Article 12: Prepare for handover from day 1 – Not much to add here.
Article 13: Build trusted networks – This goes back to Article 4. You are nothing more than a one-trick pony if you don’t know what the current IO theme is, where CAG elements are operating, or don’t go down to the company areas every now and then to break bread. When you get the chance to go forward to “see” the battlespace, try to discuss current ops with a squad leader. It’s a little thing, but it goes toward building trust that you can get the dustoff bird in because you are not just another Fobbit.
Articles 14 and 15: Start easy and seek early victories – The RIP/TOA will be the first challenge, but if you can hit a homerun there, you should be okay. There are really no easy and early victories, but rehearse your staff’s actions so they flow like water when a casualty requires evacuation to a higher echelon of care. Be the smooth operator when you pick up the handset, and if you can handle the stress of a troops-in-contact situation like a radio DJ, you will instill confidence in the guys on the ground.
Article 16: Practice deterrent patrolling – Deterrent patrolling is high-level math, in terms of the battle tracking and coordination required. Check and double-check to make sure that adjacent units know what is going on. Sit down with the patrol leaders whenever possible, and don’t just know what the route looks like, but ask him where he expects to make contact. Know what his SOP is for breaking contact or going firm, and how he would prefer to make link-up with the QRF. You owe him that much, so don’t be the distant voice in a box that has to develop situation awareness through multiple radio calls.
Article 17: Be prepared for setbacks – Bad things do happen, but the battle captain needs to internalize his emotions until he is off watch. It doesn’t matter if you have a KIA who was your number one NCO when you were a company commander. You’ve got to help the company clear the contact. Take a deep breath, throw in a dip or light up a Marlboro…Do anything to stay focused until the patrol is back inside the wire.
Article 18: Engage the women; beware the children – When it’s 2 am and you get a call from a company, reporting that their attached HET has an informer who is ready to give the 411 on a local and active IED cell, but she wants to be relocated or placed into protective custody with her four children, you need to have a script/plan or the moment will slip away.
Article 19: Take stock regularly – Regardless of what the battle captains and NCOs are doing, pull them in for a daily update brief. Too much gets lost between multiple change-over briefs. Ask the S-3 to attend and give his take on the current and future ops picture. Even better, invite the CO. You may be surprised how much information he can confirm or deny based on his rounds outside the wire
Article 20: Remember the global audience – Nothing to add here, other than that this should be common sense. If you have greater access to the NIPRNET in the COC, keep your peers informed.
Article 21: Exploit single narrative – Although you won’t have a narrative to worry about, you will be expected to be in the know, based on your proximity to the unit’s planners. Provide context on ops to your peers when appropriate, but if you simply don’t know anything more that what you heard in the OPORD, don’t embellish.
Article 22: Local forces should mirror enemy, not ourselves – If you don’t know what coalition partners are doing within your AO or in adjacent battlespace, you’ve violated Article 16. Fire yourself and seek a position monitoring the clearing barrel at the entry control point.
Article 23: Practice armed civil affairs – Even if your unit doesn’t have a supporting CA element, or the one you do have is over-tasked, work the interagency theme and appreciate what the CA folks like to know. Try to glean relevant information during the debriefs, and make sure it gets to the people who can act on it. If you aren’t sure if that’s within your lane, clear it with the S-3, but don’t sit on your thumbs and expect it to occur by magic.
Article 24: Small is beautiful – For the battle captain, small details are beautiful. Be the duty expert at conducting a good debrief.
Article 25: Fight the enemy's strategy, not his forces – The enemy’s strategy is to wear you down. If you can implement elements of the points listed above, you will help the companies to get inside of his loop.
Article 26: Build your own solution, attack only when he gets in the way – “Combat operations do not win COIN. For a company, since combat operations are what we've trained for, they're our comfort zone. CMO, IO, economic development, and the sustainment of security forces are all bigger moneymakers in COIN than combat operations. It's tough to get to work, but more productive once you do.” – RTK. If you don’t understand some of the finer points of non-kinetic ops, you may actually be a hindrance to the guys outside the wire. This should be part of your continuous PME, and actually long before you stepped in country.
Article 27: Keep extraction plan secret – Self-explanatory and nothing to add here.
Article 28: Keep the initiative – Collaborate with your counterparts, battle NCOs, and the Ops Chief to get better every day. If you think you’ve developed the smoothest COC going, remember that the day may come where all previous watch rotations pale in comparison to the hell that breaks loose. Do your best to be prepared for it.
Our system's success would not have been possible if the battalion commander didn't empower the battle captains to make decisions. He drafted a series of well-thought CCIRs and gave sufficient latitude to deal with emerging situations without waking either him or the S-3 up constantly.
Although we were never allowed to take a company off task or change mission, we were given considerable freedom to alert and deploy the QRF, coordinate support between adjacent units, etc. The converse would have been a group of officers who simple moved yellow canary message sheets around all day until a decision was made.
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