To Ambush or Not to Ambush

Situation

You are the 1st Squad Leader, 1st Platoon, Company F, 2d Battalion, 7th Marines (2/7). Battalion Landing Team 2/7 (BLT 2/7) is the ground combat element of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit that has landed at the port city of New Zeda in the country of Zedastan. The established government is struggling with counterguerrilla insurgency, and there have been numerous high-profile kidnappings, bombings, and assassinations in the past month. Conditions have deteriorated to a point requiring international intervention. The city is home to over 1 million people most of whom require humanitarian relief. The main enemy force, the Zedastan People’s Army (ZPA), retreated from the city upon the arrival of the Marines. ZPA is a large but untrained army with mostly small arms, machineguns, and a few mortars. They do have access to modern communications such as cell phones and global positioning systems.

The BLT is the security element for both U.S. and international aid organizations that are feeding the estimated 300,000 refugees. Company F has been tasked with ensuring that ZPA forces do not return to the city to interfere with humanitarian efforts. Your platoon has been tasked with conducting security patrols outside the city approximately 2 kilometers to the northeast. The terrain is heavily wooded with rolling hills.

Your squad has been on patrol for over an hour. The BLT perimeter and city outskirts are approximately 2 kilometers to the south. Your point man spots what appears to be an enemy patrol armed with small arms moving south toward your squad. You decide to establish an ambush and set your squad into hasty ambush positions oriented to the northwest. You radio higher headquarters and inform them of the situation. just as you are about to initiate your ambush (with a closed bolt weapon), the 1st Fire Team Leader points out another enemy unit moving toward and behind you. he counts at least six enemy with more following. He’s not sure how many. The team leader also notes at least one RPK (Soviet) medium machinegun. It is now 1730 and EENT (end evening nautical twilight) is 10 minutes away. What now, Sergeant?

Requirement

In a time limit of 30 seconds decide whether or not you will spring your ambush. Develop your scheme of maneuver for either case and rationale for your decision. Submit your solution and rationale for your action to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #04-4, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-630-9147, or e-mail <[email protected]>.

Standoff in the Swamp

Situation

You are 1st Squad Leader, 1st Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines. Your battalion has been conducting patrolling operations in the country of Jungleland. The battalion is assisting the Jungleland Marines in defeating an indigenous guerilla movement that has been linked to an international terrorist organization. The terrain in the interior, where the guerilla movement is based, features steep hills covered with triple canopy jungle cut by numerous, small, easily fordable streams and swamps in the low-lying areas. Visibility is limited to 100 meters or less in the hills and 200 meters or less in the lowlands.

The guerillas operate largely in 10- to 12-man groups based in villages. They depend on their home villages for food, fresh water, and new recruits. They are armed with a variety of small arms from bolt action rifles to rocket propelled grenades. They are not known to possess a significant heavy machinegun or indirect fire capability.

Company A is operating with a Jungleland Marine company in the area of the small town of Villagton that has several small, outlying hamlets. The company’s mission is to deny the enemy the use of the village in order to cut the enemy off from the supplies and potential recruits in the village. 1st Platoon is tasked with occupying the outlying hamlet of Hamletia and conducting combat patrols in order to prevent small enemy units from infiltrating into Villagton. 2d and 3d Platoons have the same mission in hamlets to the south of the village. Your company command post and the Jungleland Marine company are located in Villagton itself. 2d and 3d Squads will remain in the village while you patrol and will prepare to conduct their own patrols upon your return. Located north of Villagton are 60mm mortars. They are in general support of the company with priority of fires to 3d Platoon, then 2d Platoon, and then 1st Platoon.

Your squad has been tasked with conducting a daylight patrol north of the village along a route that squad-sized enemy units have used previously to move into the Villagton area. You will insert by helicopter and patrol on foot back toward Hamletia. Your mission is to conduct a heliborne and foot security patrol in order to prevent any enemy forces from infiltrating along the known route toward Hamletia and Villagton. Commander’s intent is as follows:

The enemy’s center of gravity is the support, in the form of supplies and recruits, that he receives from the Villagton area. His critical vulnerability is that he uses known routes to infiltrate toward the village. I intend to send out patrols along these routes to find enemy patrols and prevent them from moving toward the village by destroying them.

You will be within range of 60mm mortars during your entire patrol.

You insert at 1200 and begin moving south following a small stream. Radio communications in the dense jungle has been unreliable throughout the patrol. At approximately 1400 you move into a swampy area bounded by two small streams featuring knee-deep brackish water, waist-high grass, and some tall trees, although the area is not so densely wooded as the hills. You are moving on the south side of the swampy area when one of your Marines spots a group of guerillas moving on the north side of the swampy area approximately 200 meters away. You immediately halt and begin to deploy for a hasty ambush facing east across a larger stream along the route you think the enemy forces will take toward Villagton. As you begin to position for the ambush, the enemy force suddenly halts and goes to ground. You are not sure if they have seen you or what they intend to do, but you cannot see them moving away. You attempt to call higher to report, but you cannot get a response.

Requirement

In a time limit of 5 minutes, issue your orders to your patrol. Provide a brief rationale for your actions and a sketch of your plan. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #03-8, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-630-9147, or e-mail <[email protected]>.

The Race Is On

Situation

You are a squad leader conducting a foot patrol in wooded, rolling terrain. You have a machinegun team from weapons platoon (two M240Gs) attached to your squad. You are in radio contact with another squad from your platoon that is patrolling approximately 2,500 meters to your north. The remainder of your platoon is occupying a firm base some distance away. Due to the threat posed by enemy counterbattery fire, your squad is unlikely to receive any indirect fire support during this patrol. Recently, your unit has encountered enemy who are well-trained and usually operate in teams of six, although they regularly combine two or three teams together.

The time is 1600 hours when you suddenly hear the sound of a helicopter flying low to your northeast. Although you can’t see the helicopter through the trees, something tells you it’s in trouble. As you expected, you soon hear the abrupt thud of the aircraft hitting the ground not far from your patrol. You shake your squad out and cautiously patrol toward the accident sight. After only a few minutes your patrol reaches the edge of the tree line. You can see that a friendly utility helicopter has crash landed heavily 300 meters to your east. There is smoke emanating from the engine of the wreck. Some aircrew and passengers are frantically trying to pull other survivors from the wreckage, and it’s obvious that several personnel have been seriously injured in the crash. Just as you’re deciding what to do, your scout draws your attention to a group of enemy moving from the cover of a tree line into a creek about 700 meters to your northeast. They are moving cautiously and appear to be equipped with small arms. You’ve counted five into the creek line so far. What do you do?

Requirement

Within a time limit of 5 minutes, issue the orders you will give to your subordinates. Provide the rationale for your decisions and a sketch of the plan. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #03-10, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-630-9147, or e-mail <[email protected]>.

Sergeant, You Have Your Orders. Carry Them Out, Now!

Situation

You are the company gunnery sergeant of Headquarters Company, 3d Assault Amphibian (AAV) Battalion. The battalion has been assigned to the Ist Marine Division. The division is currently deployed in a Third World country as part of a Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF).

The battalion is encamped 7,000 meters inland on the south side of a primary road. The compound is one of several that forms a defensive perimeter around the country’s second largest city. The battalion’s letter companies are deployed forward in direct support of division’s regiments. Headquarters and service company’s AAV platoon periodically supports field operations.

In an effort to extend the city’s defensive perimeter approximately 1,700 meters along the waterfront, the division commanding general has directed the attached Navy mobile construction battalion (NCB) to erect a new camp for the AAV battalion on the beach to the northeast side of a small mountain. A monastery belonging to the country’s primary religious sect is located on the mountain. The nation’s senior cleric remains in the monastery during the day. However, each evening he returns to the city in a late model, armored automobile.

The NCB agrees to build the camp provided their work detail can return to their primary defensive camp within the perimeter each evening. They offer to provide 81mm mortar support from their camp, approximately 1,000 meters north of MAGTF headquarters, for any security detachment assigned to protect the worksite. Their mortar position is approximately 4,000 meters from the new campsite.

The decision is made that elements of headquarters and service company will provide security at the new encampment. The security element consists of 10 AAVs and their 3-man crews, platoon commander, platoon sergeant, radio operator, 2 mechanics, truck driver, and a corpsman-a total of 37 personnel.

During the first week the encampment is subjected to small arms fire and an occasional rocket propelled grenade (RPG) being fired into the area. It has been determined that the harassing fire coming from caves located on the mountainside is being directed by observers in the vicinity of the monastery. At the request of the platoon commander the platoon is reinforced at night with additional headquarters personnel-roughly 13 Marines under command of the company gunnery sergeant.

Several days later the encampment is hit hard with small arms fire and several RPGs. In responding to the situation you find several Marines have been wounded, one Marine seriously. His left arm has been severed at the shoulder from an RPG round that struck within 3 feet of his position. A ground medical evacuation is conducted that catches the enemy offguard, and all wounded Marines are safely evacuated.

The following morning, still dressed in your blood-spattered uniform, you report to the battalion commander (CO). The battalion interpreter accompanies you. The CO is livid and informs you that you will go to the monastery and speak with the head monk. He directs you to inform the cleric, “If one more round is fired at my people on the beach from the vicinity of that rock pile, the next time he sees you will be the last time he sees you.” Although you remind the CO that division has explicitly directed that contact with the head priest must first be approved and coordinated by MAGTF headquarters, the CO tells you to carry out your orders.

As you prepare to do so the interpreter asks for some time to compose a letter to his family. When asked why he tells you he does not expect to return from the visit to the monastery.

Requirement

In a time limit of 5 minutes explain how you intend to carry out your orders. Provide a sketch of your actions and the rationale behind them. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #02-10, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-630-9147, or email <[email protected]>.

Out on Patrol

General

A special purpose Marine airground task force (SPMAGTF) has been deployed to the coastal region of Southlandia to take an active role in America’s war on drugs. The coastal plain of Southlandia is tropical with thick vegetation. Rivers are the major means of transportation and communication. On these rivers, narcotics traffickers transport their products from inland camps, where the drugs are manufactured, to the coast where they are exported by sea and air.

The narcotics traffickers in Southlandia have been growing more and more technical in their means of producing and exporting. Manufacturing locations are small, widely dispersed camps that move frequently and, apparently, randomly. While some drugs are driven and some flown from the inland, most are transported via river to the coastal area where ocean and air transportation are more readily available. There are even rumors that submarines may be employed to ship drugs. The SPMAGTF is based at a small airbase near the third largest village in the province. The command element is augmented with several provincial police, a liaison officer from the U.S. Coast Guard, and a detachment from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. The SPMAGTF is part of a Marine Corps led joint task force located in Southlandia’s capital. The MAGTF is composed of an aviation combat element built around four CH-53Es. The ground combat element (GCE) consists of a lightly equipped infantry battalion and a detachment from the division’s small craft company. Companies conduct operations along the Pacora and Chepo rivers. The combat service support element provides general support to the MAGTF and provides direct support to the GCE in the form of one forward logistics base supporting riverine operations along the Chepo.

Situation

You are a squad leader conducting a security patrol along the Chepo River. The remainder of your platoon is located at the base camp, having just returned from operations up river. The rest of the company is operating on the east side of the river and with small craft (two riverine assault craft and six rigid raider craft) on the river to the south.

Your patrol was inserted by boat near checkpoint 5 (CP 5). From there you moved through the thick, 10-foot high vegetation to CP 1, then to CP 2. As you moved southeast from CP 2 to CP 4, you noticed what looked like a crossing site. You decided that you would report it during your next radio call at the top of the hour. On reaching CP 4, you post security and take 10. While finishing your second canteen, you hear gunfire to the north. You radio back to the base camp, occupied by the rest of your platoon and the combat service support detachment; you get no answer. As the firing intensifies, you are convinced that the base camp is under attack.

As you pull in your men to issue a frag order, you find out that one of them has spotted what looks like two boats a few hundred meters down river. What is your frag order?

Requirement

In a time limit of 2 minutes, issue your orders to your squad. Provide a brief rationale for your actions and a sketch of your plan. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #01-11, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-630-9147, or e-mail <[email protected]>.

Dogs at the Bridge

Situation

The Caribbean island of St. Karen is characterized by steep hills, cliffs, and swollen rivers. The soil is rocky with low-growing shrubs in the southern and midland regions, with forests in the northern and eastern regions. Two years ago, the emperor of St. Karen declared his nation a “druggie safe state.” It is now a haven for drug smugglers. Three large cartels have joined forces and are known as the Greyson Dogs. They fund impressive land and naval forces. Their terrorist activities in the region include piracy, raids on neighboring islands, and attacks on U.S. Coast Guard patrols. Regimental Landing Team 6 has successfully pushed the “Dogs” into the northern forest regions and is now staged in assembly areas, preparing to continue offensive operations.

You are a combat engineer squad leader. Your platoon is attached to Battalion Landing Team 1/6. Your platoon commander issues you the following order:

The battalion is getting ready to push out across the Penny River tomorrow afternoon. We want to go across in the western part of the forest where the Dogs don’t expect us. There’s a bridge located on Route 610. Your mission is to conduct an engineer route reconnaissance along Route 610 up to and including the Penny River Bridge in order to confirm the battalion’s route for the attack. Don’t be compromised-the battalion commander doesn’t want to tip his hand. Good luck.

Your nine-man squad is organized into Demo Teams I and 2. You have one M203 with M16, one M249 squad automatic weapon, seven M16s, a PRC-119, and two sets of ANPVS-7 night vision goggles. You set out just before sunset. The patrol to the bridge is uneventful, and you find the road to be in good shape. Arriving at the bridge in darkness, you take up a position to overlook the area as depicted on the map. You immediately notice five to six individuals working busily to prepare the bridge span for demolition. You note that the water appears to be deep and moving at about 3 feet per second. The banks are steep on both sides, but the bridge is made of concrete and appears sturdy. You see a fork in the road that travels off to the east to a possible ford site. It looks rugged. The banks are steep and rutted, and who knows what the streambed looks like. You figure a few hours work with bulldozers and dump trucks might make it operational.

You call back to battalion and explain the situation. You are not sure they understood your transmission. Their reply is broken: “Rogshh … If … across… dord … <click>worried .. tion … <zzzhzhz> … can’t let thrick … mission … shshs….”

As the Dog engineers put the final charges in place, you can see firing wire is being stretched from a position of defilade to the bridge. What now?

Requirement

In a time limit of 5 minutes, issue your orders to your team leaders. Provide a brief rationale for your actions and a sketch of your plan. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #01-6, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-630-9147, or email <[email protected]>.

For more detailed information on the structure of Marine Corps units, Marine Corps equipment, and symbols used in TDG sketches, see MCG, Oct94, pp. 53-56 and the modification reported in Jan95, p. 5.

Patrol Base Under Attack

Situation

You are 3d Squad leader, 3d Platoon, Kilo Company 3/8. 3d Platoon is operating out of a patrol base and is tasked with conducting security patrols, in sector, in order to prevent enemy units from infiltrating into friendly rear areas.

As part of this mission your squad was tasked with conducting a night security patrol. You left the patrol base at 2200. Four hours later your patrol is just about to reenter friendly lines. Because of the densely wooded terrain, visibility in the daytime is no more than 50-75 meters, and at night you can hardly see at all. Communications with the platoon commander throughout the patrol has been shaky at best as you try to maintain positive communications via a PRC-68.

Your patrol was uneventful, no sign of the enemy, and you’re scheduled to meet the platoon sergeant at the reentry point between 0230-0300. You’re 200 meters from that point when you begin to hear small arms fire from the direction of the patrol base. You can barely make out green and red tracers through some of the treetops and can definitely hear the sound of an M244G machinegun. You try raising anybody over the PRC-68, but no luck. The level of gunfire slowly increases, and it now sounds like 3d Platoon is fully engaged. It also sounds like the gunfire is getting closer to your position. You make out a garbled transmission over the PRC-68, “. . . casualties . . . mortars . . . 3d Squad .”

Your fire team leaders are now at your position. First Fire Team leader, “Sergeant, we got to get in there!” Second Fire Team leader, “Sergeant, we’ve got no idea what the hell is going on out there.” Third Fire Team leader, “Sergeant, what are you going to do now?” What are you going to do now, Sergeant?

Requirement

In a time limit of 2 minutes, issue any orders/reports you might make. Then provide a sketch and explanation of your plan. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #00-10, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134 or fax 703-630-9147.

For more detailed information on the structure of Marine Corps units, Marine Corps equipment, and symbols used in TDG sketches, see MCG, Oct94, pp. 53-56 and the modification reported in Jan95, p. 5.

Commander Down

Situation

You are the local security chief for Battery A, part of Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/8. Your battery has been supporting the BLT during offensive operations ashore. Most of the fighting has been light with artillery fire used only sporadically. The battery has encountered ineffective small arms fire during its movements.

You are currently with the battery advance party (AP) scouting a new position and have just arrived in the vicinity of the prospective site. The main body of the battery is 8 kilometers to the southwest and will displace in about half an hour. The AP is led by the CO with a hardback HMMWV and mounted M240G. The AP 5-ton is next with a mounted M2 .50 caliber machinegun. Two communications vehicles-advance fire direction center and advance communications-are in trail. Per standing operating procedure, the CO led the AP to the edge of the new position. You dismounted all but the CO, corpsman, machinegunners, and drivers to conduct the security sweep of the position.

The clearing is surrounded by patches of brush and scrub growth that provide concealment as well as three areas that contain sizable trees. You split your 12man force in two and lay out the plan for a heart-shaped recon around the new position. You take a man-pack radio to keep in touch with the CO and move with the western team. Traveling up the streambed, you’ve encountered no activity when you hear gunshots to the south. They are followed by rifle and machinegun fire. As you halt your men, one of the drivers reports over the radio, “Grizzly 11 this is Grizzly 6D, the 6 has been shot. He’s down hard, but the corpsman’s working on him.” It appears that you are now the leader of the AP. No sooner do you realize this when you hear more gunfire from across the open firing position. What do you do?

Requirement

In the space of 2 minutes, reach a decision on what you intend to do and what orders you will issue to the AP. Provide a sketch of your decision and a discussion of the rationale behind it. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #00-9, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134 or fax 703-630-9147.

For more detailed information on the structure of Marine Corps units, Marine Corps equipment and symbols used in TDG sketches, see MCG, Oct94, pp. 53-56 and the modification reported in Jan95, p. 5.

Trouble at Checkpoint 14

Situation

You are a supply corporal in the MEU Service Support Group (MSSG). The MEU came ashore 6 days ago to assist nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with humanitarian operations in a poor Third World country. The city you are in is extremely congested, packed with one- to three-story buildings wherever there is not a street. All streets shown are two lane but very narrow; some also have narrow sidewalks. A maze of alleys and walkways exist throughout the city, but they are too confusing to map. Marines have had very little violence directed at them, but ethnic and religious hatred has resulted in several violent dashes within the local populace. Rules of engagement (ROE) are as provided.

You are running a convoy of relief supplies from a food warehouse at Checkpoint 15 to a distribution point on the north side of the city. Your convoy consists of three 5-ton trucks. Each truck has a driver, assistant driver, and two Marines in back for security. In each truck, one Marine is armed with an M203 and has non-lethal (rubber pellet) munitions; one is armed with an M16A2 and bayonet; and the driver and assistant driver are armed with 9mm pistols and riot batons. All have pepper spray and CS gas grenades. You are in the lead truck. There is a rifle platoon guarding the food warehouse and a reaction-force rifle company located with the forward element of the Ground Combat Element (GCE) Headquarters located ashore.

The time is 1704. As you reach Checkpoint 14, you notice a crowd of about 30-50 civilians filling the street about a block north. As you near you can see that the crowd has just pulled three people from a car and is starting to beat them. You radio the Combat Service Support Operations Center to explain the situation and reach the watch officer. You know the platoon at the food warehouse can send forces there by foot in about 10 minutes. You estimate the reaction force can arrive in about 20 minutes moving by amtracs. By now you can tell there are three victims, two men and a woman. They appear to be Americans or Europeans, either reporters or NGO workers-you can’t tell which. You ask the watch officer for guidance. “Can I help these poor people?” you ask.

Without seeing the situation himself, the watch officer understandably cannot offer much in the way of detailed guidance. “Do what you can to help,” he says, “without causing an international incident. You’re going to have to use your best judgment.”

The crowd continues to beat the three people, and you think some of them may be about to rape the woman. What do you do, corporal?

Requirement

In a time limit of 3 minutes, describe any actions you would take. Then provide the rationale for your decision. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #99-1, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA, 22134 or fax 703640-0823.

Sidebar

Rules of Engagement

1. I always have the right to defend myself, my fellow Marines, other U.S. personnel, and personnel directly supporting U.S. operations.

2. I will use only the force necessary to protect myself and accomplish my mission.

3. l will protect U.S. civilians, facilities, and prop erty.

4. I can detain any individual who interferes with my mission or commits a crime within a U.S. controlled area.

5. Mr actions need to be quick, deliberate, accurate, and never as a result of a desire for revenge.

6. Filing of warning shots is authorized.

7. Use of riot control agents must be approved at the battalion, squadron, MSSG, or higher headquarters level.

8. This ROE takes precedence over all other rules governing the use of deadly force.

9. Nothing in these rules limits a unit leader’s obligation to take all necessary and appropriate action to defend his or her unit and U.S. forces.

*Note: These ROE were created ruing acti al ROE fram past operations. None are original.

Ambush in the Square

Situation

You are the leader of 1st Squad, India Company. Your platoon is conducting a security patrol through a suburban area of Old Town as part of counterinsurgency operations. (See existing Rules of Engagement.) Usually an entire patrol will pass without incident, but on a few occasions Marines have made contact with insurgency forces of up to 20 urban guerrillas armed with automatic rifles, rifle grenades, and explosives.

It is morning; the sun is not yet above the roofline to the east. Families are starting to stir, and the air is heavy with the smell of cooking. Some of the locals greet you with a nod as you pass. Your squad is the point of the platoon patrol column, moving north along a main street. The buildings are plaster and stone. Most are one story; some are two. You come upon a square opening to your right. In the center of the square is a stone fountain. A few early vendors have already opened their stalls, but the square is generally quiet.

You and the platoon commander study the square for a few minutes. It seems clear, and he instructs you to move out. You move north across the west side of the square, staying close to the colonnaded facades in case you need cover. You have exited the north side of the square and are continuing on when you hear a loud explosion to your rear followed by gunfire. You run back to the entrance to the square to get a look. Smoke is clearing from some kind of explosive. 2d Squad and the platoon headquarters are pinned down in the square, taking heaDy automatic fire that ricochets off the fountain and the buildings. Some Marines have been hit. From your position with your 3d Fire Team, you can’t locate 3d Squad or the platoon sergeant farther to the rear. You cannot tell if they are in the square or still south of it; you suspect the latter. You don’t know how they are reacting to the fire. You peer quickly around the corner of a building. The fire seems to be coming from two two-story buildings on the east side of the square a couple hundred meters away. You can’t tell if the fire is coming from both buildings or only one. It seems to be coming at least from the second story, but maybe from the ground floor as well. Civilians are screaming and hiding behind the fountain and in doorways around the square. A handful lay still in the square, apparently hit. From the square you hear calls for “Corpsman up!” What do you do?

Requirement

In a time limit of 3 minutes, explain your decision in the form of any orders you will issue. Then draw a sketch of your solution and provide a brief explanation of your decision. Submit your solution to Maine Corps Gazette, TDG #98-12, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 2214 or fax 703-640-0823.

Rules of Engagement:

1. You have the light to use lethal force promptlyand effectively to defend yourself, other U.S. or U.NV. forces, or persons and areas under their protection

2. You should use the minimum force necessary underthe circumstances and proportional to the treat. For more detailed information on the struture of Marine Corps units, Marine Corps equipment, and symbols used in TDG sketches, see MCG, Oct94, pp. 53-56 and the modification reported in Jan95, p. 5.

Trouble at the ORP

Situation

You are a squad leader leading an ambush patrol through wooded terrain, which usually limits visibility to 50 meters or less. In addition to your three fire teams, which are well-equipped with claymores and grenades, you have a machinegun squad (two three-man teams, each with an M240G). You are equipped with a radio. Your squad is in its ambush site along a trail frequently used by the enemy. Your objective rally point (ORP), where you have left two Marines and your packs, is about 200 meters to the southwest.

It is about 0100, and you have been waiting for about 2 hours when automatic gunfire suddenly erupts from the direction of the ORP. The firing lasts only a few seconds and now it is silent again. It happened so quickly you can’t be certain, but your sense is that there were at least 2 weapons involved but certainly no more than 3 or 4. You try to recall the sound of the exchange to determine if any of the weapons were M16s, but you cannot be sure. It will be light at 0500. Your platoon’s patrol base is about 3 kilometers to the southeast.

It has now been 3 minutes since the incident and you have heard or seen no sign of activity from the direction of the ORP. What now, Sergeant?

Requirement

In 5 minutes decide on your course of action, issue any orders, and make any reports or requests. Then provide a sketch of your plan and an explanation of your decision. Submit your solution to the Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #98-5, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134 or fax 703-640-0823.