Weapons and Soldier Placement

To position weapons effectively, leaders must know the characteristics, capabilities, and limitations of the weapons; the effects of terrain; and the tactics used by the enemy. Additionally, the platoon leader must consider whether his primary threat will be vehicles or infantry. His plan should address both mounted and dismounted threats.

Javelin (Antiarmor) Employment. The Javelin’s (or antiarmor weapon such as the older M-47 Dragon) primary role is to destroy enemy armored vehicles. When there is no such enemy, the Javelin can be employed in a secondary role of providing fire support against point targets such as crew-served weapons positions. In addition, the Javelin’s command launch unit (CLU) can be used alone as an aided vision device for reconnaissance, security operations, and surveillance. Reduced or limited visibility will not degrade the effectiveness of the Javelin. This fact allows the antiarmor specialist to continue to cover his sector without having to reposition closer to the avenue of approach.

M240B and M249 Machine-Gun Employment. The M240B and M249 machine guns are the platoon’s primary crew-served weapons and are positioned first if the enemy is a dismounted force. Once these guns are sited, the leader positions riflemen to protect them. The guns are positioned to place direct fire on locations where the platoon leader wants to concentrate combat power to destroy the enemy. Each gun is usually given a primary and secondary sector of fire. These sectors should overlap each other and those of adjacent platoons (if possible). Additionally, the platoon leader will designate FPLs and/or FPF. Each machine gun’s primary sector includes an FPL (if terrain allows) or a principal direction of fire (PDF).

The FPL is a line along which grazing fire—no more than 1 meter above the ground—is placed to stop an assault. The FPL is fixed in elevation and direction. A soldier walks the FPL to find dead space. The gunner watches the soldier walking the line and marks spaces that cannot be grazed; this dead space is then covered with obstacles, grenade-launcher fire, or mines.

When the terrain does not lend itself to an FPL, the platoon leader assigns the machine gun a PDF to cover an area that provides good fields of fire or has a likely avenue of approach. The gun is laid on the FPL or the PDF unless engaging other targets. When FPFs are called for, the gunner shifts to and engages on the FPL or PDF.

FPFs are prearranged barriers of indirect fires used to defeat the assaulting enemy unit as soon as possible after it moves into its assault formation. The FPF can be anywhere between the forward position of the friendly unit and the enemy’s assault position, which is normally just out of range of the platoon’s organic weapons. The FPF should be used only to stop an enemy assault. On signal, the FPF is fired continuously until the order is given to stop or the mortar or artillery unit runs out of ammunition. All other platoon weapons fire while the FPF is being fired.

M203 Grenade Launcher Employment. The M203 grenade launcher is the squad leader’s indirect-fire weapon. He positions it to cover dead space in the squad’s sector, especially the dead space for the M240Bs and M249s. The grenadier is also assigned a sector of fire overlapping the riflemen’s sectors of fire. The high-explosive, dual-purpose (HEDP) round is effective against lightly armored enemy vehicles.

Employment of Riflemen

The platoon and squad leaders assign positions and sectors of fire to each rifleman in the platoon. Normally, they position the riflemen to support and protect the machine guns, SAWs, and antiarmor weapons. Riflemen also are positioned to cover obstacles, provide security, cover gaps between platoons and companies, or provide observation.

Coordination

Coordination is important in every operation. In the defense, coordination ensures that units provide mutual support and interlocking fires. In most circumstances, the platoon leader conducts face-to-face coordination to facilitate understanding and to resolve issues. The platoon leader should send and receive the following information prior to conducting face-to-face coordination:

•Location of leaders.

•Location of primary, alternate, and supplementary positions and sectors of fire of machine guns, antiarmor weapons, and sub-units.

•Route to alternate and supplementary positions.

•Location of dead space between platoons and squads and how to cover it.

•Location of OPs and withdrawal routes back to the platoon’s or squad’s position.

•Location and types of obstacles and how to cover them.

•Patrols to be conducted, including their size, type, times of departure and return, and routes.

•Location, activities, and passage plans for scouts and other units forward of the platoon’s position.

•Signals for fire, ceasefire, and any others that may be observed.

•Engagement and disengagement criteria.

Fire team leaders should also coordinate to ensure that each position knows who and what weapons are to the left and right. This ensures that all positions and all units are mutually supportive and that any gaps between units are covered by fire, observation, patrols, or sensors.

Preparation of Fighting Positions. As mentioned earlier, defensive positions are classified as primary, alternate, supplementary, or subsequent. All positions should provide observation and fields of fire within the weapon’s or platoon’s assigned sector of fire. They should take advantage of natural cover and concealment even before soldiers camouflage them. Soldiers prepare their positions in four stages (see Chapter 13).

As a guideline, a squad can physically occupy a front of about 100 meters. From this position, it can defend 200 to 250 meters of frontage. The frontage distance between two-man fighting positions should be about 20 meters (allowing for a “lazy W” configuration on the ground, which would put fighting positions about 25 meters apart physically). Every position should be observed and supported by the fires of at least two other positions. One-man fighting positions may be located closer together to occupy the same platoon frontage. The distance between fighting positions depends on the leader’s analysis of the factors of METT-TC. In determining the best distance between fighting positions, the squad leader must consider:

•The requirement to cover the squad’s assigned sector by fire.

•The need for security—that is, to prevent infiltrations of the squad position.

•The requirement to prevent the enemy from using hand grenades effectively to assault adjacent positions should it gain a fighting position.

FIGHTING THE DEFENSE

Forces defend aggressively, continually seeking opportunities to take advantage of the enemy’s errors or failures. Defense includes maneuver and counterattack, as well as keeping key positions secure. The battle begins when the planned signal or event for beginning fire occurs. The platoon leader determines whether the platoon can destroy the enemy from its assigned positions. If the answer is yes, the platoon continues to fight the defense. The platoon leader or FO continues to call for indirect fires as the enemy approaches.

The platoon normally begins engaging the enemy at maximum effective range. It attempts to mass fires and initiate them simultaneously to achieve surprise. Long-range fires tied in with obstacles should disrupt enemy formations, channelize the enemy toward engagement areas, prevent or severely limit his ability to observe the location of friendly positions, and destroy the enemy as he attempts to breach tactical obstacles.