Back stop

The ‘back stop’ has a similar task to the front stop. He may become front stop if the enemy approaches from the other direction.

Sentries

Sentries should have arcs of responsibility facing out towards the expected approach of the enemy. They should also be looking out for the approach of civilians and enemy patrols approaching from alternative directions.

Standby position

The ‘standby position’ should be used to rest the troops in a long ambush and it should be well guarded in case of attack. Some ambushes may be in place for days or weeks so it should be out of range of camp noise from the track or road. On a long ambush the fire group only needs to move into position when the enemy are known to be approaching. With a large ambush a reserve should be kept at the standby position to deal with attack from an unexpected direction or counter enemy anti-ambush drills with a defensive screen.

Mines

Where there are hollows or ‘dead ground’ in the killing ground an enemy will tend to hide there when he comes under fire. It is often a good idea to accommodate the enemy by laying landmines in these places.

It has been known for a weak force to open fire on a stronger force in an apparent ambush with a killing ground providing plenty of cover. The immediate action of the ambushed force has been to take cover only to find that explosive charges and mines have been placed in all the positions providing cover. Effectively, the larger force has been driven onto the IEDs of the smaller force where they may be destroyed at will by command detonation of the charges.

This is what a Claymore looks like when it goes off... (USMC, Lance Cpl. James W. Clark)

Claymore Mines provide a very useful directional blast as has been explained elsewhere. As the best time to hit the enemy in an ambush is in the first couple of seconds, before he has chance to take cover and move out of line, the Claymore is useful for directing blast and shrapnel along the approach path of the enemy when fired by command wire.

REMEMBER:

Whenever you are in a vehicle which is hit by an IED or stopped by a blockage in the road assume it is an ambush and react accordingly.

Vehicle ambush

A vehicle ambush is in most respects identical to the ambush of a foot patrol. If the vehicles are armoured then clearly heavier weapons are required. One difference is that vehicles often move at speed and therefore the front stop needs to be in a position to stop the column quickly or, failing that, fire along the length of it to good effect. It is also the case that vehicles often cannot escape across country and therefore may be trapped more easily than foot soldiers by mines or IEDs immobilizing the lead and rear vehicles. Stop the front and rear vehicles and you often have them all.

THE ASSAULT

In counter-insurgency warfare the enemy is, by definition, weaker overall than the occupying power or you wouldn’t be doing much occupying. This insurgent weakness is often not in terms of numbers or bravery but results from a shortage of air assets which leads to our air strength creating a shortage of ground assets for them. That is, if the enemy ever had an organized army, our air assets have stuffed his air assets and then cut up his organized ground assets such as troop formations, tanks and artillery leaving him hiding in small groups merely to survive.

This means the insurgent will attack isolated groups of our forces, if he can manage to gather sufficient forces of his own, before melting away into the hills. Alternatively, or as well, he will resort to bombs under the road and other tactics which don’t give you much chance to shoot him.

TOP TIP!

Mix and match

You may not be able to bring all the potential assets listed above to bear on every ambush but the more you can use the more successful you will be. A successful ambush is one where the enemy don’t get to shoot back at you before they die.

In an anti-insurgency role you will find that the ambush is probably the best way of bringing an enemy to contact who is reluctant to face you in open battle.

The straight forward assault, a direct attack on an enemy position, is one of the most satisfying methods for eliminating the insurgent. Of course, in a counter-insurgency situation, the enemy is not intentionally going to be sitting there waiting for you to attack him so the opportunity to assault his position generally arises in one of two forms which I will label the Spontaneous Assault and the Prepared Assault.

The spontaneous assault

This occurs when you survive an ambush set against you or you bump into the enemy while out on patrol – and the enemy does not run. You then use your forces to organize an assault, close with the enemy and destroy him.

The prepared assault

This occurs when our Intel people have found out where there is a bunch of insurgents staying for a period in a house, compound or camp. This may be in a neighbouring country to the one you are occupying as such a place is often used as a safe haven for training and resupply in insurgency campaigns. In the occupied country the insurgents may have a hidden supply depot, training camp or just be taking some R&R in what they think is a safe area. Again, you use your forces to close with the enemy, organize an assault and destroy him; but this time you have more time to think and gather what you need for the job.

First of all, so you understand where the principles come from, we will look at a prepared assault in a classical warfare situation as opposed to an anti-insurgency campaign.

British Parachute Regiment patrol EMOE a compound wall and enter, Afghanistan 2010. EMOE is ‘Explosive Method of Entry’. (Photo courtesy Tom Blakey)

The standard assault technique

In classical warfare, a prepared assault is a planned and organized attack on an enemy who is in a, more or less, prepared position therefore most assaults are against trenches, bunkers or buildings. Obviously, the intention of the enemy is to make these positions difficult or impossible to capture by means of trenches and protected fire positions so a special technique has to be employed in order to take them – or at least without a horrendous loss of life on our side. The last thing you want is to be part of a wave of men sent ‘over the top’ to be shot down as you approach the enemy position as in World War I. Pay careful attention here so you will know when it is done properly and when some officer just wants to win medals.

I will say again, because it is so important, that to assault a position successfully you need to be able to bring sufficient fire to bear on the enemy to at least keep their heads down. Obviously it is better if you can kill or demoralize them but keeping their heads down allows you to move forward without being shot. This firepower does not all need to come from your own infantry. You can use mortars, artillery, air support or anything else you can bring to the party to suppress the enemy.

For the assault technique itself an example will make all plain: let us suppose you are in company strength (120 men) and assaulting a platoon strength (40 men) enemy position dug in on a hill. I realize that some old soldiers will laugh at my optimism as the British and US armies are often expected to attack without such odds in its favour – like attacking a prepared position with less men than the defenders had in the Falklands – but this is how it is supposed to be done and lack of numbers can be made up by heavier supporting weapons – if you are lucky.