I think the main reason for having standardized formations and combat drills is so units can swiftly change course during rapidly changing circumstances without the need for lengthy conversations between leaders, either face-to-face or on the radio. I don't know how the Bundeswehr does it, but German soldiers were no slouches at it in years gone by.
I was in Field Artillery, so putting perimeters around the battery and having a reaction force was about as "Infantry" as we got. We'd change position about two or three times a day, so our perimeters weren't very elaborate, just hasty positions that were enough to satisfy ARTEP evaluators. We rarely put the Traversing and Elevation Mechanisms on our MGs during static defense, but they would have been handy had we been hit at night by a real enemy.
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