The Section Attack Decision
You lead an eight-person section on a training exercise. The objective is a two-room building 400 m across open ground. You have two fire teams of four. The ground between you and the building is flat, with no cover except a low wall 150 m from the building. Time allowed for the assault is 20 minutes. One team leader is experienced; the other is new and has never led an assault. Two section members are carrying the only radio, and one of them is in the new leader's team. The direct approach is fastest but exposes the section for the full 400 m. A flanking route adds 5 minutes but uses dead ground.
1. Outline your plan, allocating roles and justifying the route choice.
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Plan:
- Route: use the flanking route. The direct approach exposes eight people over 400 m of open ground with no cover - unacceptable risk even in training, and it concentrates casualties. The flank adds 5 minutes but preserves the section's fighting strength.
- Fire team 1 (experienced leader): lead the flank, establish a fire base at the low wall to suppress the building while team 2 closes.
- Fire team 2 (new leader): follow and assault the building once team 1 is in position. Pair the new leader with the radio operator so communications are with the assault element, and brief him in detail before moving.
- Timings: 5 min flank + 5 min fire base + 10 min assault/building clearance = 20 min, inside the limit.
Justification: the route choice trades 5 minutes for survivability and cover. The experienced leader is placed where the most complex coordination (fire base) occurs; the new leader gets a simpler, well-briefed task with the radio for control.
2. During the flank, the new leader's team drifts off the intended line and the radio operator reports he cannot raise team 1. What do you do?
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Immediate actions:
- Halt the section to regain control - a section that is dispersed and out of communication is the main risk.
- Visually locate team 1 (they should be near the low wall). Use hand signals or a runner if radio fails.
- Re-brief the new leader on the line and the next bound, and confirm he understands the fire base signal.
- If radio cannot be restored, designate a visual signal (e.g. a whistle or flag) agreed with team 1 before continuing.
Reasoning: the priority is to restore command and control before continuing the assault. Continuing with a lost team and no comms risks fratricide and mission failure. The 20-minute limit is a constraint, but a disorganised assault is worse than a delayed one. If control cannot be restored within a few minutes, the correct call is to abort the assault and reorganise, then report.