“Prior to the war we did not appreciate the necessity for extensive drill and instruction in the subject of approach march, deployment and the relief of units on the firing line. There was little literature on the subjects and what there was dealt only in glittering generalities. Once in a while a training program included the subject ‘Deployment,’ but no one took it seriously and such as we carried out, were executed in a purely perfunctory manner.
“In the training of troops for modern warfare the subject must be given the place and attention that it deserves. Troops must be trained to take up the approach march formation, and make a deployment therefrom, both day and night, over all kinds of ground. They must be trained in the methods and technique of making a relief of a force on the firing line at night and overcome the obstacles that are habitually encountered. The great danger at night is in losing direction. This results in a command getting lost and failure to get to the line of departure ready to ‘Jump off’ at H Hour.
“The failure of a single battalion in this respect may imperil a whole military operation and cost the lives of thousands of men. Unless the troops told off to make the attack are in place ready to ‘jump off’ and follow the barrage at H Hour there is not the slightest chance for success. The barrage goes on. The enemy is given time to man his positions and machine guns and the attack on that particular front is held up, usually with enormous losses. The whole attack has to be reorganized and started anew. Those of you who have had experience with an attack which was a failure know how much time is lost and how many casualties may result from such affairs.”
Procedure
The Director: “Now, let us take up the problem as it concerns our battalion. The battalion command post we will say is right here where we are standing. Just how do you visualize the distribution of the battalion, Lieutenant Wallace?”
Lieutenant Wallace: “The battalion headquarters company would be in this vicinity. Company A would be the leading company on the right; Company B would be the leading company on the left; Company C would be following Company A at a distance of say 100 yards and Company D would be following Company B at about the same distance. Each company would be in two echelons, an assault echelon of two platoons and a support echelon of one platoon, the latter following at about 50 yards. The men have taken advantage of such natural cover that exists and where there is none they have dug individual fox holes to get into. These afford a lot of cover from shrapnel fire.”
The Director: “You have given a very good picture of the formation. Are there any questions? If you do not understand all that is being said, now is the time to speak out. We must all approach the solution of the problem on the same basis to get the greatest benefit from it.”
The Director will point out to the members of the class the location of the various elements of the battalion on the ground and go into the details of the formation if it is deemed necessary.
Solution
The Director: “The requirement of the problem involves Major A’s order for the approach march. Lieutenant Ralston, what must the Major do before he is ready to issue his orders?”