
                                ==Phrack Inc.==

                    Volume One, Issue Four, Phile #5 of 11

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                      |Breaching and Clearing Obstacles|
                      |~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~|
                      |%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
                                  Taken from
                     The Infantry Platoon and Squad FM 7-8
                   (Infantry, Airborne, Air Assault, Ranger)
                                  Army Issue

                                      By
                                  Taran King
                         Sysop of Metal Shop Private

       Special thanks in obtaining the manual goes out to Dragon Master
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
         For those of you into the war-aspects of having phun, this is a little
phile to tell you about the breaching and clearing of obstacles.  The
techniques can be used by the anarchist to provide havoc in the city or by the
mercenary to help him out in any battle/battle games-type situation.

                                    ABATIS
                                    ~~~~~~
         An abatis is an obstacle created by cutting down trees so their tops
are criss-crossed and pointing toward the expected enemy direction.  It is most
effective for stopping vehicles in a forest (or along a tree-lined street).
The trees are left attached to the stumps as high as possible to make removal
more difficult.  This obstacle may be reinforced with mines and boobytraps.

                                      Ex:
                         _______|\\_______ /||_______
                                ||\\ /  \ //|| <--fallen tree still attached
                                || \::  ::/ ||
                                || :::::::: ||
                                || /::::::\ ||
                                  /    ^   \
                                       |
                     leaves and branches block the roadway

To clear an abatis:

1>  Suppress the enemy covering the obstacle.
2>  Secure whole area of all enemy elements.
3>  Reduce the obstacle.  Mines and boobytraps must be found and can be
    disarmed by pulling their tripwires with grappling hooks and long ropes.
    Use pioneer tools or explosives to cut the trees from their stumps and then
    pull the logs out of the road with a strong car/truck.

                                   LOG CRIBS
                                   ~~~ ~~~~~
         A log crib is an obstacle constructed of logs, earth, and rocks.  The
logs are used to make triangular cribs which are filled with earth and rock.
These are used to block narrow roads and defiles.

                                      Ex:
                                 ____________
                                     /  \
                                   \-------/
                                   \\earth// <--logs form a triangle, kind of
                                  / \\rox//     like a sandbox, and is filled
                                 /   \\ // \    with earth and rocks.
                                /     \|/   \
                               /             \

To clear a log crib:

1>  Suppress the enemy covering the obstacle
2>  Secure whole area of enemy elements.
3>  Reduce the obstacle.  Use direct fire weapons, explosives, pioneer tools
and vehicles to reduce the obstacle.

                           CRATERS AND TANK DITCHES
                           ~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~
         Craters and tank ditches are holes in the road or terrain that are put
there to stop the passing of vehicles, and are blown in there by explosives.
Sometimes, in tank ditches, barbed wire, mines and chemicals are placed in to
make the tank crews have a harder time.  These are cleared otherwise, though,
by bulldozing dirt into them by pushing in the sides of the holes.  Explosives
may also be used to blow down the sides.

                                     WIRE
                                     ~~~~
         Wire is used to separate infantry from armor and as roadblocks against
wheeled vehicles.

To clear wire obstacles:

1>  Suppress the enemy covering the obstacle.
2>  Secure whole area of enemy elements.
3>  Clear a lane through the wire.  Use wire cutters, or explosives to remove
    the wire (or a bangalore torpedo if you have one [riiiight...]).  Watch for
    mines and boobytraps and mark them with engineer tape, cloth, or anything
    recognizable.
4>  Destroy the marked mines with explosives or grappling hooks.
5>  Mark cleared lane.

                      ...And for those really involved...
                                  MINEFIELDS
                                  ~~~~~~~~~~
         To maintain the momentum of an attack, the group must be prepared to
breach minefields.

1>  Suppress the enemy covering the obstacle.
2>  Secure whole area of enemy elements.
3>  Clear a footpath/lane and mark the mines that are found.  The preferred way
    to clear a lane through a minefield is to use a rocket-propelled line
    charge or a bangalore torpedo (Army style).  However, the only way to clear
    a minefield without special equipment is to probe with pointed sticks.
    Bayonets should not be used because they can detonate AP mines and other
    type magnetic mines.  One squad probes while the platoon overwatches.
    The squad probing the footpath/lane through the minefield uses two probers:
    one in front, clearing a lane wide enough to crawl through; and a second
    one clearing 10 meters behind the first prober and slightly to one side so
    that their lanes overlap.  The probers should not carry their weapons,
    field packs, load-carrying equipment, helmets, etc.  Their equipment is
    carried by other squad members.  Two other men crawl along behind to secure
    the probers, to carry additional supplies, or to take a prober's job if one
    becomes a casualty (how pleasant...).  The probers should be rotated often
    to keep them from getting tired and careless.  The remaining squad members
    overwatch the probers.
    The probers mark mine locations with sticks, engineer tape, cloth, or
    toilet tissue.  They do not try to remove mines.
4>  Secure the far side.  As soon as the squad has cleared a footpath/lane, it
    moves through the lane and secures the far side of the minefield.
5>  Destroy the marked mines with explosives.
6>  Mark cleared lane.
7>  Move the group through the obstacle.

         This phile is more written for the anarchist than the military
gamesman out there, since there is a large lack of them, so please, feel free
to use these techniques in having a little phun rather than ragging on me about
how you never play war-games.

                                            TARAN KING
                                   Sysop of Metal Shop Private
