3. Patrols.—A. It is the duty of all the troops holding the front lines to establish a command of the ground in front of their parapet up to the enemy's wire. This can be done by extended and constant patrolling by night and reconnaissance by day so that the ground is thoroughly well known to as large a portion as possible of officers and men and so no enemy can move or remain in his front by night or day without detection. One of the particular duties of these patrols is to observe the condition of the wire entanglements.
B. Every patrol must have definite orders as to its mission; broadly speaking, patrols may be divided into two classes: (1) reconnoitering patrols, (2) fighting patrols.
C. The first duty of reconnoitering patrols is to obtain the information for which they are sent out. They fight only in self-defense or if any especially favorable opportunity arises to inflict loss upon the enemy without prejudice to their mission. They usually consist of two to six men, under an officer or non-commissioned officer.
D. Fighting patrols are sent out for the express purpose of causing loss or damage to the enemies by such means as engaging the enemy's patrols or working parties, or by raiding saps, listening posts or trenches. For identification purposes they should always endeavor to secure at least one prisoner. Their strength depends upon the resistance they are likely to meet with.
E. Company commanders are responsible for the orders given to patrols, subject to any instructions which may be issued by higher authority. They are also responsible that all troops, whom it concerns, including companies on both flanks, are warned when and where patrols will be out, length of time they will be out, and of the points to which they will return.
F. Information gained by patrols is of little value unless transmitted quickly to those whom it concerns. Patrol reports will be made out by the commander of the patrol immediately upon his return and sent at once to the company commander unless orders to the contrary have been given.
4. Stand To.—A. "Stand to" will take place one-half hour after a relief has been posted and one-half hour before being relieved. At this parade every available man will be present. Rifles, equipment, clothing, etc., will be inspected. Firing steps will be tested as soon as practicable after reliefs have been posted to see that each man can fire on the foot of the nearest part of the wire entanglement which he is required to cover by his fire. The same procedure will be gone through at the "stand to" one-half hour before being relieved. Other "stand tos" may be ordered in the discretion of the company commander. These should be sufficiently often to insure that every man turns out promptly and knows his place in case of attack.
5. Machine Guns.—A. The concealment of machine gun emplacements is important. Consequently, it is only at night or in case of attack that machine gun crews will occupy their defense emplacements. At night guns should take up other position than their defense emplacements and fire a stated number of rounds in order to test out the guns and mislead the enemy as to their numbers and real emplacements, after which they will at once go back to their defense emplacements.
B. The guns and their crews will be tactically under the orders of the company commander in whose sector they are located, but no alteration will be made by him in their disposition or arcs of fire; he will, however, bring before the senior machine gun instructor any suggestions for improvements in machine gun dispositions for defense.
C. Two men per gun will always be on duty with the guns.