Offroading

Situation

You are Cpl Smith, USMCR, stationed at Pico Rivera, CA. You are an off-duty police officer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. You’ve spent the morning four wheeling with fellow noncommissioned officer, Cpl Jones. You decide to take a lunch break near an aqueduct that provides about a third of Los Angeles’ water supply.

You parked your truck where the jeep trail ends near a power substation (1 hour’s drive from the main highway). After trying to check in with your wife (your cell phone did not get a signal), you and Jones decide to hike to some high ground and have lunch. You walk for about 20 minutes to a hill that overlooks the station that pumps water over the mountains to your east.

You remark to Jones as you loosen your boots, “I bet we could have driven most of the way to this hill if we stayed near the water. At least the return is mostly downhill.” You rest and eat while calculating how much water must be moving through the station. You remark at the engineering marvel of the aqueduct and the pumping station. “That much water and it looks like only a few guys actually man the site. I wonder if the pumps are monitored remotely?”

As you enjoy the day, two large vans approach the pumping station. They stop at separate locations (shown on the map). With a set of small binoculars you observe six men exiting the second vehicle. On closer inspection you see that they appear to be armed. A minute later you see the men fire an automatic weapon toward an entrance to the pumping station. Dumbfounded, you murmur, “Why did I leave my pistol in the truck?”

Requirement

In a time limit of 5 minutes explain how you intend to react to this situation. Provide a sketch of your actions and the rationale behind them. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #03-9, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22184, fax 708-630-9147, or e-mail <[email protected]>.

Battling Terror

Situation

You are the commander of Company B. Your battalion is prosecuting the war on terrorism in the Philippines. The battalion has been conducting company-sized raids from amphibious shipping. You have met with some success, especially since you joined forces with local military and police forces that are sympathetic to your mission. These successes consist of arms seizures and the apprehension of several alleged terrorist leaders.

Today, your company will link up with a squad of local military forces to raid a suspected terrorist training camp on a remote island. The objective is a barracks compound near a small coastal village bordered by vegetation that thickens as you move inland.

Your mission is to seize the objective in order to apprehend potential terrorist personnel and destroy weapons. Your scheme of maneuver is as follows: your 1st Platoon will helicopter into a landing zone (LZ) about 1 mile northeast of the objective. This platoon will link up with a squad of local forces at a nearby cemetery and move along two routes to isolate the objective. One squad will parallel a road to the objective. The remaining members of the reinforced platoon will approach the objective from the east.

You will arrive in a second helicopter wave consisting of 2d Platoon to assault the objective. A third wave consists of one squad from your company reinforced with engineers who will destroy weapons if found. This wave is oncall and will arrive within 20 minutes of your call.

When you are 15 minutes from the LZ, your 1st Platoon commander reports successful linkup with the local squad. Meanwhile, your CH-46 pilot informs you that one of the flight’s four helicopters had to return to the ship. While passing word about the reduced size of your flight, your radio/telephone operator informs you that a squad from 1st Platoon encountered a minefield and has casualties.

Unable to get the 1st Platoon commander on the radio, your flight arrives at the LZ. As the helicopters depart over the coast, you reestablish communications with 1st Platoon to receive the following report. “Six, this is One. 2d Squad has three wounded in action in a minefield near the road. Break. We have taken fire from the objective. One local killed, one wounded. Break. 1st Squad reports three captured; one is wounded and claims to be American. Break. I am currently between my two forces. Over.”

Requirement

In a time limit of 5 minutes, explain how you intend to react to this situation. Provide a sketch of your actions and the rationale behind them. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #03-4, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-6309147, or e-mail <[email protected]>.

Trouble in Barass

Situation

The battalion you command is part of a Marine expeditionary brigade (MEB) spearheading the United Nations operation in Barass, a Third World country torn apart by civil war. The aim of the operation is to bolster the democratically elected president by preventing insurgents from taking over the country.

The MEB mission of checking the rebel advance on the capital Cucaracha has been achieved by a show of force. A stalemate has occurred and negotiations are ongoing between the insurgents and the democratically elected government. Your interim mission is to disarm all militias in your area of operations (AO) and provide humanitarian aid to the civilian population. The militias are believed to have withdrawn northward out of your AO. Rules of engagement allow you to use deadly force in selfdefense and if met with noncompliance when disarming militias. A minimum of force is to be used.

It is 1800 and the sun is setting. Its rays won’t be seen again until tomorrow at 0600. The battalion is located 30 kilometers (km) north of Cucaracha. Charlie Company has been detached to guard the U.S. Embassy in the capital. Riots have broken out in Cucaracha, and operations to evacuate foreign nationals are pending. Yesterday morning 12 men from Alpha Company were taken hostage while distributing food to locals 20km west of your position. The perpetrators belong to a group called the “Nasty Boys.” Fueled by alcohol and drugs, they are known to have raped, plundered, murdered, and mutilated their way across Barass. Through an intermediary the MEB has been able to get in touch with the group. Demands for the release of the hostages seem unclear and have ranged from cases of beer, weapons, and cell phones to a HMMWV. Intelligence has revealed that the hostages are held in the village of Liessa. Two scout/sniper patrols are on the site and have reported that the hostages are held in building X guarded by eight soldiers manning four sangars (stone breastwork, lookout post) around the house. A platoon-sized unit has been observed in building Y. At least two more platoons are believed to be billeted somewhere in Liessa. A company is billeted in Fubar, a nearby village. Heavy machineguns are located north of Fubar. In both villages civilians roam the streets. The shallow and fast-flowing Kotori River runs westward through mangrove swamps.

Your immediate superior fills you in. “We have it from reliable sources that the hostages are to be transferred to an unknown location tomorrow evening. Between your present location and Liessa we believe there are between six to eight potentially hostile company-sized militias armed with small arms. We have no antiterrorist unit available to support you. You must rescue your Marines before they are moved. Four CH-53s, two AH-lW Super Cobras, and one CH-46 will support your operation.”

Requirement

In a time limit of 20 minutes develop your intent, plan, and tasks to subordinate units. Provide a fragmentary order, overlay of your scheme of maneuver, fire support plan, and the rationale for your actions. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #03-3, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-630-9147, or e-mail <[email protected]>.

Another Day Afloat

Situation

You are the commander of a Marine expeditionary unit (special operations capable) (MEU(SOC)) sitting 25 miles off the coast of the country Exbeyond.

Exbeyond is a mountainous country recently liberated by coalition forces with an interim government friendly to the United States. The countryside, however, is still sympathetic to the terrorist forces that were recently driven from power. The country is war torn and in need of humanitarian assistance and military support while it rebuilds its infrastructure.

It is now 1900. There are currently two missions that the MEU is conducting. The first is a humanitarian assistance operation. A platoon-sized element (1st Platoon) is providing medical, dental, and food services to the port of Jassim, the second largest city in the country. Jassim is located 70 nautical miles southwest of the amphibious ready group’s position. They are supplied daily after nightfall.

The second mission is a close air support (CAS) mission being conducted by three of the MEU’s four AV-Ss. The fourth AV-8 is down for maintenance. The CAS is in support of an Exbeyond battalion engaging a terrorist base camp 200 miles to the southeast.

At 1930 collection assets detect a terrorist base camp consisting of 30 to 40 men, 75 miles due south of the MEU. Intelligence indicates that Abdul bin Wazaid is present. Wazaid is the operations chief for the entire terrorist organization in Exbeyond and is responsible for a number of attacks on U.S. forces. Intelligence also indicates that Wazaid will be moving at 0300 to another location. This is the first time that Wazaid has been positively identified, and it will likely be some time before he is located again.

You give the warning order for a heliborne raid to be conducted no later then 0200. Your plan is to use four CH-53Es for the raid and four AH-Is for CAS.

At 2037 Ist Platoon reports that a large crowd of Exbeyondians has gathered requesting health care and food. The majority of these Exbeyondians appear to be refugees from the local countryside. The platoon is out of medical and dental supplies and requests resupply in order to continue providing services to the Exbeyondians. The crowd is currently peaceful, but it is becoming increasingly hostile as the platoon is forced to turn them away.

At 2105 one of the returning AV-8s is shot down by a manportable air defense missile. The remaining two AV-8s are returning ofter locating the crash site. Both AV-8s have taken damage from antiaircraft artillery fire while conducting the CAS. The pilot has established contact with friendly forces and is moving to an evasion and recovery site. The S-2 (intelligence) informs you that the terrorist forces are aware of the pilot’s position and will close in on it by 0200.

The MEU is the only friendly unit in the area capable of conducting these missions. Joint and theater assets are hundreds of miles to the south supporting a coalition offensive near the southern border.

The CH-53E is the only asset that can recover the downed pilot.

You have a hostile crowd, ‘a downed pilot, and one shot at catching one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. What do you do, Colonel?

Requirement

In a time limit of 3 minutes issue your orders to your platoon commanders. Provide a fragmentary order, overlay of your scheme of maneuver, and the rationale for your actions. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #03-1, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-630-9147, or e-mail <[email protected]>.

Sidebar

Assets Available

3 AV-8s

4 CH-53Es

12 CH-46s

4 AH-1s

2 UH-1s

Peace Enforcement in Intolerancia

Situation

You are the platoon leader of a rifle platoon. Your battalion is part of a multinational peace enforcement (PFOR) mission to Intolerancia, a nation tom apart by civil war. The PFOR intent is to prevent the antagonists from fighting each other. The desired end state is reached when no hostilities occur between the opposing factions-the Aloofians and the Utopians. A peace agreement put an end to the fighting a year ago. Since then there have been clashes between mobs as well as murder threats to civilians on both sides. Rules of engagement allow you to use minimum force against individuals who unlawfully commit or are about to commit acts that endanger life or are likely to cause serious bodily harm.

One of your squads has been detached so you only have two left. Your task is to patrol a border area to prevent weapons and explosives from being transported across the separation zone (SeZo). The former enemies have withdrawn their armed forces across their respective sides of the SeZo. The armed forces have been demobilized as demanded by PFOR. Civilians have complete freedom of movement, although few dare cross the SeZo to the opposing side. Wooragoora is inhabited by Aloofians. Argonne, formerly inhabited by Utopians, is now deserted.

The rest of the battalion is located 1 hour to your north and are tasked with checking weapons sites and patrolling.

You have just taken over the patrol base. The outgoing platoon informed you that unarmed Aloofian civilians have recently been looting Argonne and that the former inhabitants of Argonne, now residing in Belleau, are rather dissatisfied with it. The first looters were sent packing by the outgoing platoon who simply told them to leave. Compliance was instant with few questions asked. However, when the situation was reported through the chain of command, the outgoing platoon was ordered not to interfere since this is a civilian matter and should be taken care of by the international police force (PolInt) and the local police. The battalion tactical operations center emphasized response to military activity and armed civilans only. Since then, looters have been left alone.

The local police in Wooragoora aren’t willing to interfere. The nearest Pollint detachment is 1-hour to your west, and recent incidents have demonstrated their reluctance to respond due to duties elsewhere.

A Utopian spokesman in Belleau has declared that if PFOR is not willing to stop the looting, they will take matters into their own hands in order to protect their homes that they hope to move back to one day. According to the battalion intelligence officer, the civilans on both sides have access to small arms.

It is 1000 and both your squads are within your compound. The sentry informs you that two civilian lorries have just arrived at Argonne and five unarmed civilians can be seen looting.

Requirement

In a time limit of 5 minutes, issue your orders. Provide a rationale for your actions and a sketch of your plan. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #02-6, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-630-9147, or e-mail <gazette@mca– marines.org>.

Dogs at the Bridge

Situation

The Caribbean island of St. Karen is characterized by steep hills, cliffs, and swollen rivers. The soil is rocky with low-growing shrubs in the southern and midland regions, with forests in the northern and eastern regions. Two years ago, the emperor of St. Karen declared his nation a “druggie safe state.” It is now a haven for drug smugglers. Three large cartels have joined forces and are known as the Greyson Dogs. They fund impressive land and naval forces. Their terrorist activities in the region include piracy, raids on neighboring islands, and attacks on U.S. Coast Guard patrols. Regimental Landing Team 6 has successfully pushed the “Dogs” into the northern forest regions and is now staged in assembly areas, preparing to continue offensive operations.

You are a combat engineer squad leader. Your platoon is attached to Battalion Landing Team 1/6. Your platoon commander issues you the following order:

The battalion is getting ready to push out across the Penny River tomorrow afternoon. We want to go across in the western part of the forest where the Dogs don’t expect us. There’s a bridge located on Route 610. Your mission is to conduct an engineer route reconnaissance along Route 610 up to and including the Penny River Bridge in order to confirm the battalion’s route for the attack. Don’t be compromised-the battalion commander doesn’t want to tip his hand. Good luck.

Your nine-man squad is organized into Demo Teams I and 2. You have one M203 with M16, one M249 squad automatic weapon, seven M16s, a PRC-119, and two sets of ANPVS-7 night vision goggles. You set out just before sunset. The patrol to the bridge is uneventful, and you find the road to be in good shape. Arriving at the bridge in darkness, you take up a position to overlook the area as depicted on the map. You immediately notice five to six individuals working busily to prepare the bridge span for demolition. You note that the water appears to be deep and moving at about 3 feet per second. The banks are steep on both sides, but the bridge is made of concrete and appears sturdy. You see a fork in the road that travels off to the east to a possible ford site. It looks rugged. The banks are steep and rutted, and who knows what the streambed looks like. You figure a few hours work with bulldozers and dump trucks might make it operational.

You call back to battalion and explain the situation. You are not sure they understood your transmission. Their reply is broken: “Rogshh … If … across… dord … <click>worried .. tion … <zzzhzhz> … can’t let thrick … mission … shshs….”

As the Dog engineers put the final charges in place, you can see firing wire is being stretched from a position of defilade to the bridge. What now?

Requirement

In a time limit of 5 minutes, issue your orders to your team leaders. Provide a brief rationale for your actions and a sketch of your plan. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #01-6, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134, fax 703-630-9147, or email <[email protected]>.

For more detailed information on the structure of Marine Corps units, Marine Corps equipment, and symbols used in TDG sketches, see MCG, Oct94, pp. 53-56 and the modification reported in Jan95, p. 5.

Operation LUMP SUM

Situation

You are an advisor to the 719th Guerrilla Battalion in a civil-war-torn country, which makes you the de facto commander when it comes to operations in the field. The 719th consists of five 80-man companies (71st-75th), a mortar platoon, and an antitank guided missile (ATGM) platoon. The companies are actually fairly good guerrilla forces, making effective use of ambush and hit-andrun tactics, but for political as well as operational reasons, coordinated operations at battalion level and above are practically impossible, The battalion is lightly equipped, with few vehicles and only one unencrypted VHF radio. The companies are armed with mostly older-generation small arms, light machineguns, and light antitank weapons. Each company also has a pair of 23mm antiaircraft guns mounted on trailers. You have recently received a large arms shipment of shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles and medium mortars-enough mortars to form a sixtube platoon in each company and an eight-tube platoon at battalion level. The mortars have a range of 3,500 meters and the ATGMs have a range of 2,000 meters, although line of sight in this rolling, wooded terrain is rarely more than a kilometer. Vehicle forces are pretty much restricted to the trails and few roads.

The 719th is responsible for defending the Millennium complex, with each company based near one of the five villages in the complex. The 719th draws it support from the local population and is resupplied from a series of cache sites throughout the sector. You have one assistant advisor, a squared-away junior captain.

The enemy is attacking generally from the south and outguns your forces in practically every way. The enemy has air superiority, which he relies on heavily. He prefers to operate in massed formations of brigade or even larger to maximize his firepower. The enemy has demonstrated the capability to lift up to a battalion by helicopter at one time. Intelligence indicates he is preparing for a major offensive-up to a brigade-size air assault with gunship support deep into guerrilla territory, probably in conjunction with a ground penetration by a mechanized battalion from one of the several fire bases some 40 kilometers south of your sector. Intelligence has even learned the enemy’s code name for the operation: “Operation Lump Sum.” Recent enemy reconnaissance activity suggests the enemy has been reconnoitering landing zones (Us). Your assistant has hastily mapped the likely enemy Us in your sector. The two largest, each of which will handle a battalion, are between Millennium I and Millennium 3 along Rte. 6.

Higher headquarters estimates the enemy offensive will commence within 72 hours and wants to know the 719th’s plan for defending its sector. The battalion commander turns to you. What’ll it be?

Requirement

In a time limit of 15 minutes, describe your plan in the form of the orders/guidance you will “recommend” to the battalion commander. Then provide a sketch and a brief explanation of your reasoning. Submit your solution to Marine Corps Gazette, TDG #00-1, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134 or fax 703-630-9147.

Ambush in the Square

Situation

You are the leader of 1st Squad, India Company. Your platoon is conducting a security patrol through a suburban area of Old Town as part of counterinsurgency operations. (See existing Rules of Engagement.) Usually an entire patrol will pass without incident, but on a few occasions Marines have made contact with insurgency forces of up to 20 urban guerrillas armed with automatic rifles, rifle grenades, and explosives.

It is morning; the sun is not yet above the roofline to the east. Families are starting to stir, and the air is heavy with the smell of cooking. Some of the locals greet you with a nod as you pass. Your squad is the point of the platoon patrol column, moving north along a main street. The buildings are plaster and stone. Most are one story; some are two. You come upon a square opening to your right. In the center of the square is a stone fountain. A few early vendors have already opened their stalls, but the square is generally quiet.

You and the platoon commander study the square for a few minutes. It seems clear, and he instructs you to move out. You move north across the west side of the square, staying close to the colonnaded facades in case you need cover. You have exited the north side of the square and are continuing on when you hear a loud explosion to your rear followed by gunfire. You run back to the entrance to the square to get a look. Smoke is clearing from some kind of explosive. 2d Squad and the platoon headquarters are pinned down in the square, taking heaDy automatic fire that ricochets off the fountain and the buildings. Some Marines have been hit. From your position with your 3d Fire Team, you can’t locate 3d Squad or the platoon sergeant farther to the rear. You cannot tell if they are in the square or still south of it; you suspect the latter. You don’t know how they are reacting to the fire. You peer quickly around the corner of a building. The fire seems to be coming from two two-story buildings on the east side of the square a couple hundred meters away. You can’t tell if the fire is coming from both buildings or only one. It seems to be coming at least from the second story, but maybe from the ground floor as well. Civilians are screaming and hiding behind the fountain and in doorways around the square. A handful lay still in the square, apparently hit. From the square you hear calls for “Corpsman up!” What do you do?

Requirement

In a time limit of 3 minutes, explain your decision in the form of any orders you will issue. Then draw a sketch of your solution and provide a brief explanation of your decision. Submit your solution to Maine Corps Gazette, TDG #98-12, P.O. Box 1775, Quantico, VA 2214 or fax 703-640-0823.

Rules of Engagement:

1. You have the light to use lethal force promptlyand effectively to defend yourself, other U.S. or U.NV. forces, or persons and areas under their protection

2. You should use the minimum force necessary underthe circumstances and proportional to the treat. For more detailed information on the struture of Marine Corps units, Marine Corps equipment, and symbols used in TDG sketches, see MCG, Oct94, pp. 53-56 and the modification reported in Jan95, p. 5.

Ambush at Dusk

You are the squad leader of 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. You are fighting in a tropical jungle against guerrilla forces armed with small arms, light machineguns, and sometimes mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Recently, Company C has been conducting patrols in a populated region to counter increased insurgent activity. On this day, your platoon, with a machinegun squad attached, is running a security patrol to locate and destroy any enemy forces. Dusk is approaching-within the hour, you estimate. Your squad is the point of the platoon patrol column, some 200 yards forward of the platoon’s main body as you advance north through a rice paddy, paralleling a four-foot dike some hundred meters to your right. As your squad picks its way through a bamboo fence at the northern edge of the paddy, one ‘ of your Marines trips a boobytrap, suffering a severe leg wound. With the corpsman and platoon radioman, the platoon commander hustles forward to investigate. While they are still 150 meters away, the enemy suddenly opens fire with automatic weapons from the village, and the platoon commander is hit. The steady volume of enemy fire from the village has 2d and 3d squads pinned down in the rice paddy. After tending to the lieutenant, the corpsman makes his way forward under fire to your position, followed shortly by one machinegun team. The corpsman tells you the lieutenant is in a bad way. You wish you had a radio, but the radioman is pinned down near the lieutenant. The enemy fire against your position is sporadic; the two squads in the paddy, on the other hand, are returning fire but appear unable to move. You estimate that the sun will disappear within a half hour. You have no communications with your platoon sergeant. What do you do?

Requirement

In a time limit of five minutes, describe the actions you would take and the instructions you would issue to your team leaders. Include an overlay sketch and provide a brief discussion of the rationale behind your actions. Submit your solutions to Marine Corps Gazette, Tactical Decision Game #91-11, Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134. The Gazette will publish the author’s and other solutions in the January 1992 issue.

Part VI: “Simple Choice, Lieutenant …”

by the Staff, Marine Corps Gazette

Situation

You are the 3d Platoon Commander, A Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, and you have been left in charge as the senior Marine aboard COP Ritz (Combat Outpost Ritz). It has been two days since the two squatter families living in the COP took everything they could carry and left after an unannounced visit from two “cousins.” Your company commander and a team of three MUGA commandos have been outside the wire since dawn meeting with the Imam of the Al Mumeet Mosque and a local tribal leader to try to ascertain what may have prompted the sudden departure of the squatters.

Immediately after noon prayers, two VBIEDs [vehicle borne IEDs] simultaneously struck the HESCO and “Jersey” barrier obstacles across the two northern streets approaching the COP. Immediately following the detonations, several teams of four “military age males” with automatic weapons began firing and moving toward the barriers. The obstacles were undamaged by the blasts, and the VBIEDs only added burning debris to the barrier plan. Your Marines and the MUGA commandos at the COP have been well-rehearsed for this “most dangerous enemy action”—their fire covering the obstacles has been accurate and effective. The COP’s perimeter has not been penetrated, and at least 20 attackers are dead or incapacitated. Several attackers were also wearing “suicide” explosive vests and detonated on or near the obstacles. You estimate there are at least 40 more attackers in covered firing positions to the northwest who are organizing additional attempts to breach the COP’s perimeter.

You are still unable to raise the “Skipper” on the company tactical radio net. You are attempting to contact the battalion by radio and landline but are having no success. The radio traffic is broken and unreadable, and the landline is dead. The COP has four days’-worth supply of ammunition for all weapons; however, you are within one day of a critical shortage of potable water and had been expecting a resupply convoy later in the afternoon.

Your attachments and support available at the COP have not changed. Fire support is currently limited to the battalion’s organic mortars and Marine rotory-wing CAS; however, you have not been able to communicate with the battalion. You doubt you would be able to request medevac support either.

While you are trying to raise your company commander again, the first volley of three RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) hits the COP. None get through the chain-link fencing and chicken wire installed over the windows in the Ritz, but one came close to a direct hit on an east-facing top-floor window. Your 1st Squad Leader, Sgt “Blade” Edgington, reports that there are at least four RPG gunners in the four-story building northeast of the COP and that heavy small arms fire preceded the RPG volley. You get a cold, tight feeling in your gut as you realize your men are being effectively suppressed by the RPGs teams across the street while the “suicide bombers” to your north are preparing to attack. Adding to the friction, you personally observe numerous civilians, mostly women and children, in the same building as the RPG gunners and can hear them praying and crying. Your Marines are keenly observant of the need to positively identify their targets as they judiciously attempt to return fire.

The battalion radio breaks squelch and 1stLt Fonbhone, the S-4 A, is on the line. He reports his resupply convoy hit an IED about a mile outside the city with no KIA (killed in action) and one MTVR requiring tow or recovery. Somehow, he learned from the battalion that the COP was in danger of being overrun, and he has taken his four M1113 up-armored HMMWVs with two MK-19s and two “Ma Deuce .50 cals” up to the fields just south of the city. He wants to know your situation and where you want him to get the heavy guns into action.

What is your choice: do you want him the fire on the RPG gunners, the “suicide bombers,” or do you have another idea?

Requirement

Quickly formulate your plans and issue your orders. Include an overlay sketch and provide a brief discussion of the rationale behind your actions. Submit you solutions by email at [email protected] or to the Marine Corps Gazette, TDG 08-17, Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134. The Gazette will publish solutions in an upcoming issue.

Part IV: “Should I Stay, or Should I Go?”

by the Staff, Marine Corps Gazette

Situation

Your command—A Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, aka “Red Death”—has been occupying and improving a combat outpost in “the Ritz,” a four-story building west of the Al Mumeet Mosque, for six weeks. You are still reinforced with an MUGA Commando Platoon, and both your Marines and the commandos have been regularly rotating between the company’s sector of the battalion FOB and the outpost for the last four weeks, spending two weeks in each position. The route between positions is patrolled by elements of the battalion and LAR, and it is under near-continuous observation by rotary-wing aircraft and scout snipers.

Since establishing “COP Ritz,” the residents of the mosque area have increased their support for the Marine presence and have provided through your interpreters and the elder of the Al Umm family important information on the local situation. Last week their reports led your Marines to a shallow grave containing the remains of four U.N. aid workers who had gone missing several months ago. Although supportive, the locals have not gone so far as to identify local anti-MUGA fighters from any of the various factions. Moreover, there remain very few men between the ages of 14 and 40 in the area. The locals report that they are all away working in the mines.

The JTF continues operating with degraded communications: limited to unencrypted, frequency static, voice-only radio, wire, and couriers. Commercial satellite telephones are available for emergency and morale calls.

Your attachments and support have not changed:

• 1 Machinegun Section (-) (4x M240B 7.62 machineguns).

• 1 Assault Squad (2x SMAW 83mm rocket launchers).

• 1 Joint Tactical Air Controller (JTAC) Team

• 2 Interpreters

• 1 MUGA Commando Platoon: 40 commandos total, equipped with AK-47 rifles, rifle grenades, and is reinforced with an RPK Machinegun Section (4x RPK 7.62 machineguns)

Fire support is currently limited to the battalion’s organic mortars and Marine rotary-wing CAS on alert +15 at the battalion FOB.

The battalion’s alert +5 section of Medevac helicopters has a dedicated radio net. Response time is less than 10 minutes, and the JTF Level III treatment facility is 45 minutes flight time.

Your Marines and the commandos have built a rapport with the two families of squatters inside COP Ritz—your men respect the privacy of the families, especially the women and girls, and a visit from one of the battalion’s female engagement teams (two female Marines, a female corpsman, and woman from USAID fluent in the local dialect) was very well received by both families.

Yesterday, the Al Umm elder informed you that two of his cousins would be visiting from the mines, and the two younger men spent several hours having tea with the old man yesterday evening. The two cousins were respectful and in clean local dress with “knock-off” athletic shoes dusty from the road. You and your interpreters could only catch parts of the conversation discussing the weather and family matters. During the visit, the women and girls all gathered in a separate room and kept their long, black, “Saudi-style” abbayas on the entire time. After the cousins left, you asked the elder why the women did not mix with their family. He replied that they were shy and the daughters might one day be promised in marriage to the men.

This morning, after your pre-dawn “walking the lines” of COP Ritz’s fighting positions, you notice the women and girls of both families leaving the COP with their belongings. The elder and the other men of the squatter families were collecting the heavier property and preparing to leave as well. Through your interpreter, the elder explains that his cousins offered the family a safe place to stay closer to the mines. He seemed sorry to leave and blessed you and your men profusely before quickly departing.

What do you think is going to happen and how soon?

Requirements:

1. What is your assessment of the situation?

2. What are your orders to your Marines and the commandos?

3. What is your report to your battalion commander?

4. What, if any, additional support do you request and why?

Include an overlay sketch and provide a brief discussion of your rationale. Submit you solutions by email at [email protected] or to the Marine Corps Gazette, TDG 05-17, Box 1775, Quantico, VA 22134. The Gazette will publish solutions in an upcoming issue.

Note: This problem is a continuation of TDG 04-17