For the individual soldier, being able to build either a hasty or prepared position to fight from that will give you adequate cover and at the same time good fields of fire is essential for small units to be efficient in the field. All of the material I am covering here can be found…
Category: Tactics
CO Small Unit Tactics: Fire and Movement
Came across this old OSS WW2 era German infantry tactics training film. Although dated, it shows the universal basics of fire and maneuver warfare. [youtube=http://youtu.be/Kz0a_QGifPM] It goes without saying how integral small unit tactics are for the CO. Of course, there is much more to learn on the subject, but this is a good “jumping…
Beware: Intruders can wear Uniforms
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/10/multiple-fatalities-in-houston-area-shooting/ TRUST NOBODY WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR SAFETY; That is the lesson I have been teaching my kids for some time. Now, since this tragic story came out, I have had to ammend that lesson to include: DON’T TRUST SOMEBODY JUST BECAUSE THEY HAVE A UNIFORM ON EITHER! These lessons are self-explanatory for…
“Shoot em’ to the Ground” Fire Superiority!
One of the most frequent questions I get from students is “How many rounds do I fire in a situation where my life is at risk?” I often answer this with the very simple answer “As many as you need too to put the threat down.” I then refer back to the military term of…
Addressing Fratricide in CO Training
Fratricide of “friendly fire” has been an unfortunate part of war since time in memorial. Several things contribute to “blue on blue” incidents, most of them stemming from poor communication between supporting units. Both the Iraq and Afghanistan War have seen their fair share of friendly fire incidents, one of the most tragic being…
Book Review: Rattenkrieg: The Art of ECQ Combat Pistol
Bob Taubert’s latest work, Rattenkrieg: The Art and Science of Close-Quarters Battle Pistol is a book that is right up there with Styer’s Cold Steel or Applegate’s Kill or Get Killed. The book reminds you of the hard fact that necessity is definitely the mother of invention when it comes to relevant and practical combat skills….
The Tale of Byron Smith…
Balance. That is the word I want you to remember as you read this story. If the past few years of news headlines involving people defending themselves in this overtly liberal society have taught us anything, it is that responsible citizens (ie Civilian Operators) must always seek a BALANCED RESPONSE to anything regarding self-defense, otherwise,…
Let Slip the Dogs of War
The CO and the Canine by A.H. and S.S. Most people are aware of the fact that dogs can be a deterrent to criminals, but sometimes we can have our sights too low and miss the real value a good dog can provide. This is something that the military has done well for over 3…
Life Lessons from a Combat Platoon Leader
I came across an article in Tom Rick’s Best Defense which is a section of Foreign Policy online magazine recently that I found very enlightening, not only for the non-nonsense manner in which it was written, but also because of the universal way in which the lessons learned can be applied to the training and the…
A CO’s Synopsis on Guerilla Warfare
Being a history buff, in particular, military history, I am one of those guys that fills notebooks and flash drives with random notes that I find interesting and/or useful from books, lectures, magazine articles, etc. The following are some random notes I have taken on the subject. The source(s) for the majority of my notes…