Breaking Up Is (Not So) Hard to do: Task-Organizing in the Combat Zone

You discover that the safety net of operating with your organic armor company is vanishing for the duration of your yearlong deployment supporting American operations in a desert combat zone. Eight days into your first tour there, an infantry company sends your parent armor company a mechanized infantry platoon per your battalion’s task organization. The change is not thrilling. You already serve as the tank-platoon leader in a mechanized infantry company. Now you are also the new M1A1 tank-platoon leader. The initial meeting with the infantry-company commander and your new infantry-platoon leader counterparts goes well. You know you will be a good fit in your new company; however, the tankers in your platoon question how an infantry company commander will employ the platoon in the new area of operations. They trust that you and the platoon sergeant will voice concerns, from a tanker’s perspective, over the capabilities and limitations of the M1A1 tank platoon. Initially, you operate as a tank platoon. For the first few days, you work with the tankers you trained with during pre-de-Breaking Up Is (Not So) Hard to do: Task-Organizing in the Combat Zone by CPT Joel M. Johnson ployment. Soon your beloved tank platoon is further split into sections and task-organized. The taskorg forms either a combined platoon of armor and infantry or a cavalry platoon. Anew cavalry platoon is formed when you and your wingman combine with Bravo Section of the mechanized-infantry company’s 3rd Platoon. However, given your limited knowledge of the threat in the AO, as a young armor lieutenant you are not convinced that this is a change for the best. Your new platoon includes three sections: Alpha Section is you and your wing-tank; Bravo Section is your new platoon sergeant and his Bradley Fighting Vehicle; Charlie Section is two mounted infantry teams with one high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle each. A few days of operating in a combat environment demonstrates that further division of your platoon into two sections is necessary. Each section will have one M1, one BFV and two HMMWVs with their infantry dismounts. You realize the taskorg change you initially thought a bad idea is actually the ideal configuration for operations in the contemporary urban environment. Even your tankers and infantrymen are beginning to gel as a cohesive unit and appreciate the capability each element brings to the fight in your platoon’s AO. At least, that’s my experience. In 2004- 2005, while leading my newly formed cavalry platoon in an insurgent-held suburb of Ramadi called Tameem, taskorg helped our success. Deploying from Camp Casey, Republic of Korea, with 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry, from the 2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, I was a green second lieutenant. I was still learning the responsibilities and capabilities of a tank-platoon leader. Just as described, I had to re-taskorg just a few days in-country. We trained at a Korea training center, emphasizing dismounted operations in urban terrain for the light infantrymen. We used the two armor companies primarily as overwatch elements during raids and outer cordons throughout the KTC’s urban training facilities. We conducted our drills for setting traffic-control points as a modified table of organization and equipment M1A1 platoon and addressed crew-level room clearing. We easily overcame the challenge of quickly building a cohesive, combat-effective platoon while in combat. We trained all Soldiers, regardless of military occupational specialty, in common tasks, including how to conduct Battle Drill Six – the battle drill that addressed clearing buildings. Working from that common knowledge, we quickly set to work developing and refining our standard operating procedures as a combined platoon and became Green Platoon, Attack Company, 1-9 Infantry. TCPs Advantages to having all three elements of the cavalry platoon. Conducting TCPs for Green Platoon was a very efficient task due to our composition. The tanks provided excellent cover for dismounted Soldiers conducting the TCPs. They could carry up to 10 rolls of concertina wire, placed on extended racks fashioned from steel re-bar attached to the M1A1’s exhaust grills for hasty employment. Placing the BFVs in the TCP not only provided more cover to the dismounted Soldiers on the ground but also overwatch to the vehicle search operation. The gunners aboard the HMMWVs could provide overwatch as well. They remained near the searchers but positioned themselves outside the TCP’s S-turns. The configuration that best served Green Platoon placed one HMMWV at the exit side of the TCP. If a vehicle sped away or tried to bypass the TCP, the HMMWV acted as the chase vehicle. The cavalry-platoon configuration proved an invaluable task organization at the TCPs. It allowed flexibility, speed and survivability for all members of the platoon. Considerations from a tactical and maintenance perspective. Wear and tear on the M1 and BFV can impede aggressive patrolling. Techniques such as creative patrolling, breaking predictive patterns and maintaining aggressiveness help minimize stress on the vehicles. They also allow the cavalry platoon to maintain the initiative in the AO. As the platoon leader, I decided my platoon sergeant and I would lead most of our combat patrols in Tameem. During our nine-hour shifts, we conducted constant, aggressive patrols and retained initiative in the AO. Also, each Soldier developed knowledge and comfort with the terrain. Alpha and Bravo sections alternated conducting the first patrol each day. To cover the entire AO took nearly an hour of patrolling. I always called my infantry squad leader to occupy the observation post with his HMMWVs before my wingman and I proceeded. When we returned to our OP, I sent Bravo Section out to patrol a different part of the AO. Then, HMMWVs patrolled. This cycle repeated throughout the shift. Our near-constant patrolling effected how we maintained our tracked vehicles and kept them operational. Even though Alpha and Bravo sections in the platoon knew every inch of the terrain in our team’s sector, and therefore where we could maneuver tanks and BFVs, our aggressive patrolling was causing unexpected wear and tear on the vehicles. I cut down patrolling with Alpha and Bravo section so we could keep the M1s and BFVs on the road and operational. Instead of the tracked vehicles, I began to send the HMMWVs out on patrols that wound through the side streets, the back alleys, and the nooks and crannies of Tameem. Those areas Alpha and Bravo section could neither access, nor stealthily navigate. Scaling back the tempo of patrols of Green Platoon’s tracked-vehicle sections showed that I overlooked the capabilities of my platoon’s HMMWVs. Alpha and Bravo sections could not creep through the town at night to discover insurgents placing improvised explosive devices along roads as the infantry squad could. Nor could they quickly respond to search a house that raised suspicions while patrolling, as the HMMWV squad could. The locals, and indeed the insurgents operating inside of Tameem, adeptly dodged the observation of armored vehicles patrolling the streets, and they adjusted their tactics accordingly. Our HMMWVs, however, provided very little signature of their presence, and, as such, proved invaluable to Green Platoon’s counterinsurgency operations in the Tameem AO. It became apparent the platoon could not sustain the maintenance involved with non-stop M1/BFV patrols. In a typical day for Green Platoon, the two-tracked vehicle sections completed two patrols each, and the HMMWV squad patrolled the rest of the shift. To decrease the predictability of our patrols, I varied the sequence of the tracked vehicle sections’ patrols each day. One day, for example, I chose to conduct a patrol with my Alpha Section as soon as we had arrived in sector. My Bravo Section then conducted their patrols towards the end of the shift. The next day, I did not have any tracked vehicles rolling through Tameem until the middle of the shift. Instead, I chose to patrol the first half of the shift entirely with the HMMWV section. Other circumstances also influenced my mission plans from time to time. For example, maintenance issues with a particular vehicle in the platoon, sniper insertions or raids we conducted routinely all influenced the way my day-to-day employment of the platoon. Large-scale IEDs placed along main thoroughfares posed a heightened threat to our uparmored M1025 HMMWVs. Therefore, I chose to send them on aggressive patrols through the alleys and streets that were impassable to the tracked sections. I often gave my infantry squad leader detailed guidance for a specific patrol route through the town. During the patrol, the squad leader provided me with updates on his position as they conducted movement-to-contact. Constant reports from my HMMWV section leader, as well as diligently tracking the locations of each platoon section, reduced response time for sections to aid troops in contact. Also, he learned to articulate clearly the situation in the areas of interest throughout Team Attack’s sector. Choosing to have the HMMWV squad stick to side streets and alleys for most of their patrols greatly increased their survivability. Placing IEDs along smaller streets was more difficult for insurgents than laying them in medians and near trash heaps along main roads. Although the HMMWVs were still susceptible to rocket and rocket-propelled grenade attacks during patrols, they fared much better than tracked vehicles against IEDs in the streets and alleys of the more built-up and urban sections of Tameem. Leader’s role As the leader of this M1/BFV and HMMWV infantry platoon, I frequently involved myself in our daily patrols. At that time, as an Armor Branch lieutenant, I was not as well versed in light-infantry operations as my infantry squad leader. As our time in-theater progressed, my adept infantry-platoon sergeant and my HMMWV section leader mentored me. Through their coaching, I involved myself more with the ground elements of my platoon as we conducted cordons and searches, dismounted operations and raids throughout Tameem. Responsibility for the platoon ultimately rests on the platoon leader’s shoulders. During raids aimed at capturing high-value targets and driven by up-to-the-minute intelligence, the platoon leader must be on the ground, helping identify targeted individuals, persons of interest and items related to priority intelligence requirements inside houses. In short, the platoon leader’s role during these operations is with the elements on the ground with this cavalry task organization. 38

M1/BFV section advantages The M1/BFV sections balance the M1 and the BFV’s strengths and weaknesses to the highest degree, and provide a lethal combination of firepower and versatility. When the tracked-vehicle sections of the task-organized cavalry platoon conduct patrols, the tank in each section should lead so that it can take advantage of the greater max-elevation capability of the BFV’s 25mm Bushmaster gun to scan rooftops and rearward, the way an M1 cannot. The BFV, with its turret’s ability to scan to the 6 o’clock position, can protect the vulnerable rear of the M1 while scanning for insurgents seeking to attack the section’s rear. The M1 delivers maximum firepower to the front. When it is the lead vehicle, its frontal armor also has greater survivability than that of the BFV. In addition, the tank commander in the section can better determine whether he can pass through a narrow alley than his BFV wingman. So, the M1 in the lead prevents a tank maneuvering out of a narrow alley, or even falling into a ditch when a narrow embankment collapses under its treads. A case in point is the night of Dec. 27, 2004, which Green Platoon will never forget. It was nearly midnight. My BFV wingman, scanning to my 6 o’clock position while occupying an OP, spotted suspicious activity 1 ½ kilometers down one of the main roads. He quickly reported what he was observing, and in seconds, we were maneuvering toward the situation. As I called Bravo Section to quickly backfill our OP with the M1, I heard my wingman’s 25mm gun destroy the overwatch elements of the insurgents’ attempted ambush. While my wingman initiated direct fire with the insurgents, I arrived behind his position along the road. I sent him forward to destroy insurgents moving through afield further to the south. My tank then conducted support-by-fire along the road, allowing him to destroy the enemy in the field. He then enveloped the main body of the ambush by moving inside of the apartment complex. Serving as the support-by-fire, my gunner and I fired every.50-caliber round I had loaded, 850 rounds of 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and a high explosive anti-tank round. (Of note, however: the HEAT round did not arm and detonate as I imagined it would. It affected only 75 meters from our tank, leaving merely a large hole at the base of the wall.) As my wingman enveloped behind the ambushers inside the apartment complex, the M1 I called to our OP conducted a relief-in-place with me, and I followed the same route my wingman took. Once we enveloped the insurgents there, the attempted ambushers fled further into Tameem. A handful, though, remained to fight. We captured two, one trembling with an RPG in hand, and the other, hiding behind a wall, waiting to reload his friend’s RPG. The HMMWVs arrived as soon as the envelopment was complete. The infantrymen then conducted a thorough search of the site. In those intense moments, the communication within Alpha Section, and across the platoon, led to its success. The versatility of the M1/BFV section allowed Green Platoon to defeat the potentially devastating insurgent ambush on Alpha Section as it traveled into the kill zone. In addition, the HMMWV section’s rapid response and the platoon sergeant’s ability to direct it effectively while the leader engaged with Alpha Section also helped Green Platoon’s success in this particular confrontation. Professional development During our deployment, each member of the combined-arms platoon developed professionally due to our operating under the cavalry taskorg. For example, my gunner developed skills as a tank commander when he filled in while I was on the ground with my HMMWV section. I eventually gained confidence in his abilities and sent him to command the Bravo Section M1 while its commander was on leave. Each man was vital to operating full combat vehicle crews and dismounted teams due to present strain on operating within the platoon. I regularly had an 11B serving as the loader of my M1. I frequently gave Green Platoon’s 11Bs the chance to practice loading rounds inside the M1 turret and even fire the main gun. Likewise, the platoon sergeant and I ensured that the 19Ks were adept with working aboard the BFVs and were familiar with their 25mm gun and turret. As such, my tankers would conduct patrols, at times for a few days in a row, with the HMMWV section, even raiding houses as part of their dismounted teams. Camaraderie formed within Green Platoon when each Soldier, whether 11B or 19K, learned to appreciate the capabilities each brought to the urban terrain fight. Effectiveness of the cavalry platoon The combined-arms platoon, employed in an urban environment, is the most effective taskorg available, if such a configuration within the company/team is possible. Green Platoon, while conducting combat patrols throughout Ramadi from August 2004 to August 2005, was a testament to this. Combining the speed, devastating firepower, survivability and intimidation of the M1A1; the agility, versatility, and lethality of the BFV; and the more personal, responsive and effectual aspects of the HMMWV section, the task-organized cavalry platoon is the ideal combination of armor and infantry – working together to accomplish every task put before them in a contemporary, urban environment. CPT Joel Johnson is a student (foreign-area officer in training) in the Basic Thai Language Course, Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA. He has also served as rear-detachment commander, operations (S-3) officer, S-1 officer and Headquarters and Headquarters Troop commander, all in 5-1 Cavalry, Fort Wainwright, AK. His military education also includes the Cavalry Leaders’ Course, Airborne School, Armor Captains’ Career Course and Armor Officer Basic Course. He holds a bachelor’s of arts degree in political science from The Citadel. Acronym Quick-Scan AO – area of operations BFV – Bradley Fighting Vehicle HEAT – high explosive anti-tank HMMWV – high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle IED – improvised explosive device KTC – Korea training center OP – observation post RPG – rocket-propelled grenade Taskorg – task organization TCP – traffic control point 39