There are times when you may wish to abandon a building because the adversaries in it are a bigger problem than you expected or the interior requires more personnel. Proper and safe extraction requires a trailing security man to remain behind to deal with any following hostiles. As the first two men retreat behind the first obstacle they advise the security man, who has stayed behind to cover their move. The best signal is to say, "Clear." The security man acknowledges by saying, "Moving." He moves back and passes beyond the point of cover being used by the first team to his own point of cover. He takes a position from which to cover the team's next rearward movement, and announces, "Clear." The process is continued until they all reach their objective. Think of the extraction drill as a reverse leapfrog process.
Team members may be used to support each other during weapon manipulation drills. Malfunctions and the requirement to reload will always occur under fire, so the ability to keep shooting and (it is hoped) hitting is paramount. So is the use of cover. If there is no cover immediately available and a team member experiences a malfunction, he calls out, "Red." This tells his partner that he needs "cover" to clear his weapon, and he needs to move out of the kill zone without letting the hostiles know his status. The partner will move in front of him and take his area of responsibility. Together they move to cover. Their partner covers the maneuver and, if necessary, shoots any threats. When the first man has cleared his malfunction, he calls out, "Green," telling his partner that he is back in the fight.
Multiplying your forces also multiplies your survivability. If you can bring more people to the party than the bad guys, do so. It will pay off when the bullets fly. To quote Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest: "Get there first with the most men."
The following diagrams demonstrate the proper way to clear obstacles using team tactics.
Moving down a hallway, the three men of a tactical element maintain constant physical contact with one another and have mutually supportive zones of fire. This is called the cloverleaf formation.
As they approach a doorway, the second and third men peel off from the formation. One man conducts an angular search of the room, while the other man covers the far hallway. The first man covers his half of the room.
Entry is made to opposing corners in a crossover manner.The man covering the hallway backs up into the room and uses as much cover as he can while maintaining visual surveillance of the hallway.
The L-shape formation is useful when danger areas are located at 90-degree angles to each other.
The back-to-back formation is useful for danger areas located 180 degrees from each other.
Team negotiation of the four-way intersection.Two men clear both corners while the third man covers their rear.The primary searchers periodically glance at the hallway beyond to make sure it appears clear.
The team clears the extreme corners and covers the unsecured hallway beyond.
Team members resume their cloverleaf formation, slightly modified by having one team member covering the rear, and resume the search.
These diagrams depict a three-man assault on a single-story apartment. This is a diagram of an actual operation. Follow the flow of the team as its members maneuver through the apartment. Notice that the team maintains its unified integrity and that at no time is an operator left alone in an unsecured room.
ELEVEN
TACTICAL
COMMUNICATIONS
Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.
Stealth is a primary concern when moving through a structure looking for an adversary. This dangerous situation is made less so when you have some associates helping you out. But having help also requires communication with that help. You obviously don't want to debate about the process you will use to negotiate that next T-intersection, nor do you want to announce to your partners in your command voice that there is an adversary around that corner. The information must, however, still be relayed. This is done through nonverbal communication.
The primary form of nonverbal communication is to be in physical contact with your partner so that you can "feel" which way he is moving and what area he is covering. If either of you sees something of concern, it is a simple matter to grab his shoulder or belt to stop his movement. When moving in this manner each of you knows exactly where the other is, and you can mutually support each other. When abstract things must be relayed, hand signals must be used. The hand signals I've include here are universal. The actual hand signal itself is not important, but all team members must know what a particular signal means. A fulltime tactical team may require an entire alphabet of signals for nonverbal communication, but a two- or three-man team only needs a few basic ones.
"Attention!"
To call your team's alert to something, raise your support hand to eye level, palm out, fingers together. After you have your team's attention, you may point at what you want them to see.
"Clear!"
After checking and clearing an area, show a thumbs-up indicating to the others that it checks OK.
"Cover!"
Bring your support hand palm down on top of your head or simply bring it palm down in front of you. You may also point at the area you want covered after the initial signal is acknowledged.
Using the support hand, execute a slashing motion across your throat and then point to the possible danger area.
"Danger area!"
"Hold!"
Using the support hand, make a fist and hold it up near your shoulder-neck area. (This may also mean stop.)
"Listen!"
You may have heard an audible target indicator that other team members have not. To point it out to them, you can signal a "hold," followed by cupping your support hand around your ear, as if you were trying to listen.
"Hostile!"
If you see a target indicator such as the toe of a shoe or a hat brim, you can alert your team by pointing in the direction of the hostile, using your support hand, with all five fingers spread wide and pointing in the direction of the hostile's hiding place.