Company Team Offensive Operations in Urban Terrain

Company Team Off ens ive Operations in Urban Terrain by Captaln Jefferson R. Panton Worldwide urbanization has changed the terrain on which future battles will be fought. Militmy Operations on Urbanized Terrain, or MOUT, are inevitable. With recent conflicts such as Lebanon, Bosnia, and the deteriorating situation in the former Soviet Republics, it is time to review how to fight the combined arms team in an urban conflict. Command and Control Planning. Offensive urban operations are characterized by centralized planning and decentralized execution. Urban terrain tends to separate and isolate units from one another; therefore, soldiers will require detailed orders that are restrictive in nature to prevent fratricide. Some common graphic control measures include: Assembly Areas Contact Points Attack Position Passage Lanes Assault Positions Phase lines Passage Points Objectives Line of Departure Direction of Attack Boundaries Axis of Advance Check Points Limit of Advance Time of Attack When planning MOUT, towns are divided into zones or areas. Buildings are assigned a letter or number identifier. Phase lines are assigned to dl major streets running laterally to assist in controlling movement. Units are assigned successive objectives and given routes of advance. Unit boundaries must be identifiable and restrictive fire measures must be added. Communication. Buildings degrade FM communications, which can seriously affect a company/team commander’s ability to command and control. So he must consider wire and messengers as alternate means of communication when fighting in an urban area. He should designate specific personnel as messengers, and if feasible, advancing units should run wire. This will require that additional DR-8 wire rolls be carried by dismounted elements. In some cases, local telephone lines can be used. Hand and arm signals become extremely important as dismounted elements work with buttoned-up vehicles. Colored smoke, pyrotechnics, and flags can also be used as prearranged signals. intelligence Commanders should seek to acquire civilian maps of all urban areas in the unit’s area of opemtion. Such street maps rue often more useful than standard military maps. Key items of information for commanders are: street plans, types of building construction, and underground plans. Reconnaissance in urban areas will be difficult. Most reconnaissance will have to be done from points of observation on the periphery. Helicopters, if available, can be used to gain deeper insights into built-up areas. Small scout teams can be infiltrated to upper stories and rooftops to overwatch enemy movements. Position GSRs to monitor routes in and out of the wban area or to detect movement along streets and alleys. Maneuver Infantry. Urban attacks m primarily carried out by mechanized infantry or light infantry with tank support. The combined arms team is built around this infantry force. Decentralized operations characteristic of urban fighting will require tanks and engineer assets to be task organized down to the platoon and squad level. Infantry platoons break down into squad and fire team size elements to act as assault and support elements. The assault element will again break down into two to three man teams for clearing mom to mom (see Figures 1 and 2). Assault elements will attempt to clear buildings from top to bottom while the support element suppresses the enemy with direct and indirect fires. Bradley Fighting Vehicles The Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) is employed as much as possible for close support of dismounted troops. Capable of +60 degrees elevation of the 25-mm cannon and the 7.62-mm coax, the BFV can engage targets on upper floors of tall buildings while tanks cannot. Due to its greater penetration capability, 25-mm APDS ammunition is used against enemy in buildings. The 25-mm HEI-T round

Ryll t I I I I 8L n Q n GL AB R Tcylli Ryll I I Figure 1. The Light Infantry Platoon 3 d RBW2 h d tBW4 %v SA mon round carried on tanks, but 105- mm HEAT and 120-mm HEAT-MP are more effective against masonry. HEAT rounds can penetrate all but the thickest masonry and create enough spall to inflict casualties inside the building. Heat rounds cannot cut metal reinforcing rods found in reinforced concrete (See Figure 5). One employment consideration is that both 105-mm HEAT and 120-mm HEAT-MP have a minimum arming range of 25-30 feet and 36 feet respectively. Tanks are usually used as the overwatch element in the initial assault on an urban ma. Once the infantry has gained a foothold, tanks move in pairs several hundred meters behind, providing overwatch fires. The limited elevation - +20 degrees in an Ml/MlAI and +I9 in an M60/48 - require tanks to have sufficient standoff to engage targets in upper stories (See Figure 3). Limited depression - -10 degrees in both the Ml/MlAl and the M a w 4 8 tanks - creates a 35- foot dead space around the tank that makes it vulnemble to antitank fire (See Figure 4). Dismounted infantry is responsible for clearing routes and providing local security for tanks in urban areas. Dismounted guides bring tanks forward into preselected firing positions with sufficient cover to engage specific targets. Where feasible, tanks drive inside buildings or behind walls. Guides check to ensure buildings have been cleared and floors will hold the weight of a tank before tanks are brought forward. Tank missions include:. Providing overwatch fire for infan-. Neutralizing or suppressing enemy positions with high explosive and automatic fires.. Destroying enemy tanks and armored vehicles with direct fires. *Reducing or making enemy strongpoints untenable by fire.. Smashing through street barricades or reducing them by fire. try assaults. Fig. 3 - Tank Cannon Deadspace Above Street Level. Blade tanks may be used to breach. Establishing road blocks. obstacles and clear rubble. There are safety considerations when dismounts are working with tanks.. Fragmentation generated by AT rounds and ricochets off tank armor have historically been the prime cause of infantry casualties. All dismounts should wear kevlar helmet, protective vest, ballistic eye protection, and ear plugs when working around tanks.. Infantry must avoid the tank’s 60- degree frontal arc when firing. *The extreme exhaust heat at the rear of Ml/MlAls prevents infantry from following close behind.. When a tank is firing, its large fue-ball combines with loose dirt and masonry dust to create a smoke cloud that can degrade tank sight vision for as long as 2-3 minutes.. Red phosphorus particles from tank smoke grenade launchers can start uncontrolled fires and injure dismounts. Smoke grenade launchers should only be used when cleared with the dismount leader. Antitank Weapons. The LAW and AT4 ae the primary portable antitank weapons in urban fighting. Wire-guided missiles such as the Dragon and the TOW are difficult to employ due to numerous obstructions, mini- <-- 16 Meters -->

I Fig. 4 - Tank Cannon Deadspace at Street Level I w RONFORClNa RO 'ig. 5 - Tank HEAT Round Effects on a Reinforced Concrete Wall mum m i n granges, and large backblast areas (see Figure 6). Wire-guided missile are best deployed on the outskirts of urban areas and not brought into built-up areas. AT weapons are most effective when fired from upper stones. Firing from upper stories doubles the probability of a hit and exposes the vehicle's weakest armor. Safety considerations for firing AT weapons include: clearing glass and small objects out of firing area. They can be caught up in the backblast and become lethal fragments.. Both ear and eye protection should be worn.. Assisting with explosives. Creating and breaching obstacles. Maintaining routes. The combat engineer vehicle (CEV) is extremely useful in urban areas and is often attached to units conducting MOUT. Its blade can clear away rubble and barriers. Its 165-mm main gun can destroy buildings and reduce obstacles. Very seldom will engineers totally destroy buildings because of the large amount of explosives and time needed to do the job. The 165- mm main gun has a maximum range of 900m and a minimum safe range of 1200m for exposed troops. Although usually attached, company teams must be prepared to work with-and barriers Engineers Engineers will normally be attached to units conducting MOUT. An engineer platoon attached to a company team consist of three M113s. one ACE, and 30 personnel organized into three u a d s of eight men with a su-man HQ section. Combat engineers are integrated with infantry in small 3 4 man engineer teams to form breach and search teams. Breach teams place explosive charges to gain initial entry into buildings and rooms. Search teams locate and disarm booby traps. Engineer missions include:. Breaching walls out engineers. This will require extensive explosive training for dismounted elements. indirect Fires Fires are planned to:. Isolate objectives by preventing reinforcement and resupply.. Neutralize known or suspected enemy command and observation posts.. Suppress defending enemy. Field Artillery. Artillery normally supportLc from outside a built-up area. High-angle fves are used because of the masking effect of high buildings. Forward observers are attached and move with lead dismounted units. Artillery fires make rubble and reduce mobility in the urban area; this must be taken into consideration when planning fires. Point-detonating shells tend to throw rubble outward onto the streets and cmte greater casualties. Artillery can be used inside urban areas in a direct fm role against buildings containing enemy strongpoints or to breach walls for troops to enter. If used in such a role, dismounted infantry must protect the artillery systems.

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. Mortars. M o r n are usually the main indirect fire weapons system used within urban areas due to their responsiveness and high angle of fire. Light mortars have limited value because of their inability to breach walls and roofs. Mortars over 107 mm provide better fires and are able to penetrate most walls and rooftops. In Beirut, Lebanese commanders considered the mortar a highly valuable weapon capable of firing from one side of a building to another at ranges as short as 180m. Smoke. Smoke should be used in the outskirts of urban;ule;ls when trying to gain the initial foothold. Its use is discouraged within the interior of urban areas because it degrades sight capability, allowing enemy as well as friendly forces to maneuver. It tends to increase confusion and increase the chance for short-range encounters. Hand-held smoke should still be used to obscure when crossing open areas. Air Defense Artillery Radar masking, degraded communication, and limited line of sight will degrade AD fires in built-up areas. Air defense assets are best deployed on the outskirts of urban areas. Stinger missiles can be used within the built-up area fiom positions on rooftops that dominate surrounding buildings. Combat Service Support Urban warfare is resource intensive.. Supply priorities are ammunition,. Ammunition requirements are o m sand BFVs can be used to Some CSS considerations include: water, and food, not fuel. heavier then normal. transport supplies. Often attached to units in MOUT situations, the CEVs blade is useful for cleating debris and its 165-mm demolition gun is effective in destroying buildings and cleating obstacles.. Supplies, especially class VIII, must be distributed down to the lowest level. Special equipment requirements include:. Portable flame throwers or M202 rocket launchers. Grappling hooks. Toggle ropes. Ladders, both rope and metal. Demolitions (Bangalore torpedoes, satchel charges, pole charges, etc.). Antitank weapons (LAW). Grenades (HE, Smoke, CN, CS,. Sandbags for AFV protection. Additional DR-8 Wite rolls for Concussion, W) communication. The ideas presented in this article are not new. Most of the information can be found in FM 90-10 and FM 90-10-1. However, like most doctrinal information, it is useless unless it is trained. The chance of fighting a major urban conflict is only increasing with time. The question is, will our soldiers be properly prepared to fight one? Bibliography DoaMal Extracts. Armor in Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT). U. S. A m y Amor School, Fort Knox, Ky., 1990

FM 90-10, Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT). U. S. Government Printing Offla. Baltimore. Md., 1979. Fh4 90-10-1. An Infantryman's Guide to Urban Combat. U. S. Government Printing Office, Baltimore, Md.. 1982. Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain, Practical Erercise Book I, U. S. A m y Armor School. Fort Knox. Ky.. 1988. Military Operations on Urbonized Terrain, Practical Exercise Book 2, U. S. A m y Amor School, Fort b o x, Ky.. 1988. Captain Jefferson R. Panton received his Infantry commission in 1988 from the U. S. Military Academy. A graduate of Airborne School, Air Assault School, Infantry Officer Basic Course, Armor Officer Advanced Course, Ranger School, and Infantry Mortar Platoon Officer Course, he served as platoon leader and XO in C Company, 5-20 Infantry, Camp Casey, Korea; as support platoon leader and mortar platoon leader, HHC, 5-20 infantry; and as battalion maintenance officer and S3 (Air), 4-12 Infantry, Baumholder, Germany. He is currently attending the Special Forces Q Course at Ft. Bragg, N. C. 25