Tactical Talks
By Capt. W. H. Waldron, 29th Infantry
To the Reader:
The up-to-date method of instruction and training in Minor Tactics is this:
1. Prepare a tactical problem covering the subject under consideration.
2. Take the noncommissioned officers out on a TACTICAL WALK and make a solution of the various situations.
3. Follow this by taking the company out on a tactical exercise for the solving of the identical problem that you solved in the TACTICAL WALK.
This method will bring results that will surprise you. In the Tactical Walk, tactical situations are presented to the noncommissioned officers for practical solution on the ground and they are firmly impressed on the minds of the men. When the same problem is brought up for solution with the troops you will see your noncommissioned officers going about their various tasks in a business-like manner with a knowledge of what to do and how to do it, that they have never had before. This inspires the confidence of the men in their noncommissioned officers and as a result the entire organization is lifted to a much higher "tactical level" than they have been able to attain heretofore.
TACTICAL WALKS is an entirely original work. It was written with a view to inaugurating this system of instruction and training throughout the Army. The subjects included are:
Outposts, reconnoitering patrols, visiting patrols, advance guards, flank guards, detached posts, organization of a small defensive position. The largest unit considered is a company and that only incidentally. The main element is the platoon and patrol.
For each walk a tactical problem has been prepared in blank. This can be adapted to any terrain that is available.