We're quickly losing the art of reading physical terrain after being cooped up on FOBs in the middle of vast expanses of flat desert. This seems to be apparent in the selection of low ground for bases at Wanat and COP Keating.
Putting the T in METT-T (i.e., Terrain)
Captain T. B. Franklin, Tactics and the Landscape
Having once led a small party of friends terribly astray during a class orienteering trip I have always been haunted by my inability to “read” terrain. While teaching myself that particular art I came across the above book, written in 1914 for the British Army, and have now been able to increase my skills (I am now barely incompetent having previously been fully incompetent) thanks to its practical and visual pedagogic style. However, I am interested in knowing if the vastly more experienced members of the SWC would have completed the below tasks differently from either the friendly or enemy PoV. Personally I am alarmed that no “flankers” were sent into the woods on the bottom left (and to the immediate south of Mayne Top) of the attached image. Although it would have been very difficult for the enemy unit to withdraw, being also out of mutual support with the unit ensconced on Three Hill Ridge (north of Ralston Ridge) and the farmyard south of it the friendly forces commander wasn’t to know that (was he?). IMO that was a prime location for an ambush which would have prevented friendly forces from coming to the aid of their comrades further North.
Friendly forces task:
The Battalion to which you belong and a Battery, R.F.A., have made a forced march to Dunmayne to prevent it falling into the enemy's hands. You arrived there on the evening of June 1, and went into billets. At 1 p.m., June 2, your Battalion Commander orders the Battalion to be paraded at once, and calls for Company Officers. He tells them that the enemy is in some force at Wells, and that some detached companies of your own troops are in danger of being cut off. He finishes by saying, " I intend to march at once on Wells. ' A ' Company—your company—will form the advanced guard. The main body will pass Dunmayne Cross Roads at 1.45 p.m. I am sending a few cyclists forward to get into touch with our men retreating from Wells. I shall be at the head of the main body." Give the dispositions of your advanced guard moving up Dunmayne Hill. (See Plate I. [attached below])(p.3)
Enemy forces task:
Your battalion has arrived behind North Ridge. Your advanced troops have already been driven off Three Hill Ridge with some loss, and are now holding Middle Ridge. The brigadier decides to attack Three Hill Ridge. Your company is one of the companies of the battalion which are to form the firing line, and is drawn up behind Triangle Wood. You have been given Hill " C " as your objective, and your company will be left company in the attack. What use do you make of your scouts in the coming advance?(p. 39)
We're quickly losing the art of reading physical terrain after being cooped up on FOBs in the middle of vast expanses of flat desert. This seems to be apparent in the selection of low ground for bases at Wanat and COP Keating.
And we did the same thing during Vietnam when FBs were located based on available LZs and not necessarily good terrain appreciation (LZ Ripchord is but one example of this).
"On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
T.R. Fehrenbach This Kind of War
In a World War II memoir I read that it happened when we stopped riding horses to where we want to go.Originally Posted by Starbuck
The worst possible on maps are too many altitude lines.
I saw a few Soviet military maps of South Ossetia in 2008, and I only saw lines.
They could as well have drawn impressionist art.
Here is such an example:
http://www.batsav.com/images/maps/mi...khevsureti.jpg
Aye to that.
I used to be a bit of an IPB junky, until an old boy I was showing around our deployed CP pointed out to me that is was knowledge all officers (and SNCOs) should have. He'd been an Brigade IO in Normandy!
What ever happened to Staff Rides and TEWTS? Good ones taught you about ground if nothing else.
Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"
- The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
- If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition
Unfortunately, they were replaced by
computers and even with GIS and really neat terrain modeling software, something is lost in translation...
That's my monthly understatement.
yeah.. not the same. Nothing like being chest deep in a river in Dorset trying to prove to your syndicate that it could be crossed without boats or infantry bridging.
I never was that smart.....
Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"
- The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
- If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition
The virtues of a reverse slope defence...
In Light Infantry in the Defence: Exploiting the Reverse Slope from Wellington to the Falklands and Beyod, (SAMS Monograph, US-CGSC) Link in Post No.12.
Lt Col. Archibald Galloway points out that the Argentinians had used a forward slope defensive posture in all of their defensive battles enabling the British to use direct fire ATGM, Mgs and Laws against them whereas if they had adopted the reverse slope things would have been much more difficult (p. 29)
Last edited by davidbfpo; 06-24-2010 at 06:46 PM. Reason: link found by another
Will read with interest. - but cannot due to a broken link!
Actually a reverse slope defence requires a lot of training, and usually a lot of depth. I can agree that being out in the open on a forward slope is just plain dumb, as the Boca House position proved!
Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"
- The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
- If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition
Try this. It's a 1985 CGSC paper.
"On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
T.R. Fehrenbach This Kind of War
Have to say, I read that and was impressed. The author was one of the first I've read to get the importance of the "counter-slope." - a point mostly missed by those who pontificate about "reverse slope."
In BAOR, this was where we should have sighted our long range AT-weapons, and the prepared tank firing locations.
Good paper - not perfect, but well worth a read.
Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"
- The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
- If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition
Notes from the Boer war..
Baden-Powell's, War in Practice, contains his recollections and lessons learned from the Boer War and makes for good reading (especially in terms of an army that has just snatched victory from the jaws of defeat- its a tradition-, and has had to learn the basics the hard way all over again), see esp. Chapter IV The Selection of Ground and Posistions and he also proposes an X shaped parapet position (p. 168) Reminds me of The Defence of Duffer's Drift
Fingers-crossed the link works
Last edited by Tukhachevskii; 06-25-2010 at 02:42 PM. Reason: guess....
Some useful readings in military geography from days past and more recent...
1.Military Geography for the Public and Professionals
2.The Military Geography by An Army Schoolmaster
3.A concise synopsis of geography, for the use of the junior department of the Royal military college, at Sandhurst
4.Physical, historical and military geography
5. Military Geography
6. Topography and Strategy in the [Great] war
7. Battlefields of the World War: A Study in Military Geography
8.Tactical Walks
Last edited by Tukhachevskii; 07-12-2010 at 03:30 PM.
Looking through the list of Army FMs, 5-33 Terrain Analysis can no longer be found.
Hopefully there's a revision or something new to replace it.
There was actually an article in the Marine Corps Gazette, about a year or so back, where the author, an infantry officer, wrote about discovering the Baden Powell book in a yard sale, and then went on to call for a return of the X-shaped sandbag parapet.Baden-Powell's, War in Practice, contains his recollections and lessons learned from the Boer War and makes for good reading (especially in terms of an army that has just snatched victory from the jaws of defeat- its a tradition
Fingers-crossed the link works
Yes. It was actually that article (January 2010, Pg 26-7? Sorry can't get link uploaded) that cued me onto Baden Powell!
For those playing the home edition, here is the linkThe article in question starts on page 26.
http://www.marinecorpsgazette-digita...001?pg=30#pg28
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