So, What Do We Do If We’re Ambushed?

[dinkydow]

Received via email November 5th 2013. A good piece of up to date tactical doctrine.


So, What Do We Do If We’re Ambushed?

By, the Defensive Training Group, for use by patrol members and fire team leaders.



Noob: “So, what do you do when you think you’ve been ambushed?”

Good question. Valid, too. A new member of the team/patrol should be taught effective immediate action drills for this, as well as other common situations encountered in a SHTF situation. Let’s check out the conversation for a moment:

Older, more experienced teacher: “Well, the way we did it back in the day was to have everyone in the kill zone immediately assault the ambush position screaming and yelling and shooting. They told us that’d give us the best chance at survival.”

Noob: “How did you know it was an ambush and not a perimeter or something?”

Older, more experienced teacher: “Son, when all hell breaks loose without warning, and the shooting is coming from one side, it’s an ambush!”

Noob: “So did it work?”

Older, more experienced teacher: “In training it did.”

Noob: “Oh….”

Unfortunately, in many AO’s today, a common assumption of indigenous teams participating in counter-ambush immediate action drills (IAD), and was previously standard doctrine of all US forces prior to the adoption of MW, is anytime a team/patrol is engaged without warning they are in an ambush and have only one of two options for survival:

■If the incoming fire is judged to be 50 meters or closer to the patrol, it is presumed to be a ‘Near Ambush’. All members of the patrol immediately turn into the ambush and assault (rush) upright and fire/assault through the enemy ambush. In more contemporary times, this is where you hear the shrill yells of ‘contact left/front/right/rear’ along with the obligatory catapult into the depth of the kill zone.

■If incoming fire is judged to be 51 meters or more distant from the patrol, it is presumed to be a ‘Far Ambush’. The members of the team/patrol within the kill zone take cover and return fire forming a base of fire while the patrol members not in the immediate kill zone rendezvous, form a maneuver element and attempt to flank and assault through the enemy position.


No consideration was EVER given to the very real possibility that the patrol may have encountered an enemy LP, OP, sentry post, or prepared perimeter defensive position.

Little or no employment of returning fire, taking cover, and returning aimed fire is typically employed, or taught (with very few exceptions), especially by indigenous teams demonstrating their expertise on ‘the net’.

In order to apply the principles of maneuver warfare consistent with indigenous team capabilities, changes from the attrition warfare style of reacting to ambushes must be adopted for a team/patrol to have the wonderful possibility of surviving the encounter. Especially if that encounter is not comprised of an ambush, but is instead a prepared enemy defense. With that in mind, consider the following base line for developing effective Ambush IAD’s.

Why modify traditional anti-ambush IA drills?

■The patrol coming under fire may be in an ambush or it may have come into chance contact with an enemy sentry post, listening post, or a well prepared defensive position.

■If the ambush is any further away than just a few yards, the best chance for those patrol members survival, who are in the primary kill zone, is to drop to the ground and crawl to the best and nearest cover. From there, they can either crawl away to a pre-determined (using a pre-rehearsed IAD to movement, to break contact) and pre-designated Rally Point Enroute (RPE) rendezvous. Move to flank the ambush position once it is known the enemy occupied site is not part of a larger enemy perimeter, or break contact silently and move to an RPE for regrouping activities.

■If the team/patrol attempts to frontally assault and reduce a well prepared defensive enemy position, it will most likely be destroyed.

■If the team/patrol attempts to assault through a well prepared ambush in an upright position (running, firing, and screaming as taught in AW teams/groups) that has pre-positioned mines and or claymores and has belt fed weapons, the team/patrol will most likely be destroyed.

■If the patrol attempts to flank or maneuver on the “ambush” and finds it is attempting to flank a prepared position, it could find itself attempting to assault the perimeter of a defensive position sited in-depth... and the patrol will be destroyed.

Contemporary MW concepts, provide a new, "Near Ambush" Definition: An ambush initiated at a range 23 feet (7 meters) or closer to the team/patrol.

Suggested IAD modifications for all ambushes initiated at ranges of 23 feet (7 meters) or less from the team/patrol (when your team is hit this close, your actions must be immediate, violent, and overwhelming–that’s why IAD’s must be practiced until they’re second nature)

■If cover/concealment allows, patrol members outside the immediate kill zone should fire into the suspected enemy position only after taking positions of good cover and then employ well aimed shots at exposed enemy troops.

■If no enemy are exposed, but the vegetation around the ambush site indicates that there is a good chance of hitting hidden enemy, shoot low (5 to 10 inches from ground level) to help patrol members who are still caught in the immediate kill zone, to increase their survivability chances.

■Guide fire on the leading members of the patrol within the kill zone and shift fire as they move forward. No signals are necessary.

■Patrol members caught in the immediate kill zone should immediately attempt to gain firepower superiority into the enemy shooting at them by using “controlled pairs of fire,” on enemy soldiers, as they can be seen.

It follows then, that a new, "Far Ambush" Definition would be an ambush initiated more than 7 meters away from the team patrol.

IAD modification for all ambushes further than 7 meters (23 feet) from the patrol (terrain and vegetation dependent) could be:

■Drop to ground, crawl to COVER, ie, that, which will stop enemy rounds from penetrating your body.

■Return fire only when a target is seen and only when you are sure you can drop the target. The enemy immediately blanketing your firing position with suppressive fire, determines, that you should crawl to different cover as the report/flash of your shot has provided the enemy with your general or specific location.

■Move in the direction of the last designated RPE, assemble with remaining team/patrol members, and wait for the senior member issue a FRAG order.

MW differences, remember these:

Bounding through an Objective does not work well when under fire (especially when the patrol is facing belt feld weapons, interlocking fields of fire, and other sundry goodies) therefore, it is not used unless only sporadic, un-aimed fire is encountered.

■Patrol members choosing to “rush” will only do so from cover to cover, and only for 3 seconds or less duration.

■Each patrol member has the authority to determine how and when he will move; he is in the best position to see what cover is available. Ordering a man to rush or assault into belt fed weapons does not do anything but hasten his death and weakens the team/patrol.

AO and/or Team Specific Modifications:

Once all patrol members have learned and rehearsed above to the point that it’s second nature, all participants will be given the opportunity to suggest improvements and modifications so that at least 3 alternatives are rehearsed and ready for use.