The Plattsburg Manual Part 39

At the conclusion of this inspection he will, in the presence of the officer sending out the patrol, go over his orders, giving his men all the information that he has of the enemy and his own troops; state the duty (mission) of the patrol so that all may know what they are going to accomplish, and he will follow this with a statement of his general plan for carrying it out. He will designate an a.s.sembly point should the patrol be dispersed. He will designate a second in command should he be disabled.

FORMATION

[Ill.u.s.tration: SUGGESTED FORMATIONS FOR PATROLS]

It is impossible to lay down any hard-and-fast rule governing the formation and conduct of the operations of a patrol. Each situation will have to be worked out by itself. The patrol should a.s.sume the general formation of a column of troops on the march; that is, it will have an advance guard, a main body, flankers and a rear guard. These several elements may each be represented by only one man.

CONDUCT OF THE PATROL

In communicating with each other for ordinary purposes the members of the patrol use signals agreed upon before the start. For this purpose each man must constantly keep within sight and hearing distance of the leader. A patrol moves cautiously, taking advantage of all available cover, seeking in every way to see without being seen. It halts frequently to listen and make careful observations of its surroundings.

Except at night a patrol should not move on roads. Villages and inhabited places should not as a rule be entered. During the daytime it seeks high ground from which it can scan the country and at night it seeks a position from which the sky line can be observed.

ENCOUNTERING THE ENEMY

If a small hostile patrol is encountered it is generally better to remain in concealment and let it pa.s.s than to attack. The noise of a fight may be heard by the enemy, the presence of the patrol therefore indicated, and the enemy will take further precautions to oppose its operations. If the patrol is suddenly attacked or surprised by a superior force, the patrol should at once scatter in all directions and the members make their way back to the last place designated as a meeting place and then after reuniting continue the reconnaissance.

When a patrol fights it does so resolutely. Courage and coolness may bring about success when adverse conditions are encountered.

RETURNING

A patrol can never be certain that the enemy's patrols are not operating in its rear. Hence in returning, it is necessary to observe the usual precautions. If the patrol has eluded the enemy, it is best to return over a route other than that over which the start was made. If a patrol, after having accomplished its mission, is being pursued, it is well, especially when near its own lines, to engage the pursuing troops so as to give warning of its approach to the outpost line. Under the conditions just mentioned, except the patrol is a great distance from its outpost line, it may be necessary as a last resort to have the patrol scatter and each man return individually.

CHAPTER IV

TARGET PRACTICE

Military shooting or target practice is very different from shotgun shooting, or even the kind of shooting required of a large-game hunter; therefore we should begin with the most elementary instruction and drills, if proficiency is to be obtained. Our "Small Arms Firing Regulations" says, "The sole purpose of rifle training for the soldier is to make of him a good shot under war conditions."

Proficient shots are made off the range and not on it. By this we mean that the preliminary instruction you will receive before you go on the range will be of more benefit to you than the actual firing for record.

Indeed, firing on the range will only test your ability to put into use the many points covered by your preliminary instruction. Therefore, if you are to become a proficient shot, maintain your interest and enthusiasm at its highest pitch during the preliminary instruction.

Your preliminary instructions will probably become so tedious and tiresome that you will lose sight of their objects. Each preliminary instruction has its own and different purpose, and you will not receive the maximum benefit from them unless you realize this.

This chapter will first explain briefly the purpose of each preliminary drill, and then give the essential things to be remembered when actually firing on the range.

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION

Your preliminary instructions and their purposes are as follows:

1. Nomenclature of the Rifle. The word nomenclature means the vocabulary of names or technical terms which are appropriate to any particular topic. In this case the topic is the rifle. This instruction will be a few lectures or talks by your company officers on the rifle.

You should become familiar with the parts of the rifle indicated in the following ill.u.s.tration:

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2. Sighting Drills.

Purpose.

(a) To explain the different kinds of sight.

(b) To show how to align the sights properly on the bull's-eye.

(c) To discover and demonstrate errors in sighting.

(d) To teach uniformity in sighting.

There are two kinds of sights on the rear sight leaf, the open and peep sight. The open sight is the semi-circular notch a-b-c shown in the diagram below; the peep sight is the small hold "d" just below the open sight.

[Ill.u.s.tration: a, b, c--open sight

d--peep sight]

The sighting drills will visually ill.u.s.trate the following kinds of sights.

a--Normal Sight. This is the sight most frequently used. The following ill.u.s.tration is the normal sight when the open sight notch is used.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The figure i-k-l-m is the front sight B-L-M-C the rear sight notch.]

When the open sight is used the above diagram shows the correct alignments of the rear sight notch, front sight and the bull's-eye. The following features should be noticed:

1st. The front.sight (i-k-l-m) is exactly in the center of the rear sight notch (B-L-M-C), if it is in the right or left part of this notch the rifle will shoot to the right or left of the point aimed at.

2d. There is a thin strip of white seen between the top of the front sight and the bull's-eye. (The Marine Corps and many army officers do not see this strip of white. The method of aiming given and ill.u.s.trated in this book is the same as found in the Firing Regulations for the Army.)

3d. The top of the front sight should just touch an imaginary line connecting the shoulder at C with that at B. (This is most important.)

4th. The aim is taken at the bottom of the bull's-eye and not at the top or center.

b--Fine Sight. The following ill.u.s.tration shows a fine sight which should never be used:

[Ill.u.s.tration]