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Monday, March 19, 2012

Rural Patrolling

Rural patrolling is very demanding so here is an article about some of the tactics and procedures for performing it proficiently.

The military description places it into the two distinct categories of ’combat’ and ’reconnaissance’ patrolling, with a clear task or purpose for the mission . Combat patrols are further defined as raid, ambush, and security patrols. Which may be conducted in close proximity to a main party or facility for the purpose of defense ( the security patrol) or they may be sent deep behind enemy lines with the intent of attacking and/or harassing the enemy.

Reconnaissance patrols are generally tasked with the gathering and confirming of information and are dispatched with the intent of avoiding direct contacts with an enemy. The information sought can very from determining the size, activity , or location of an enemy or tracking their movement .It may be tasked with identifying a route for movement through an area , such as locating a place to conduct a river crossing or possibly establish a secure perimeter to base operations from. The reconnaissance patrol may be utilized to establish contact with friendly forces or sister units to report intentions, status, locations, etc.

Military patrols may be very small entities such as a fire team, or they may be conducted at squad or platoon strength, and likely have subordinate teams with in the structure. The overriding conditions of their existence and effectiveness at the task at hand must allow them to operate in an independent manor, relying on its self for immediate security, maintenance, navigation, and its ability to perform the operational orders that it is tasked with , such as breaching obstacles, securing of prisoners, the seizing of objectives, documenting intelligence, photographing/mapping terrain, etc.

The civilian police world incorporates patrolling into a variety of circumstances, some similar and some less so than the military application in a infantry context. Again we can identify a task or objective as the governing factor determining the methods utilized, as well as size, capabilities, and expectations of the patrol.

The ‘street’ officer may be assigned with a general ’security’ task such as simply responding to any calls for service in a particular precinct or jurisdiction, maintain presence in an area for the purpose of identifying and deterring crimes, or tasked with a more specific purpose such as enforcing traffic laws in a congested area and/or conducting collision investigations as they occur.

The ’security’ application of patrolling is applied in the protection of VIPs in both public and private sector. Prisons and correctional institutions conduct such activities outside the perimeters of the facility as well as with in the walls, layering security patrols on foot, in vehicles, and in fixed location such as control pods and towers for the purpose of maintaining order and custody with in the facility.

Special operations with in the police world call for more specific applications of patrolling with certain objectives to achieve. I have conducted patrolling operations tasked with the purpose of gathering information, collection of intelligence, observing and surveillance of locations for evidence of criminal activity ,etc. Having conducted counter narcotic interdiction/eradication operations with multi-agency/jurisdiction task forces, many of these activities focused on gathering information for the purpose of securing warrants by means of placing video cameras and audio recording devices, photographing people, places, vehicles, and establishing the presence of trafficking and manufacturing of drugs. These details often incorporated support elements such as forensic technicians, aviation support, the use of crime informants or undercover personnel.

We always performed reconnaissance patrols prior to the service of arrest/search warrants for the detailed planning of those operations, maintaining real time current information on the location and its inhabitants, and to maintain ‘eyes on’ surveillance of persons of interest to the legal system. At times, providing protection of persons/places resulted in the tasking of similar patrols to survey the ‘arena‘ ahead of time.

The circumstances that I have conducted such details have varied from camo fatigues and painted faces laying in a creek bed behind a spotting scope and note pad, too t-shirt and shorts sitting in the beer garden of a busy pub taking photos of ’the band’ and certain persons of interest that might be conducting business in the area as well, or on several occasions sitting in a U haul trailer positioned in a parking lot all night, taking shifts starring through a fish eye lens with some other lucky fellow. The nature of these type operations were similar to the ‘reconnaissance’ category found in the military circles…covertly maneuver to a location, occupy a ‘hide’, gather Intel, with draw undetected.

Police Patrol operations at times share attributes with the ambush/raid flavor of military patrolling, but having much different rules of engagement. My involvement in such has included fugitive/inmate recovery teams, conducting activities traditionally referred to as ‘man hunts’ for individuals or groups that have taken flight to avoid prosecution or escaped containment of an agency or venue having custody over them. These patrols usually take on a more aggressive pace, conducting road blocks, check points, and tracking operations with the intent of capture . Similar patrols may conduct searches for missing and/or abducted persons, locating a downed aircraft, all using movement techniques designed to search and contact.

Police patrolling may employ a couple of detectives, a dozen members of a special response team, or consist of multiple agencies with various specific tasks assigned to them numbering hundreds. As with the military unit, the activity revolves around a specific task or purpose, (although sometimes with secondary mission considerations), that the ‘patrol’ carries out with the purpose of achieving the objective or task at hand.

Now that we have an example of what traditional ‘patrolling’ activities may entail, lets identify why the civilian operator should study them and incorporate them into the ‘tool box’. First though it is important to establish where this fits into our training path. Mission number one needs to focus on individual operator skills- your shooting disciplines, hand to hand skills, emergency medical knowledge, vehicle operation, an understanding of how a single operator might negotiate a building or structure, etc.. We move from there into our multi-operator training as Suarez International provides via our HRO Team Tactics 1 & 2, CQB, etc. The application of everything we developed as an individual gets performed in groups, thus allowing larger and more complex tasks to be performed in a safe, efficient manor as a group. The formation of family members, neighbors, friends ,etc. into a functioning unit, where several operators actions are used to compliment each others efforts for a greater task is critical. The old adage of two working together can do more than ten working alone reigns true.

Based on the above descriptions of patrolling, we can describe the action as the application of moving about our area of operations in a overt/covert manor, using persons arranged in a tactical formation to observe people, places, and events, for the various purposes of learning about them, assessing their capabilities, equipment, indentations, sometimes contacting them, avoiding them at other times, possibly inflicting our will upon them, and on occasions attempting to influence, effect, or eliminate situations favorable to allow others to inflict there will on us.
It is the activity that allows us to be the ’king of the hill’ so to speak, and function in our given environment. It allows us to maintain control over areas deemed ours and it also allows us to explore areas that may belong to others.

Patrolling skills are necessary so that you, those you are responsible for, or have common interests with, can conduct activities to include securing properties ,locations, buildings, etc. from threats in the event of societal breakdown (think: your neighborhood watch on steroids) or if your business requires you frequent more dangerous locations around the globe, good patrolling skills allow for a element of safety while you travel!

Do any of you live in one of the rural counties of this nation that have been advised that there isn’t enough capital left in the budget to provide for law enforcement services….who watches the ranch then folks? The ability to maneuver and negotiate our way around the planet in small groups is critical when the need to escape/evade/relocate from an area that has become untenable, sometimes requiring flight on foot and maintaining safety in your numbers.

The understanding of how to conduct counter surveillance on a foe that may be targeting you and yours for abduction, assault, or theft, is most important in this day and age. Wouldn’t it be desirable to be able to deploy a patrol to discover the whereabouts and perform the rescue of a lost or abducted family member or friend in times of trouble.

What if you need to reach a downed comrade in an emergency. Many times in our nations history (as well as most others) and seemingly with a greater frequency, we find ourselves left ‘on our own’ to provide for the safety of our family and communities for varying durations and in different scenarios, as our elected officials fail to respond in a timely manor or are under equipped to deal with overwhelming events.

As civilian operators, responsible citizens, prepared families/communities , guerilla fighters, what ever banner you rally under- a knowledge of and application of patrolling should be a familiar topic in your bag of tricks. It must include ambush/counter ambush techniques, the understanding of conducting deliberate raids or assaults…do you know how to assemble your team into a line, file, or wedge and take the fight to the enemy ? How bout immediate action and contact drills to break the enemies attacks? Tracking/counter tracking operations….are you being followed? Do you have the skills to button hook your trail and conduct a hasty ambush? Traveling techniques, small unit formations, security halts, proper crossing and negotiation of various terrain, identifying bottle necks, fatal funnels, and other danger areas. Can you move your group safely up a ridge or conduct a river crossing? Is enemy contact likely? Do you understand how to move your team with traveling or bounding over watches through an open area? Can you keep the group together and on course in the thick timber? Can you establish a tight 360 degree perimeter for the night and allow every other member arranged like the spokes of a wheel to get some much needed rest, yet retain the ability to instantly and silently kick them to alertness in the event of compromise or danger? These things performed much easier having an understanding of how to do them and prior practice at it.

General navigation skills are a must. Can you read a topographical map and orient your self in the big scheme of things. Can you position yourself using terrain association and triangulation?

How about the use of satellite navigation technology? I am of the opinion that it is a good thing to know where you are, how to get where you need to be, and return to where you came from, at all times! The understanding of how to organize, plan, and conduct patrol operations in varying terrains, environments, and conditions is critical.

The knowledge required for establishing patrol bases, hides, security/ defensive perimeters in both urban and rural environments is important . If you are being watched, would you want to know about it and have the ability to loose your tail and conduct counter surveillance?

All very important stuff for the civilian operator to know in our uncertain world! Remember the one person you can always rely on is you, and in hard times it is likely others will look to you as well. Will you be able to lead them? Be as reliable as you can.

The safety of your ‘team‘, particularly over protracted events, boils down to your ability as a group to be able to shoot, move, and communicate. Those three things are the foundation. The study and application of patrolling is the method in which you maintain that safety in both the reactive and proactive side of events while on the move or ‘in camp‘. If you don’t possess the skills to advance to the fight, pick the fight, avoid the fight altogether, or flee from the fight if it found you- I submit you are not as combat effective as you ought to be and its time to develop these skills. Lots of material in this area of study will be available from Suarez International and its many talented instructors in the very near future. I encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to become as complete of a warrior as you can be. ….your life and other’s lives just might depend on it.

Eric W. Pfleger

Staff Instructor

Suarez International

42 Grunt Tips & Tactics for Your Toolbox when the SHTF

This is some good info I thought I would re-post.

by The ITS Crew on December 8, 2010
In the event that things go bad, skills that are considered on-the-job training in Infantry and Spec Ops units are handy to know.

Today we’re going to go over 42 of them that you should commit to memory. While this was a collaboration with Doc from RSKTKR, none of us can take credit for this list, but felt it was important enough to share.

These are tips we’ve collected over the years from various sources including Gunny's, Chiefs, our lessons learned in the service and comments made around the net.

Grunt Tips

1. Unpredictability is paramount, never use the same NDP (Night Defensive Perimeter) twice; never use the same ambush site twice and don’t travel in straight lines. Becoming predictable could be your last mistake. No matter how careful you’ve been, it’s always possible you’ve been compromised and don’t know it. If the enemy can’t predict where you’ll be, he can’t ambush you.
2. When you conduct reconnaissance do not go directly in the direction you’re headed. It’s a good idea to travel in another direction and then perform a zigzag with many changes of direction. Make the enemy track you and not be able to run in a straight line to your team. Even crossing your own tracks allows your team to see whether they are being tracked. Another extremely important tip is to never go back the way you came. The consequences could be deadly.
3. Trust your instincts but do not engage in a competition on tactics. Follow all basic rules. The last man should try to repair your trail whenever possible. Make the enemy have to search harder to find you.
4. Just because a spot looks good for a hide or an NDP, doesn’t mean you should use it. Analyze the area from an enemy’s point of view; where would you look for an enemy’s hide?
5. Never hide near or in any man-made structures or features. They attract attention and are the first places your enemy will look when they’re trying to find you.
6. When filling or filtering water from streams, be aware that any silt you stir up will travel downstream, alerting others of your presence.
7. When taking a dump in the woods, always bring your weapon. The enemy may approach while you’re unarmed and defenseless. Bring along a small plastic bag for your used paper rather than burying it. You can bury the dump, but without paper remaining how can the enemy decide whose crap it is; his or his enemy’s?
8. It’s better to have multiple canteens/Nalgenes than one and a five gallon bag in your ruck to fill from. It’s easier to exchange an empty one with a full one. A 5 gallon bag also causes loud sloshing and shifting of weight which may cause your pack to shimmer enough for the enemy to see you. Remember Murphy’s Law – If you can see the enemy, he can see you too.
9. Watch for trip wires, booby traps and try not to step on twigs. Hearing a twig breaking can travel farther than you think.
10. Other than health reasons, don’t smoke; the exhale of your cigarette smoke can be seen and smelled by your enemy.
11. Don’t keep looking in one spot for too long, close your eyes or move them away from area you wish to focus on and then look again. Staring at one spot too long makes it seem as if that spot is moving.
12. Look for anything that looks out of place. Straight line items may be a comm wire for a land line, but whose? Yours or your enemy’s?
13. Be observant and know your surroundings. Know what sounds are natural and what changes in them can mean. Silence can also be deadly.
14. Stay alert, it’s easy to let your mind wander and become complacent.
15. Don’t leave tracks in the snow that your enemy can follow.
16. Don’t let the enemy smell you coming. Use odorless laundry detergent, don’t use cologne/aftershave, don’t smoke (see above), don’t dip, don’t eat foods with heavy garlic or other ingredients that allow scent to permeate from your skin. As a last resort grab dirt and rub it all over your clothes to remove as much of the smell as possible.
17. Use your peripheral vision and practice using it, especially at night.
18. Back-lighting will give away your position, even during the day. Hard shadows are unnatural, so plan your routes accordingly; even in urban environments.
19. Don’t build fires, this one should go without saying if you’re trying not to be noticed.
20. Don’t use the old ALICE clips to secure your gear, use MALICE Clips if you have PALS Webbing or even Zip Ties.
21. Never walk parallel to the objective; It’s much more difficult to see someone coming to or away from you than it is side to side.
22. Use dead reckoning and terrain association as much as possible.
23. Dummy cord your gear. Canteen/Nalgene, Night Vision, GPS, multitool and pocket knives. Type 1 Paracord is great for this purpose, cut it long enough to make the equipment easy to get to, but not long enough to hit the ground or get wrapped around something.
24. Save the safety pins that come on the 5.56 bandoliers. They come in handy.
25. Always carry good snivel gear. (layers, balaclava/watchcap and a straw to suck it up.)
26. Carry a quality roll of toilet paper in a Ziploc. Use the MRE paper for cleaning patches.
27. Learn to waterproof your gear, especially comms. Riggers tape works great on the outside of Ziplocs to make them more durable.
28. Tuck your headlamp in your blouse in case it accidentally comes on. Same goes for those keychain Photon lights.
29. When drinking from a canteen/nalgene, pass it around to kill it and prevent sloshing.
30. Field Strip your MREs.
31. Carry pruning shears for cutting vegetation and creating camouflage.
32. Have a good Escape and Evasion plan.
33. Run IADs (Immediate Action Drills) religiously.
34. Practice moving quietly in every environment. Get a pair of sound enhancing shooting ear pro and listen to yourself. Take your time and plan your next move.
35. When you need to move with a purpose, stop and listen often. Move a few paces and stop briefly to listen for noise.
36. Learn your Pace Count. In case you didn’t know, your Pace Count is counting every time your left foot hits the ground for 100 meters. This helps with judging the distance you’ve walked. It helps a lot with a map,compass, and protractor.
37. When you find a spot to set up in for the night or make a hide, go into the thick stuff. It’s harder to see you, and anybody wanting to snoop around looking for you will make a lot of noise coming up on you.
38. Even if you’re carrying MREs, when practical, always supplement them with small game and things you may find to eat in the field. This will make your rations last longer.
39. Tape up everything that’s loose on your pack or anything else you’re carrying, it will help prevent snags.
40. Before you move out, have a buddy listen as you jump up and down to ensure you aren’t rattling and potentially giving away your position.
41. Tuck your boot laces into the tops of you boots after you tie them. You are using square-knotted Paracord laces right?
42. Learn to use hand signals if you’re with a group or even one other guy. Make sure each man knows the signals and use whatever works for everyone. Silent communication is paramount and the more you’re around your guys the more you won’t have to do anything other than look at each other to communicate.

So chew on that and think about those things. There are a lot more things I could cover also, but this is a good start.