The Director: “I think that is all right. What are you going to do while you are waiting for the men to report to you?”
Lieutenant Hunt: “I will make a personal reconnaissance of the area, size up the situation and decide upon how I am going to dispose my troops.”
(Note.—The disposition of troops will, of course, depend upon the lay of the ground and the location of the machine guns in the sector. The following procedure is based upon certain dispositions and is designed to bring out the points that come up for consideration in the organization of a combat group of this kind. The Director will have previously worked out his solution to the problem and during the course of the discussion will bring out the tactical points that are necessary for the training and instruction of the members of the class.)
The Director: “Captain Hastings, what are the component parts of a combat group?”
Captain Hastings: “First there is the local security line—the outpost. Behind this is the firing line—the fighting line of the group. Outguards are thrown out to back up their sentinels.”
The Director: “How may the deployment of the platoon be made?”
Captain Hastings: “It may be made with the sections abreast, each section furnishing the outpost covering its own front. It may be made with one section behind the other, the leading section occupying the firing line.”
The Director: “Which form of deployment do you favor?”
Captain Hastings: “I favor the first. The sections deployed abreast and each section providing for its own local security. The advantages of this is that the section leader is responsible for the whole front assigned to him and there is unity of command. If the outpost line falls back to the firing line it falls back on the men of its own section. In the second method, if the outpost section falls back it does so on the men of the other section of the platoon and there is bound to be more or less intermingling of units.”
The Director: “I think you are right. Let us decide that we are to make the deployment with the sections side by side, each section to furnish its own local security—that is, its own outguards. This means that the front assigned to the platoon may now be divided into two parts and a section assigned to each. Lieutenant Wallace, what is the governing factor in the ground assigned to each of the sections?”