William H. Waldron

“ Should one of our soldiers be captured, the enemy should be able to secure from him only his name and rank. The prisoner should give no other information whatever.
“Before going out with a patrol the patrol leader makes an inspection of his men. What is included in this inspection, Captain Hastings?”
Captain Hastings: “If I were making the inspection I would satisfy myself that every man is physically fit for the duty to be performed. I would not want a man who has been on some strenuous duty and is all worn out. ”

“ When a non-commissioned officer takes charge of a detachment for any tactical duty and gives his instructions in a clear and concise manner, leaving nothing to be guessed at, he inspires the confidence of his men. They realize immediately that there is someone at the helm who knows his business and they cheerfully respond. ”

“ Well, sir, the men would be too much exposed. Suppose the enemy appeared on the road with as much as a troop. We fire into him. Perhaps the hostile captain’s orders are to check the advance of our main body. He decides to take his losses and charges down the road. Our small detachment would be in a precarious situation, only eight men against an entire troop. The men know they have no means of getting out of the way. They would be thinking more of their own safety than of hitting the enemy. They would shoot wild, and the chances are that the squad would be ridden down and destroyed. ”

“ You must always remember that a reconnoitering patrol does not fight except when it is forced to do so in self-defense, or when it has secured all the information it wants, has sent it back, and then turns itself into a fighting patrol to delay the advance of the enemy. Are there any other points to bring up about the mission of the enemy? ”

“ Probably any of us could blunder through a situation of this kind, but it takes a man trained in military tactics to make his decisions quickly, to act upon them promptly and take advantage of the fleeting moments to inflict damage on the enemy. These are the things that we study to become proficient in. These are the things that we must teach our non-commissioned officers if we are to have confidence in their ability to meet tactical situations that confront them, with judgment and decision. And there is no royal road to success along this line. ”

“ When the enemy is met in sufficient force to warrant the employment of troops of the main body there is a certain process that the commander has to go through before he can get his troops in action. A reconnaissance must be made to determine the strength and disposition of the enemy, for it would be folly to commit a force to action without knowing something of these elements. Then, too, the orders for the deployment have to be issued and the deployment has to be effected. All of this takes a certain amount of time during which period the advance guard holds off the enemy. ”

“ A Base Platoon is designated only as an aid to the initial formation of the company. During an approach march, in deploying on the line of departure and in advancing to the first firing position, the base platoon forms the guide for the company and helps ensure a coordinated attack. But as soon as enemy opposition is met, each platoon makes its own fight within its own zone of action and all consideration of the ‘base platoon’ is dropped. In action, each platoon must observe the action of adjacent units and be prepared to assist them. ”

“ There is nothing in your front that would afford you a target. The scouts that you send out 35from the strong point run into our covering patrol and either become casualties or are driven back. Your strength does not permit sending out a reconnoitering party of sufficient strength to break through and get any real information of what is taking place in your front. You simply have to sit and wait for something to develop. I am sure if you will place yourself in the enemy’s position at this time, you must realize his situation and the conflicting thoughts that come across his mind. ”

“ It is this seeming trivial action that sometimes calls for all the ingenuity that the patrol leader may possess. The road may be open for a considerable distance, so that if one of the members of our patrol crosses from one side to the other he will be seen and the position disclosed to the enemy. It may be necessary for the patrol to fall back a short distance in order to secure the necessary cover. It may be necessary, in order to avoid discovery, to direct all men on one side of the road to take cover on their side and the remainder to seek cover on the opposite side. ”

“ If the patrol advances in an extended line of skirmishers, capture is rendered much more difficult, but each man will be acting more or less independently, and it will be most difficult for the patrol leader to control the operations.
“A patrol should assume the general formation of a column on the march, i. e., there is an advance guard, a main body, flankers, and a rear guard. These several elements may be represented by only one man, but the principle is exactly the same. The advance man is necessary to give warning of the approach of the enemy. ”

“ If we should place the support right up on the line of outguards we would commit it to one position, and in case of attack it would be difficult to move it to meet the enemy’s main effort. If we keep it at a central point to the rear of the line, we can readily move it to any point where it may be most needed.”
The Director: “You are right. We do not want to commit our support to action until we find out the direction of the enemy’s attack. The shifting of troops along a front line is a most difficult and hazardous operation. ”

“ Lieutenant Wallace: “Yes, sir. The men would know that Halley has come back with some information. I would give the information to the men in order that they may know. I would tell them of Corporal Vincent’s squad coming back to reinforce us and inform them of what I intend to do with it.”
The Director: “I think you are right in giving this information to your men. They can go about their task more intelligently. Would you go back to the cross-road to inspect Corporal Vincent’s position after he had made his disposition, Lieutenant Ralston?” ”

“ When you get into the infantry area of a battle you must get your troops into a formation from which they can make an attack or repel an enemy counter-attack and you must keep them in that formation. That is why the subject of approach march and deployment is so important and that is why troops must be so thoroughly trained in it. ”

“ If you have fairly good cover from the fire and view of the enemy it is not at all difficult.
“The greatest danger in all of this is from our own side. From the impatience of our own higher commanders who think the preparations are taking too much time. Brigade and regimental commanders who are to the rear and cannot see what is going on get impatient with the apparent delays and demand that the attack be delivered at once. Even the battalion commander, who is up at the front and ought to know better, cannot see how you can possibly consume so much time getting ready. ”

“ The Director: “Captain Hodges, have you any criticism to make of Captain Harvey’s order?”
Captain Hodges: “Yes, sir. In the first place, he has left out several things that ought to be told to the men. He has not provided any instructions for one man of the squad. He has not made it clear just which patrol each man belongs to. He has not told the men what equipment they are to carry with them.” ”

“ I like the idea of having each combat group being responsible for its whole front. In addition to dividing responsibility for the defense of the area occupied it weakens the support platoon and makes it just that much less effective for counter-attack work. ”

“ Often it is the only kind of fire that can be employed. However, considerable time is necessary to prepare for indirect fire, and this situation does not permit of the delay necessary to prepare for indirect fire. Direct fire is also more effective and should be employed whenever possible. It seldom will be advisable for a machine gun company of an assault battalion to use indirect fire. There is a distinct advantage in having an elevated firing position as the guns are able to give support to the rifle companies until they approach more closely to the target. ”

“ When the darkness is not so great and the powers of sight more nearly approach in value the powers of hearing, it is better to place the sentinel on low ground, with the sky line to his front. This is because approaching persons will be silhouetted on the sky line and that it is difficult to see when looking down from a height into a dark valley.
“The night post should always be provided with an obstacle placed from 10 to 30 yards to the front of the sentinel. It must be low, so that it will not be seen by an approaching enemy. ”

“ Except to secure the identification, I would not. The men of the enemy who made their escape probably did not have a very clear idea of where the fire came from and I would not want to surrender any of the advantages I now possess with respect to position and concealment. When the enemy learns of the disaster to his patrol he may send out a strong detachment to secure their dead and wounded and punish us. Our own main body is marching away from us and our position is becoming momentarily more dangerous. I could do nothing for the enemy wounded. ”

“ They illustrate and demonstrate to officers of all ranks that a certain amount of time must be allowed a combat unit to get ready to launch an attack and that they may as well sit down and take it easy until everything is ready. The war is not to be fought in a day.
“Let us take our problem as an example. Our Company (C) could be brought up and rushed into action in its attack on the enemy strong point. The rifleman would have fought it out with his bare hands, so to speak. There would be no supporting fire from machine guns, light mortars and one-pounders. ”

“ We are to relieve the right (left) assault company of the 1st battalion which is now in close contact with the enemy along the front lines. Due to casualties and the progress of the day’s action it is probable that each of his assault platoons have both waves in the firing line and it is highly probable that some or all of the support platoon has also been absorbed in the firing line. It is necessary for Company B in making the relief to get the assault troops in the proper formation to make the attack tomorrow morning. ”

“ Lieutenant Wallace: “An attached unit becomes an integral part of the force and is subject to its commander’s orders. A supporting unit receives its orders, not from the commander of the force being supported, but from another source, usually a common superior.” ”

“ That is what may be termed the usual formation. Conditions may be such that it would be desirable to make the advance party stronger; as where the enemy habitually opposes us with relatively small detachments and we want to run over them and drive them off without bringing the support into action.
“In any case you must have a knowledge of the functions of an advance guard. You must know the mission and be able to size up the situation of the particular case. You must then use your plain commonsense in meeting the situations as they develop. ”

“ In the following cases a patrol should be employed: When information has to be sent in at intervals; when it is desired to capture prisoners; when concealment is deemed impossible; when the reconnaissance is to be extended over such a period of time that relief of scouts will be necessary; when an urgent mission has been assigned and it is necessary to push through the enemy’s covering troops.
“In some cases it may be advisable to employ a patrol for the first part of the reconnaissance and at a certain point break up into scouting parties of a single scout or pair of scouts. ”

“ There is no need of exposing any more men to the enemy’s fire than is absolutely necessary. As soon as the enemy realizes that our attack has stopped and we are taking up a defensive position he will do everything in his power to interfere with our plans. If he observes a lot of men all along the line digging in he will open up with everything he has available. ”

“ Then, too, if the enemy had pretty definite information that our artillery preparation is coming down on a certain line and we have no men out in front he may move his machine gun squads a little to the front and avoid the barrage altogether and be ready to receive our attack when our first wave goes over the top. If I were commanding one of those assault companies I would keep my front thoroughly patrolled during the night and keep my scouts right up in the enemy’s lines until a minute or two before the barrage comes down. ”

“ Captain Hastings: “I agree with them in the main, but it seems to me that the enemy would have opened fire if for no other purpose than to make trouble for us and cause delay to our troops.”
The Director: “We must always give the enemy credit for being up to his job. The moment we opened fire the leader of that patrol knew that he had encountered a fighting element of our forces. If he stops to engage in a fight, he knows that every minute that passes makes it just that much more difficult for him to make his get-away. ”

“ The Director must have in his mind a solution of the various situations of the problem and must familiarize himself with all of its phases to the extent that he will be able to make reasonable answer to any question that may be propounded.
He must receive all the ideas presented by the members of the class; take out the good and tactfully discard the poor and indifferent. He must take care that he does not unduly criticize the members of the class when they make mistakes and faulty dispositions. ”

“ Captain Hastings: “I will want to post a sufficient number of sentinels to keep the sector of the front allotted to me under observation at all times. I have not yet decided how many will be required.”
The Director: “That is just the point I wanted to bring out. The number of sentinels that you can post is determined by the strength of your outguard. You can post only one double sentinel post from a squad. If more than one is required your outguard must be allotted additional men for the purpose. Now, let us see how this proposition works out in practice. You have seven men besides yourself. ”

“ There is an attacking brigade with the regiments side by side, each regiment echeloned in a column of battalions, one as attacking, one as support and one as reserve. This is a very good formation and has many advantages. It is one that was employed by many of the successful divisions in France. The Reserve brigade is held far back in order to reduce fatigue and casualties to a minimum, so that when it is called upon to relieve the attacking brigade it is in the best of condition and comparatively fresh and rested. In this formation the division commander drives his team of units in tandem. ”

“ When the 2nd section has joined the 1st on the line the subsequent progress of the action will depend upon how well the superiority of fire can be maintained. If the volume is such that the enemy can be kept down and prevented from firing effectively the advance can be continued, by the utilization of fire and movement. Ordinarily the enemy will realize the hopelessness of the situation and evacuate his position before it is necessary to carry it by assault. ”

“ Our troops have made such rapid progress that the rear echelons have not been able to keep up. The enemy has been falling back on his reserves and naturally his defense is stiffening all along the line. The time has arrived when it is necessary for us to stop for a period; reorganize our forces, which have been more or less disorganized by our successes; bring up our rear echelons; and prepare to continue the advance. ”

“ Almost any dub can blunder through, paying the price in the lives of his men. It is the man that knows all of the little details of tactics that will come through successfully with his command without the sacrifice of a man more than is necessary to accomplish his mission. The proposition of measuring accomplishment by the number of casualties is old stuff and will not go with the commander that is up to his job. It is the man who accomplishes his mission with the least number of casualties that is the successful military leader.”
Reconnoitering Patrol Card No. 3 ”

“ Take the training of patrol leaders and scouts for the single phase of infantry combat that we have just been discussing. I leave it to you if there is anything more technical and difficult in the training of soldiers. If these men fail the whole military operation falls down and may be an utter failure. A half dozen machine guns on a battalion front that have moved forward a few yards and escaped the barrage will be able to hold up a whole battalion. ”

“ Concentration of the fire of the platoons on points that are holding up the battalion is one of the duties of the captain. The left assault company is continuing to move forward and does not need the support of the left platoon so it should be used to help advance the right assault company. There is an excellent firing position directly in its line of advance and it can be switched to the support of the left assault company at any time that it becomes necessary. ”