members through this role to give him
a break. LS might well have his personal
weapon on automatic, to enable him to
get a weight of fire down when he comes
under contact, but this is a personal choice
and ammunition conservation needs to be
considered. Bear in mind the size of the
patrol and the fact it might not be your only
contact that day; ammo conservation is of
paramount importance.
Standing Patrol: Will move into an area
under cover of darkness and observe the
enemy from a fixed location – sometimes
also called an ambush party. Because they
might remain static for long periods and not
need to be as agile as a Recce Patrol the
PC might chose to beef up the firepower a
bit for self-defence, including some belt-fed
machine guns and anti-armour missiles.
Fighting Patrol: Very much a mixture of
the two above, formed for a specific strike
040
March 2012
option or task, properly scaled with men
and weapons to destroy the enemy, going
in ‘heavy and quick’. Fighting Patrols might
be used to mount a diversionary attack,
or to cover the retreat of an OP Party or
Recce Patrol.
Pre-patrol considerations
There are some things we need to check
before we set off. You might not have
worked with the team before, and as a
patrol you need to be able to rely on your
mates to act instinctively when you come
into contact with the enemy. It’s almost as
if the patrol is a single unit and you’re the
working parts: all those parts need to work
together in unison or the beast will stall and
fail.
As an example of this, let’s say you are
the number two in the patrol; you know that
when the shooting starts your LS always
dives for cover on the left, so you can react
instantly, saving valuable seconds as the
patrol goes to ground.
All this information and possible areas
for attention will come out by carrying out
detailed rehearsals and ‘actions on’ before
you step off. Actions on are rehearsed
events that happen when you’re out on the
ground, dependent on your situation (enemy
pre-seen; if you’re spotted on the route in; if
you sustain a casualty on the insertion…)
Going forwards we’ll be looking at
detailed rehearsals: day noisy, day quiet,
night noisy, night quiet and actions on. ■
GLOSSARY
2IC: Second in command
LS: Lead Scout
Ptl: Patrol
PC: Patrol Commander