The Problem
Situation No. 8:
When you arrive at this point you observe an enemy scout coming down the road in your direction at a walk. You can see some distance beyond him and he appears to be alone. (The Director will point out the location of the enemy scout.)
Required:
What do you do?
Solution
The Director: “Lieutenant Ralston, how do you size up the situation?”
Lieutenant Ralston: “I estimate that the man is carrying a message from his patrol leader to the commander of the Red forces. My mission is to capture him and prevent the message going back. If practicable the capture must be effected without resorting to firing. If we have to fire it will give warning to the enemy’s patrol operating toward our outpost and the patrol commander would assume that his messenger is in trouble and would send another message by another route. Furthermore, firing at this time would give the alarm to the patrols operating from the hostile outpost, and they would rush to the rescue of their comrades.”
The Director: “Tell us just how you would go about the capture of the messenger?”
Lieutenant Ralston: “I would form an ambuscade here with Davis and myself on one side of the road and Carlin on the other side about 25 yards in rear of us. When the messenger arrives at about 10 yards from us, Davis and myself will jump out into the road and order him to surrender. We will endeavor to surprise him and take him without firing a shot. If by any chance he should get by us, Carlin would be in position to intercept him.”
The Director: “Just what would you say when you order him to surrender?”
Lieutenant Ralston: “I would jump out on the side of the road, level my rifle at him and yell at him as loud as I could, ‘Drop your rifle—throw up your hands.’ If he did as ordered I would explain to him that he is now a prisoner of war and that resistance is useless. If he did not do as I told him on the instant or if he made any attempt to escape or move to fire on me I would open fire on him at once. I would take no chances with him.”
The Director: “That seems to be a reasonable solution. This is a very simple proposition and presents little difficulty. It is brought before you at this time merely to show you the procedure that makes for reasonable chances for success. The capture of several scouts or a patrol is a much more difficult undertaking.
“It is a general rule in the attempt to capture members of a patrol that the situation we desire to produce when we meet them is that they should be marching and that we should be halted. By adopting this method, we form an ambuscade.”
Reconnoitering Patrol Card No. 8
Director’s Key
1. Conduct class to point where ambush may be arranged for.
2. Distribute Situation No. 8 and explain it.
3. Size up situation. Enemy messenger.
4. Details of ambush and method of capture.
| Table 28-W.—RIFLE COMPANY, INFANTRY REGIMENT. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (War Strength) | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||
| 1 | Units | Specialist Rating (Class) | Company Headquarters | One Platoon | Total Company (3 Platoons) and Company Headquarters | ||||
| Platoon Headquarters | 1 Squad | 1 Section (3 Squads and Section Headquarters) [[16]] | Total Platoon (2 Sections and Platoon Headquarters | ||||||
| 2 | Captain | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 3 | First Lieutenants | 1[[17]] | {1} | {1} | 2(1[[17]]) | ||||
| 4 | Second Lieutenants | 2 | |||||||
| 5 | Total Commissioned | 2(1[[17]]) | 1 | 1 | 5(1[[17]]) | ||||
| 6 | First Sergeant | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 7 | Sergeants, incl. | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | |||
| 8 | Mess | (1) | |||||||
| 9 | Platoon Sergeants | (1) | |||||||
| 10 | Section Leaders | (1) | |||||||
| 11 | Signal | (1) | |||||||
| 12 | Supply | (1) | |||||||
| 13 | Corporals, incl. | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 26 | |||
| 14 | Company Clerk | (1) | |||||||
| 15 | Section Guides | (1) | |||||||
| 16 | Signal | (1) | |||||||
| 17 | Squad Leaders | (1) | (3) | ||||||
| 18 | Pvts. 1st Cl. & Pvts., incl. | 17 | 4 | 7 | 21 | 46 | 161[[18]][[19]] | ||
| 19 | Barber | (1) | |||||||
| 20 | Buglers | (2) | |||||||
| 21 | Cobbler | (1) | |||||||
| 22 | Cooks (First) | 4th | (2) | ||||||
| 23 | Cooks (Asst.) | 5th | (2) | ||||||
| 24 | Mechanics | 6th | (2) | ||||||
| 25 | Riflemen | (5) | |||||||
| 26 | Riflemen, automatic | 6th | (1) | (1) | (2) | (6) | |||
| 27 | Riflemen, automatic | (2) | (4) | (12) | |||||
| 28 | Riflemen, with grenade disch. | (1) | |||||||
| 29 | Runners and Agents | (6) | (4) | ||||||
| 30 | Tailor | (1) | |||||||
| 31 | Total Enlisted | 23 | 5 | 8 | 26 | 57 | 200[[19]] | ||
| 32 | AGGREGATE | 25 | 6 | 8 | 26[[16]] | 58 | 205 | ||
| 33 | Pistols | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 33 | ||
| 34 | Rifles | 16 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 44 | 148 | ||
| 35 | Rifles, automatic | 1 | 3 | 6 | 18 | ||||
| 36 | Rifles, with grenade discharger | 1 | 3 | 6 | 18 | ||||
[16]. Includes Section Headquarters (1 Sergeant and 1 Corporal).
[17]. Second in Command. Not authorized for War Strength Companies organized in time of peace.
[18]. Includes: 53 Privates 1st Class, 108 Privates. Summary of Specialist Ratings: Fourth Class, 2; Fifth Class, 2; Sixth Class, 8.
[19]. Includes 6 extra privates.
| Table 29-W.—MACHINE GUN COMPANY, INFANTRY REGIMENT | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (War Strength) | ||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||
| 1 | Units | Specialist Rating (Class) | Company Headquarters | Company Train | One Platoon | Total Company (2 Platoons, Company Hq. and Company Train) | ||||
| Platoon Headquarters | 1 Squad (1 Machine Gun) | 1 Section (2 Squads and Section Headquarters) (b) | Total Platoon (2 Sections and Platoon Headquarters) | |||||||
| 2 | Captain | 1h | 1 | |||||||
| 3 | First Lieutenants | 1hx | 1 | 1 | 3(1x) | |||||
| 4 | Second Lieutenants | 1hc | 1 | |||||||
| 5 | Total Commissioned | 3(1x) | 1 | 1 | 5(1x) | |||||
| 6 | First Sergeant | 1h | 1 | |||||||
| 7 | Sergeants, incl. | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 | |||
| 8 | Mess | (1) | ||||||||
| 9 | Platoon Sergeants | (1) | ||||||||
| 10 | Reconnaissance | (1) | ||||||||
| 11 | Section Leaders | (1) | ||||||||
| 12 | Signal | (1) | ||||||||
| 13 | Stable | (1m) | ||||||||
| 14 | Supply | (1) | ||||||||
| 15 | Corporals, incl. | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 14 | |||
| 16 | Agents | (1) | ||||||||
| 17 | Company Clerk | (1) | ||||||||
| 18 | Signal | (1) | ||||||||
| 19 | Squad Leaders | (1) | ||||||||
| 20 | Transport | (1) | ||||||||
| 21 | Privates, 1st Cl. and Priv. | 17 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 47 | 115a | ||
| 22 | Barber | (1) | ||||||||
| 23 | Buglers | (2h) | ||||||||
| 24 | Cobbler | (1) | ||||||||
| 25 | Cooks (First) | 4th | (1) | |||||||
| 26 | Cooks (Asst.) | 5th | (2) | |||||||
| 27 | Gunners | 6th | (1) | (2) | (4) | (3) | ||||
| 28 | Gunners | (5) | ||||||||
| 29 | Horseshoer | 4th | (1) | |||||||
| 30 | Mechanics | 6th | (2) | |||||||
| 31 | Motorcyclist | 6th | (1) | |||||||
| 32 | Saddler | 5th | (1) | |||||||
| 33 | Tailor | (1) | ||||||||
| 34 | Miscellaneous | (7d) | (1e) | (7d) | (9f) | |||||
| 35 | Total Enlisted | 24 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 23b | 56 | 141 | ||
| 36 | AGGREGATE | 27 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 23 | 57 | 146 | ||
| 37 | Horses, riding | 6 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||||
| 38 | Mules, draft | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | |||||
| 39 | Mules, riding | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| 40 | Total Animals | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 25 | ||
| 41 | Carts, ammunition, M. G. | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | |||||
| 42 | Carts, M. G. gun | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | |||||
| 43 | Bicycles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| 44 | Motorcycles, with side cars | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| 45 | Miscellaneous | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | |||||
| 46 | Pistols | 27 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 23 | 57 | 146 | ||
Remarks: (h) Mounted on horse. (m) Mounted on mule. (a) Includes: 35 Privates 1st Class, 80 Privates. Summary of Specialist Ratings: 4th Class, 2; 5th Class, 3; 6th Class, 6. (b) Section Headquarters includes 1 sergeant. (c) Reconnaissance Officer. (d) Signalmen, runners, agents and orderlies, 1 bicyclist. (e) Stable orderly. (f) Includes 2 drivers for gun and ammunition carts. (x) Second in Command. Not authorized for War Strength Companies organized in time of peace.
[1]. See explanation of Letter Symbols.
[2]. Right or left as the case may be.
[3]. Right or left as the case may be.
[4]. See explanation of Letter Symbols.
[5]. Prepared by Major Walter C. Short, Infantry.
[6]. When the Terrain Exercise is being conducted for non-commissioned officers this explanation should be modified to suit the occasion.
[7]. In making a solution to this situation on the ground, the exact location of each man of the point, and especially the automatic rifleman, should be indicated and staked out.
[8]. The details of the advance against the enemy’s position should be discussed by the class and worked out on the ground. It is impossible to consider it in the abstract.
[9]. Captain James would include in his dispositions any flank patrols that would be out at this time.
[10]. The terrain may be such as to cause a reversal of this disposition. The idea is that the support on the flank should be posted so as to cover the most exposed flank.
[11]. See explanation of Symbols.
[12]. In the preparation of the Terrain Exercise and fitting the problem to the ground, the Director should decide upon the location of the line of observation and the line of resistance and bring out the points indicated above. He should decide upon the location of the outguards and their strength.
[13]. The Director should take advantage of every opportunity to get members of the class to ask questions. It is by this means that we are able to bring out the tactical points of the problems and make them clear. If no questions are asked, it is natural to assume that the members of the class understand everything that is under discussion, whereas many of them may not understand at all. The more questions a Director can get out of a class the more effective will the training be.
[14]. The members of the class are already familiar with the detailed dispositions of outguard No. 2.
[15]. If there is no map available the support commander should indicate as well as practicable the location of the enemy and the road.
| Reserve Officers’ Examiner | SUBJECTS Administration Military Law Customs of the Service Field Service Regulations Military Hygiene |
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
- Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
- Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.
- Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter.