemy we only realise, when he/they begin to target us for whatever reason. With good mindset, we might get the advantage. This has happened to me in Brazil on more than one occasion, giving me the chance to react 'pro actively' with presentations of my weapon first, plus an agressive and thorough indication to the probable BGs that I would shoot them straight away if they did not back off !

But the fact is that most reactions will be when we have been surprised by the enemy. Everybody likes to have surprise on his side.
As Gabe wrote in his first post, I outlined a responce in my thread on the subject.

The first reaction must be to move ! But there was a variation taught for close range:
On reacting to an enemy at close range, we were taught to snap shoot a couple of rounds at the enemy as we explosively moved off the 'X'.
These rounds would not be sighted shots, but were aimed with what would be called 'point shooting' today. From the hip, or looking over the top of a shouldered rifle, it is not important. What is important is to get those first shots off fast, in the direction of the enemy, as we explode off our position towards cover/a better position/whatever.

The lay of the land might well change certain details, but the basic form of reaction should remain the same:
a) Move off of your enemy's aim. - Point shooting at him as you do so.
b) Seek cover or a low position to be able to better return aimed fire.
c) On seeing the enemy, fire aimed shots, then MOVE again. Keep moving positions if out in the 'open'.

Regards,
Anthony.

[Geezer]

Kor posted: "Given the 3-second acquire-aim-fire cycle, shouldn't we also train to limit ourselves to a 3-second exposure when initiating/returning fire from cover?"

Unless you pop up from a different place each time, that 3 second time is going to shrink considerable, since the experienced OG will acquire and aim at the spot you last appeared, and all that is left for him is to pull the trigger when you pop up again. That should be around 0.5 second MOL.

I always thought that no more than two 3-round bursts or shots maximum from the same place was the rule, if even that much. Then move or throw a grenade.

God bless and y'all be mindful out there.

[Geezer]

Slam Marshall (Forget about the interviews, this was a CSI analysis, no live people to interview) wrote up an excellent account of an ambush that failed.

Americans set up on two sides of a trail that ran through a shallow valley. Perfect, right?

Japanese were experienced soldiers, and were expecting to be ambushed. The last three men in column (determined by brass) were the AMG, with the gun strapped on his back, barrel pointed upward, the MG and an ammo bearer.

When the ambush struck, the AMG bent over as a human tripod and the MG began putting rounds in the the ambushers immediately.

The balance of the troops immediately charged up the hill toward any ambusher they could see. Upon reflection, this gives the ambushers an immediate frontal problem to deal with, and allows the MG to be more or less stationary, and such freedom increasing second by second as the ambushers are hit or engaged.

This was all standard Japanese tactics, taught and practiced.

Result? All Americans DRT. Japanese casualties unknown, but based on blood trails, minimal.

A bitter lesson, but one more example of many that the most productive solution to an ambush of any kind, any where, any kind, is attack, attack, attack.

God bless and y'all be mindful out there

[vlazlow]

I was thinking about this thread on the way home last night. I have taken the FM 7-8 team battle drill and tried to apply it to an individual or at most 2 men. This would be fairly simple to set up on a range w/ pre-positioned cover in the form of barrels, pallets, logs, etc. This would be like what CWS was talking a/b. Don’t have all the cover exactly 3-5 seconds apart. Make the trainee go prone and return fire a few times. Any way, just some ideas.



BATTLE DRILL: INDIVIDUAL REACT TO CONTACT

SITUATION: An individual is moving through an area with enemy activity of an unknown nature

STEP 1. Action on Enemy Contact.

On receiving fire, take up the nearest position that affords protection from enemy fire (cover) and observation (concealment). Due to the possibility that the exact location of the incoming fire cannot be determined, the cover should provide 360 degree protection if possible.

STEP 2. Locate the Enemy.

a. Using sight and sound, the individual in contact acquires the known or suspected enemy position.

b. The individual in contact begins to place well-aimed fire on suspected enemy positions.

c. Determine the next available cover in the direction of movement. If possible, it should take no more than 3-5 seconds to move to the next area of cover.

STEP 3. Move.

a. After firing 3-5 aimed suppressive shots. The individual, using 3-5 second rushes, moves to the next available cover.

b. If one is fortunate enough to have a buddy with him, use 2 man fire and maneuver from cover to cover. Keep the commands simple: FIRING, LOADING and MOVING should be sufficient.

c. Stay on your feet for no more than 3-5 five seconds. Use the tempo: “I’m up, he sees me, I’m down!” Remember even simple gullys or surface features can provide a level of cover.

d. Map out each move in your mind before committing. Have a plan before you move and leave cover.

e. Before leaving cover, top off your weapon and store your partial magazine.

f. The ultimate goal is to move out of the enemy’s kill zone, continuing the above methods until you are in an area safe from enemy fire.

STEP 5. Consolidate and Reorganize.

When you are in an area of safety:

a. Ensure you are in a safe position that provides cover, concealment and a degree of security

b. Attend any first aid or medical issues.

c. Top off weapon and refresh partial magazines..

d. Check equipment.

e. Re-hydrate.

f. Continue mission.