Quote Originally Posted by William F. Owen View Post
Sorry to quibble, but this highlights a key problem area. What is a competent defensive position?

The Planning and Conduct of a defensive battle is very context dependant. Defending a COP is going to be very different from denying a river crossing to Combined Arms Battle Group, in almost every way.
What works in regular warfare, may not read across to irregular, or vice versa.
You're correct, and I failed to make that distinction in my post. I'd add that laying out the COP itself is only one piece of the entire defensive battle, if it is conceived as such. I'd still assert that the COP specifically lends itself to some basic principles of fields of fire, observation, fortified postions, etc.

However, as you state, the defensive plan must take into account the larger context and purpose. Its here that the Duffer's Drift approach of thinking through the entire situation, and thinking about how reaction forces and reinforcements are introduced into that battle, become critical aspects. The defensive battle is much more than the COP itself and planned correctly, sets the conditions for successful offensive action (counterattack and pursuit).
s/f
Phil Ridderhof