Quote Originally Posted by jcustis View Post
When it is directed by any command above a battalion, it usually isn't a good thing.
Amen!

I tend to agree that they are good for very little, unless a lot of preparation, planning, and shaping of the "battlefield" has taken place before execution.
At least earlier on in Iraq, the TCP was a relatively easy and harmless tactic that units employed because we didn't know how generally useless they were. Good units figured it out and used other means to counter the insurgency. In 2003, my battalion figured out quickly that they don't work well and implemented the OP strategy (covert and overt). Much more effective.

The last time I was there, the static TCP was a favorite of the IA.