1st PLATOON’S TOP 10 KEYS TO PATROLLING SUCCESS

10. When not moving, find some cover, face outboard, and take a knee. Do it always.

9. Avoid having excessive hand and arm signals because they will only cause confusion. For instance, don’t have separate H/A signals for short and long security halts; if you give the signal to halt, everyone should know to find some cover, face outboard, and take a knee. That is a short security halt (5 minutes or less). If you give the signal to halt and get down, that is the signal for long security halt (more than 5 minutes), so everyone knows to find some cover, face outboard, and get into the prone.

8. Use the terrain to your advantage; don’t move using a box-to-box mentality. Always maintain the good ground in the event you find the EN unexpectedly. Utilize Sun Tzu’s Six Types of Terrain Classified by its Nature:

1. accessible- both friendly and enemy forces can transverse easily

2. distant- when enemy is of equal strength, it is difficult and unprofitable to engage him in his chosen position

3. entrapping- easy to get out of, but difficult to return to

4. precipitous (very steep)- take position on sunny heights and await enemy. If he is there, lure him by marching off. Do not follow him.

5. indecisive- equally disadvantageous for both friendly and enemy

6. constricted- ground with accessible passes: occupy first and block passes

7. Checkpoints are guidance from Higher; you necessarily don’t have to occupy the terrain feature on which a CP is placed to satisfy Higher’s intent. If possible, ask Higher why the CPs were placed where they were.

6. The PL should be focused outward on the mission and the enemy, and the APL should be focused internally on the patrol (rate of movement, dispersion, accountability, CASEVAC, etc.). At the end of the patrol, the PL should be the most fatigued mentally while the APL should be the most fatigued physically.

5. Assign a member of the patrol to be the patrol recorder (oftentimes the RO), and make sure he or she maintains a patrol log throughout the patrol. They should record EN activity (SALUTE), casualty info, EPW information, reports to and from Higher, etc. And the Pointman is never, ever, ever the Navigator because the Pointman must be focused externally.

4. The less time you spend around danger areas, the better. Practice this so it becomes quick and fluid because this is often the most vulnerable time for your unit.

3. Ensure everyone is maintaining eye contact every 3-5 steps so H/A Signals are passed effectively. If this becomes a problem, it is usually do to complacency and/or fatigue; address it immediately.

2. Do things to ensure your Marines are as alert the last 100m of the patrol as they were the first 100m; avoid allowing them to “smell the barn.” If your Marines are extremely fatigued at the end of the patrol, you have failed as their leader and have put them in extreme danger. Use your imagination and skill as a leader to make this happen. This is the art of being a patrol leader.

1. The best way to find the EN is to catch him while he is moving and you are not. Stop often to conduct SLLS (Stop, Look, Listen, Smell); this is the best way to catch the EN and will also keep your Marines fresh (see #2).