Planning and Employing Small Kill Teams in a Tank Platoon

The war in Iraq has largely become a war with two separate insurgent groups, both with differing politico-religious aims. The insurgents in Iraq do not wear uniforms or identifiers, which allows them to blend in with the local population. Additionally, they tend to operate in small decentralized cells, which make them difficult to target using the tank platoon’s conventional force doctrine. Insurgents take advantage of this by avoiding movement along main roads whenever possible and moving in small numbers through terrain that tends to be unsuitable for large vehicle traffic. This creates a potential problem because nearly all U. S. forces in Iraq operate from vehicles. During Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) V’s “troop surge,” our unit, C Company, Task Force 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 3d Infantry Division, maneuvered as an armor company team, organized with two M1A1 tank platoons and one mechanized infantry platoon, equipped with M2A2 Bradley fighting vehicles. To counter the insurgent’s ability to simply avoid our vehicles, we developed a technique for employing small kill teams (SKTs), which are small covert teams employed to ambush the insurgent in an area with frequent activity. The SKT’s purpose is to catch the enemy in the act of committing a terrorist act such as emplacing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or retrieving weapons from a cache. Normally, the tank platoon is not suited for this type of dismounted work, but when properly organized for the mission, armored forces can be effective at capturing and/or killing dismounted insurgents by using the SKT technique. Our company’s area of operations in the Madain Province was historically an agricultural area with a few developed industrial areas. As such, the terrain was crisscrossed with irrigation canals and connected by narrow and poor quality roads, with the exception of the main supply routes (MSRs) located near the factories. The restricted terrain enabled insurgents to avoid coalition forces along MSRs, where our advantages were significant because of regular patrols and high-speed avenues of approach for heavy armored vehicles. The northern-most sector of Crusader Company’s area of operations was historically a bad area that comprised many unknown challenges; however, intelligence soon confirmed numerous IED attacks, indirect fire attacks/points of origin sites, sectarian violence, and caches found in the area. In response to this, Crusader Company conducted multiple cordon and search operations on warehouses, factories, and garages in the area. During these missions, they found legitimate IED materials, weapons, and ammunition that the insurgents were using; however, the amount and the quality of the cache strongly indicated this was not the big payoff the company was out to find. Oddly, very few, if any, detainees were taken at these cache sites and terrorist attacks continuously began and ended in close proximity to our combat outpost (COP) before we could put troops on the ground. It was very frustrating knowing that the enemy was out there, and despite our efforts, we could not catch him. After some frustration in dealing with these problems, the primary focus became developing and employing SKTs. When employing a tank platoon as an SKT, the platoon leader has four main considerations: location of SKT; vehicle manning/SKT composition; communications plan; and a quick reaction force (QRF). Employing a tank platoon as an SKT can be a difficult task with many hurdles to overcome. For example, lack of manpower is a major obstacle in planning and executing an SKT. A tank platoon at full strength is 16 soldiers, 17 if you have a medic assigned to your platoon. Due to considerations, such as environmental morale leave (EML) and emergency leave, a fully manned platoon is impossible. At least two to three soldiers are on EML at any given time, with the exception of the beginning and end of a deployment. At full strength, our platoon consisted of 14 soldiers, one medic, and me, the platoon leader. During one of our SKTs, we had four soldiers on EML or emergency leave, leaving a total of 12, and out of those, 10 would be necessary to man vehicles, at the minimum manning requirement of three per tank and two per HMMWV. Operating with a 13-man platoon, additional personnel would be required to execute the SKT. There are several places to look for more manpower within your company or battalion. First, seek help inside your company; specifically, the headquarters section. Soldiers in the headquarters section are usually experienced and senior to many of the other soldiers in the company. Furthermore, they do not conduct missions as frequently as line platoons and are usually eager to be included in the fight. If headquarters soldiers cannot support the mission, then drawing soldiers from the battalion is another option. Every battalion should have a sniper, scout, or fire support element included within its headquarters company, which is where we drew our strength in manpower. When selecting soldiers from other platoons/ companies, choose those with a combat arms military occupational specialty (MOS) because they are more familiar and comfortable with conducting combat operations. Location may seem like the easiest of the planning considerations because it is always dictated by enemy activity; however, when you determine where the enemy is conducting operations, it may be a large area, forcing you to narrow your choice of where you will emplace an SKT. Choosing an area that is not well illuminated is critical; however, it is a safe assumption that any building within 100 meters of a well-lit MSR will effectively silhouette your SKT and should not be chosen. The area in which Crusader Company conducted its SKTs was an industrial area that had many lights for security purposes. Lunar illumination is also a consideration; percent illumination between 20 and 50 percent is optimal. If the illumination is going to be below 20 percent, night vision devices (NVDs) will not be as effective. If the illumination is above 50 percent, there is a greater chance of the enemy seeing you with his naked eye. An excellent position to choose would be one that only exposes the uppermost portion of a soldier’s head and still allows him to engage hostile targets. Selecting an unwalled, fully exposed rooftop increases the risk of soldiers being spotted, especially when there is a high percentage of illumination. Choose a rooftop or some type of structure that not only provides cover, but achieves good observation. Finally, select an area with trafficable routes on which your vehicles can travel should they need to respond to a situation. Observation of the target area is the next consideration; think about how many people you can place on the ground and how you are going to achieve good observation of enemy routes, safe houses/structures, dead area/defilade, and the kill zone. A technique that Crusader exercised was placing two SKTs approximately 600 meters apart; each SKT, consisting of eight men, could clearly see out to 300 meters, achieving overall observation of 900 meters around the target area. This enabled the SKT to observe the rear areas of the factories where the ambush was set, as well as the MSR to the rear of the

SKT.

The next detail of planning is how to assign units best equipped for an SKT. Our “During Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) V’s ‘troop surge,’ our unit, C Company, Task Force 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 3d Infantry Division, maneuvered as an armor company team, organized with two M1A1 tank platoons and one mechanized infantry platoon, equipped with M2A2 Bradley fighting vehicles. To counter the insurgent’s ability to simply avoid our vehicles, we developed a technique for employing small kill teams (SKTs), which are small covert teams employed to ambush the insurgent in an area with frequent activity.” — 17 platoon lacked some of the equipment that the infantry and sniper teams had at their disposal. For example, the platoon squad designated marksman (SDM) was on EML at the time of this mission. The SDM has more training, and the equipment, to accurately engage long-distance targets. Snipers, who possess precision optics, night vision capability, and accur-ized weapons systems, can be an easy solution to the problem, if they are not already tasked for another mission. Because the area we chose for an SKT was only open out to 300 to 500 meters, an SDM would have been nice, but was not mission essential. About half of our platoon had the outdated PVS-7-series night vision devices instead of the preferred monocular PVS- 14s. Even fewer soldiers had the PEQ2A, which could paint targets at night with the infrared (IR) laser, unseen to the enemy. Personnel chosen for the SKT portion of the mission all had PVS-14s and PEQ2As; those who did not were tasked to man vehicles. The SKT consisted of five members, a platoon leader, a fire support noncommissioned officer (FSNCO), crew-served weapon, a radio/telephone operator (RTO), and one additional soldier. Two HMMWVs were selected for transporting the SKT. The QRF element was comprised of two M1A1 Abrams tanks, with one four-man crew and one three-man crew. If the SKT needed the QRF, it would be better to have one tank fully manned, making violence of action on the enemy easier. The QRF for an SKT is not limited to tracked vehicles, it can use HMMWVs. Units should not plan SKTs around using tracked vehicles; instead, use tracked vehicles if the terrain can support them. Another hurdle the platoon had to overcome was a lack of experience in dismounted operations. Our platoon had an abundance of soldiers with OIF I and II experience, who were very experienced with mounted combat operations. Finding soldiers within the platoon who possessed alight dismount-centric mentality proved to be a challenge. Because members of my platoon lacked the comfort and experience of light dismounted nighttime operations, more detailed and well-thought-out planning/preparation were imperative to the success of the mission. Prior to mission planning, we conducted a reconnaissance of the area and took photos and video to assist in planning and use as briefing aids for our soldiers. Leaders may also coordinate for OH-58Ds to take aerial reconnaissance photos of the area prior to the mission, which allows all platoon members to not only see the exact location of the planned SKT, but also the surrounding area, in detail, and the opportunity to review it multiple times. This also allows soldiers to view the SKT’s position, the QRF route, and the target area, enabling everyone in the platoon to know exactly what the other is doing, thereby eliminating questions or doubt. Rehearsals were also vital to successfully executing this operation. Rehearsing room-clearing procedures, walking at night with night vision devices, and moving stealthily at night instills in young soldiers the courage and comfort necessary for a successful mission. After your operations order, it is particularly important to conduct aback brief, especially if soldiers are unfamiliar with the mission and associated tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP). Eliminating doubt or questions will serve to ease the execution of the SKT, especially for leaders, if they paint the picture as clearly as possible for their men. The communications plan between the SKT and the QRF is as important as SKT placement and manning; always have a primary and secondary means of communications. Platoon leaders have a few choices that can be made when considering a communications plan. Some of our radios included the RT-1523 advanced system improvement program (ASIP) radio converted into a man-pack, the PRC-148 multiband inter/intra team radio (MBITR), and the PRC-150 Harris long-range radio. Using an ASIP or an MBITR is relatively easy compared to operating the Harris radio, which delivers at much longer ranges than the ASIP or MBITR, but only when in contact with another Harris, and it requires much more training to use effectively. Emergency forms of communications, such as star clusters, are also needed. The SKT can use star clusters to alert the QRF if the radios are not working, and IR strobes, lasers, and chemlights are needed to ensure the team is visible to aircraft, especially if the QRF is the primary communicator to adjacent units. During execution of our plan, we used the M1151 HMMWV/M1A1 as a primary long-range means of communications between the SKT and the tactical operations center (TOC); the PRC-148 MBITR was used between the SKT and the QRF; and red star clusters and IR strobes were used for emergencies and marking positions. Each time an SKT was deployed, radio checks between the SKT and the QRF were conducted every 15 minutes to ensure communications were still good; failure to establish communications triggered the QRF to respond or the SKT to exercise its emergency plan of action. If the platoon leader decides to incorporate Iraqi security forces (ISF) into the SKT, make certain each ISF member is trustworthy. This trust must be built over time and will take longer than just 60 “Another hurdle the platoon had to overcome was a lack of experience in dismounted operations. Our platoon had an abundance of soldiers with OIF I and II experience, who were very experienced with mounted combat operations. Finding soldiers within the platoon who possessed alight dismount-centric mentality proved to be a challenge. Because members of my platoon lacked the comfort and experience of light dismounted nighttime operations, more detailed and well-thought-out planning/preparation were imperative to the success of the mission.” 18 — days. Make certain you have good command and control of the ISF; keep them with the SKT team, do not send ISF out on their own. The SKT should have an interpreter to communicate efficiently with the ISF; they must be able to communicate clearly and quickly should they engage enemy combatants. Assign a soldier whose primary mission is to keep eyes on the ISF, which helps minimize fratricide incidents. Rehearsals and pre-combat checks/pre-combat inspections (PCC/ PCI) of the ISF is important. It is important to ensure that the ISF does not compromise your position. If you choose not to incorporate the ISF, it is still important to keep an interpreter with your platoon, if not in the SKT, at least staged in a vehicle with the QRF. QRF vehicle positioning is just as important as the SKT’s location(s); these vehicles must be far enough away to fool the enemy into thinking no coalition forces are present. Keeping vehicles too close to the target area or next to residential structures may compromise the SKT. Keep in mind that the enemy may have a very intricate communications system in place — all it takes is one cell phone call to compromise your SKT. As mentioned earlier during the location discussion, ensure you choose a location that allows vehicles to travel in front of, or to, the SKT to mass fires with the main gun/crew-served weapons and serve as a casualty evacuation vehicle to retrieve injured/KIA personnel. Most importantly, the QRF needs the capability to quickly respond to any situation that arises. Overall, SKT missions are successful; not only can the SKT deliver overwhelming firepower on an unsuspecting enemy, but it can gather valuable information through enemy observation that the battalion S2 can turn into intelligence to drive future operations. Following the execution of several SKT missions, Crusader Company noticed significant improvements in its area of operations. Before planning, preparing, and executing an SKT, study the details in this article; thorough planning, common sense, and experienced noncommissioned officers will help execute a lethal and effective technique on a complex battlefield against a smart and agile enemy. Platoon leader rehearsals and back briefs are the single most important part of the planning/preparing phase and are the platoon leader’s responsibility. When facing manning issues, seek help from other areas and always have a backup plan for every detail of your mission. Using the SKT technique will increase your platoon’s effectiveness at limiting the enemy’s ability to operate freely in your area of operation and will allow you to take the fight to the enemy, instead of just reacting to his attacks. First Lieutenant T. Clay Groton IV is currently serving as XO, Crusader Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, 3d Brigade, 3d Infantry Division, Fort Benning, GA. He received a B. A. from Virginia Tech. His military education includes Armor Officer Basic Course and Airborne School. He has also served as platoon leader, 3d Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, 3d Brigade, 3d Infantry Division, Fort Benning. “Overall, SKT missions are successful; not only can the SKT deliver overwhelming firepower on an unsuspecting enemy, but it can gather valuable information through enemy observation that the battalion S2 can turn into intelligence to drive future operations. Following the execution of several SKT missions, Crusader Company noticed significant improvements in its area of operations.”