Post

More from @spikesguides

Spike

@spikesguides

Jun 9

He’s been watching you for hours. One shot. One kill.
You never saw him, but he saw everything.🧵

This is just one of the specialized threats modern riflemen face.

Here’s what you need to know before it’s too late.

Specialized Threats and Countermeasures.

“You can't say that civilization don't advance, for in every war they kill you a new way”
-Will Rogers

The postmodern battlefield is radically different from the battlefields of the Second World War or even those of the Global War on Terror. Bringing with it unique and specialized threats that riflemen should be keenly aware of in order to avoid meeting an untimely end. While a number of the threats that are encountered in the battlespace today are the same as they were 100 years ago, the tactics used by the threat actor and those countering it have changed. Snipers, IEDs, ISR assets, and landmines have all adapted to the 21stcentury in various ways while threats such as peers using NVGs and thermal observation equipment, and drones are relatively new to the western battlespace.

It should be noted that this is not a be-all-end-all guide to identify and mitigate these threats perfectly. There are entire books dedicated to each subject. The goal is to familiarize yourself with them and understand the basics of them. Not everyone is going to encounter the same threats and some may never encounter any of them. Having a basic understanding, at the very least, puts you in a space that allows you to more proactively approach situations where they may be present or react to them in a more level headed way. Every threat encountered in the battlespace is unique in it’s own way and not every strategy is perfect to engage it, use common sense and discretion in the field.

Snipers.

Snipers exist to operate as force multipliers, appliers of psychological pressure, disruptors of command and control, or are used for targeting and eliminating specific personnel. They are usually identified by their telltale signatures of single-round fire, precision of hits (usually to the head/vital organs), and their firing from heavy concealment followed by movement. Snipers can operate in any environment and make use of their terrain in various and unique ways.

In rural settings, snipers are more likely to engage in long-range overwatch of strategic or key areas, likely from elevated natural terrain such as ridges, treelines, and rock formations. They employ the use of natural camouflage and hand-made ghillie suits. They may have hide sites dug into the earth or concealed by foliage such as bushes.

Some potential detection cues for these snipers are unnatural terrain disruption in the area (flattened bushes, cut branches, trimmed brush), reflection or glint from sunlight hitting scopes, particularly during sunrise or sunset, local civilians may entirely avoid areas that are known sniper-dominated zones, and intermittent single-shot fire with long intervals between shots.

Potential mitigation strategies for rural area snipers are the use of terrain masking, having units move behind hills, rocks, trees, low ridges, and reverse slops to cover themselves from potential sniper fire in certain directions. Avoiding open fields and roads and making use of bounding movement is a solid way to avoid ease of detection while providing security while moving through areas that may have snipers. The use of smoke or other obscurants while crossing danger areas like roads or clear areas can make target acquisition harder. Finally the use of decoy targets such as mannequins and helmets on sticks, or use of decoy heat sources can draw fire.

Snipers operating in suburban areas will make use of abandoned homes, attics, and other multi-story buildings as hide sites. They are likely to employ shoot-and-scoot style tactics where they set up in a hide, take a few shots, and then rapidly leave the area. They may operate alone or with spotters in nearby structures or even local civilian populations. They are likely to engage in shorter distances than rural snipers but will exploit longer sightlines such as long and open roadways.

Potential detection cues include (but once again are not limited to) curtains or blinds being out of place or shifted in an unnatural manner, rooftop access doors being left open or having signs of being pried open, flat top roofs with singular bricks pushed out to create murderholes, improvised holes in fences, hedges, building walls, garages, or other areas for firing, and flash reports will be more visible at night if the sniper does not have a flash suppression device.

Suburban snipers are tricky to engage because of their shoot-and-scoot tactics. Prior to any units holding a building or ground, dismounted clear of potential sniper hides is a must. Units should avoid any obvious danger zones that funnel them into neat lines such as roads, alleyways, hedgerows, or anything of the sort. When crossing open terrain, units should use vehicle armor, hasty cover, or even soft-skinned vehicles such as civilian cars for concealment when rapidly crossing. Finally the use of thermal imaging devices will make spotting sniper threats much easier, but remember that they may also be utilizing thermal optics.

Urban sniper threats are likely to come from higher angles, that is to say, elevated terrain inside of skyscrapers and other multistory buildings, similar to that during the siege of Sarajevo. The use of pre-cut murderholes and coordination with spotters is likely to be conducted in a similar manner as suburban snipers. They are likely to use shorter engagement distances, sometimes as close as 50 meters away.

Detection of these snipers is done first and foremost from gunshots coming from rooftops or behind defilade on elevated levels of buildings. Snipers are going to leave behind murderholes that can indicate to units that a sniper has been in an area. Interrupted civilian patterns, such as avoiding streets, blocks, or even crosswalks can indicate snipers in an area. Finally the audiovisual report of their weapons may be identifiable as buildings are likely to reflect and carry more sound.

Avoiding and mitigating the threat of these snipers is similar to that of suburban snipers with the added threat of the increased height of buildings in urban centers. Roofline overwatch is a necessity when crossing in these areas and the use of the heavy corners of buildings as cover is a must. Suppressive fire on suspected positions can force snipers into cover while units cross danger areas. Finally the use of mirrors or optics on poles (including trench periscopes) to check blind spots around corners has been employed by the units such as the IDF in Israel and the Russian military in Grozny.

Some additional comments are that sniper calibers are likely to vary. Snipers in rural environments are engaging at long distances, likely with heavy duty calibers such as .338 Lapua, .300 Winchester Magnum, or even 7.62x54R. Snipers in more suburban or urban areas may use 5.56 or even as small as .22 LR caliber weapons with suppressors to hide themselves better. Snipers with thermal scopes and rangefinders are also becoming increasingly common, especially during state-backed and proxy forces as seen in Ukraine, Syria, and Israel. Civilian defenders and riflemen are likely to lack the resources for precision counter-sniper work and may more effectively focus their efforts on avoidance and detection than engagement.

Read 8 tweets

Spike

@spikesguides

Jun 4

Shots ring out. Chaos erupts.

Do you immediately know who's shooting, where to move, and what to do, or are you frozen in confusion?🧵

Situational awareness isn't instinct, it's a trained skill. Here's how you stay sharp and stay alive under pressure.

Situational Awareness and Tactical Observation

Situational awareness and tactical observation are two skills that are critical to success in chaotic and kinetic environments. Whether conducting a security sweep in a trench or simply moving through a busy shopping mall while armed, the ability to identify cues, distinguish threats from friendlies, and when to anticipate action, are all basic skills everyone should have. By following the process of perceiving the area, comprehending it, and projecting the next moment in their mind, the warfighter, or armed citizen, is able to more appropriately approach any potential scenario, particularly using the Cooper Color Code, shifting the individual from a Condition White (completely relaxed) to a Condition Yellow (relaxed awareness).

Tactical observation is the active action of this process. Passively seeing and hearing the area is not enough, systematically sweeping areas with fixed reference points allow the individual to properly alternate between a fine and a wide focus of an area, keeping the individual well informed, propping up their situational awareness.

Cooper’s Color Codes.

Before delving into the concept itself of situational awareness and how to develop and train it, first the idea of Cooper’s Color Codes must be explained.

Cooper’s Color Codes are often employed by police and armed citizens to gauge how cautious or alert they should be while entering an area. The colors correspond to the severity of the situation and amount of alertness one has. The colors are:

White: Unprepared. Not looking for threats. Unready to take any action.

Yellow: Relaxed alert. No specific threat identified but prepared in case one arises. Good situational awareness.

Orange: A potential threat is identified and observed. Ready to take action. Preparing to take action.

Red: Taking action. Actively engaging the threat.

Black: Panicked, frozen, mental shock, breakdown of any type of response.

Ideally once one enters yellow, they begin employing the situational awareness levels covered later constantly and keep updating the current color code level, informing the severity of the situation and the depth of analysis needed. Someone in condition yellow probably doesn’t need to scan the area as in depth as someone who just engaged an active threat, for example. There are varying opinions on one should or should not enter condition yellow, but a good rule of thumb is if you are out of your home, condition yellow is not a bad idea. This of course is harder to apply if you are engaged in an armed conflict and you are in the field, in which case, condition yellow is a minimum when in the field. Use your head.

Read 12 tweets

Spike

@spikesguides

Apr 21

You rely on your car every day—but if bullets started flying, would your ride get you and your team out alive, or get you killed? 🧵

Consumer vehicles are often adapted in survival and tactical situations.

In civilian life, particularly in the United States, few items are ubiquitous to almost everyone as the automobile. Used daily to get to work, home, the store, or even driven for work if you are a pizza delivery guy. In a crisis - whether it be natural disaster, civil unrest, or worse- vehicles become an invaluable asset. Vehicles are a force multiplier, without a doubt. Even without access to formal military vehicles, everyday vehicles can provide mobility, protection, and flexibility to tactical situations.

Note, this is not covering traditional armored vehicles with turrets such as main battle tanks or armored personnel carriers. This is focused primarily around the use of vehicles that the average civilian has access to. This means anything in the car market, from box trucks to Nissan Altimas. Many of these concepts also apply to “motorsport” vehicles like ATVs, dirt bikes, motorcycles, even golf carts if that is the only option. On top of this, this only covers basics of the tactical usage of vehicles for foundational knowledge. Topics like CASEVAC procedures, convoy management, ambush reactions, and counter-IED tactics are extensive topics that require dedicated and in depth training and significant rehearsal. These topics are best covered individually to properly flesh them out.

Read 8 tweets

Spike

@spikesguides

Mar 23

If your buddy took a GSW RIGHT NOW—could you actually keep them alive until help arrived? Or would your lack of basic combat medicine skills get them killed? 🧵

Combat medicine saves lives yet many shooters have no idea how to do it in a calm setting, much less under pressure...

Quick disclaimer. I AM NOT A DOCTOR. THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. SEEK ALL MEDICAL TREATMENT FROM A PROFESSIONAL! This article provides basic educational information only and does not substitute professional medical training or advice. Always seek proper medical training from qualified instructors. The author is not liable for any actions taken based on the information provided.

Basic Combat Medicine for the Every(rifle)man

Combat medicine is a topic that is rarely discussed despite it being lifesaving at its core. It is often ignored or forgotten in favor of trusting that a medic will be nearby when the unthinkable happens. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case and sometimes the basic actions taken by non-medical teammates can save the life of someone in dire need. Thankfully in recent years tourniquets have clamped their way down into the zeitgeist but as we’ll discuss, there are other basic measures that should be known, understood, and practiced by the average rifleman so they have the skills to save the lives of their comrades or even themselves.

Read 12 tweets

Spike

@spikesguides

Mar 16

Would a well-trained militia using harassing tactics stand a chance against a conventional army?

Why or why not? 🧵

Throughout history, smaller forces have bled larger armies dry—disrupting supply lines, forcing overcommitment, and grinding them down without ever fighting head-on."

Harassing operations are the bread and butter of guerilla armies or for any force that benefits from utilizing small-scale attacks to disrupt hostile morale, logistics, or effectiveness in the field.

They are tools for longer-term conflicts where it may be more strategically advantageous to save manpower and focus on exhausting the enemy. The general goals of harassing operations are:

Exhaust the enemy psychologically and physically - preventing enemy forces from resting, recuperating, or generally maintain a well mental state due to a constant state of hyper arousal and worry as well as preventing them from organizing effective offensive strategies.

Force the enemy to overcommit resources towards defense – drawing resources away from the hostile force’s primary operational objectives, further wasting their resources.

Reduce their operational tempo from interference – by forcing their command structure to waste time, resources, and manpower redirecting efforts towards countering the harassing operations.

Disrupt their supply lines – logistics interdiction reduces hostile force sustainment capabilities as well as further wasting their resources.

Disruption of their communications and command structures – eliminating key positions and personnel to create disorder amongst the ranks, further hurting their collective psyche.

Impose disproportionate costs on the enemy relative to your force – self explanatory.

If we were to summarize these objectives into a single sentence it would be that it aims to “prolong the enemy’s suffering, reduce his strength over time, and prevent him from consolidating his gains,” as written by Mao Zedong in “On Guerrilla Warfare.”

But that then begs the question – what are these operations and how are they conducted?

As in all facets of warfare, particularly in the age of 5GW, creative and novel approaches tend to bear the greatest fruits. A successful force can take the skeleton of a strategy and adopt it to their exact scenario to fully exploit their enemy to inflict the greatest amount of damage on the hostile force. That is all flowery language to say, this list is not exhaustive and sometimes novel approaches, if well planned and coordinated, can produce equal if not better outcomes than the tried-and-true methods covered below beginning with first discussing the primary philosophy of harassment warfare, hit and run attacks.

Hit and run attacks are the backbone of harassment warfare. A topic discussed in many previous pieces (see: any guerilla tactics piece I have done). Hit and run tactics focus on engaging the enemy in very short and intense bursts of action before rapidly withdrawing and disappearing. FM 7-85, Ranger Unit Operations states: “Strike enemy forces in locations that require disproportionate responses, increasing their burden.”

The hit and run is the ethos behind all forms of harassment operations and should be the governing principal behind their planning. If a mission plan begins to involve a protracted engagement, something has gone wrong and the plan needs to be readdressed.

Common methods of harassment operations are: raids (particularly at night), indirect fire harassment, sabotage, ambushes, and targeting elimination

Read 12 tweets

Spike

@spikesguides

Mar 1

🧵Would you survive if you had to escape an ambush right now? Why or why not? How would you tryu?

Most people think they know what to do, but when bullets start flying, plans fall apart. Do you have a strategy for breaking contact, or are you just hoping for the best?

Breaking Contact:

What happens when the mission doesn’t go to plan? Intelligence thought there was only a squad sized element in this grid square but it’s actually a platoon sized element and now you are in danger of being overrun, captured, or annihilated. What do you do? You break contact.

Breaking contact is when a unit identifies that their adversary is the superior force and that continuing their current engagement will not end in victory but instead almost certain defeat. Other factors that may influence a unit’s decision to break contact include unfavorable terrain that may trigger a sustained fight or being low on ammunition or supplies. Breaking contact can also be used in a hasty plan to setup an ambush or to reposition for a counterattack. Breaking contact is often mentioned in various manuals and handbooks but isn’t explained much beyond the statement of “create a plan to break contact,” even useful tool such as the Ranger Handbook only gives a single battle drill that boil down to saying, “use movement and fire to escape.” But how is that done, exactly?

The act of breaking contact is generally a reactive decision that may be part of a contingency plan but is not something deliberately planned ahead of time such as a tactical withdrawal. When breaking contact, the team attempts to completely leave the engagement and move to a different and more secure location.

Techniques for Breaking Contact:

While there could potentially be an infinite number of ways to tactfully break contact, there are a handful of core techniques that have been battle tested and proven to be solid baselines of strategy to employ when breaking contact. While novelty can be prove to be the deciding factor in an engagement, using an established outline, rather than gambling on something completely untested, as the skeleton of the strategy can give a greater overall chance of success.

Bounding Overwatch Withdrawal.

The idea of a bounding overwatch withdrawal is actually very similar to standard bounding overwatch but in reverse. The idea is relatively simple, the element of whatever size, is split into two smaller elements. The first one lays down suppressing fire in an attempt to pin the enemy or at the very least, lessen their volume of fire. The secondary element them moves backwards to the next piece of cover or a predetermined point. Once they arrive, they begin suppressing the enemy and the first element moves backwards past the second and gets into cover behind them or gets to the rally point. The elements alternate and leapfrog until they have successfully disengaged from the enemy.

This strategy works by keeping constant pressure on the enemy, hindering their ability to move forward and advancing on the team’s position. It also ensures that the retreating elements are given continuous covering fire.

While effective, this strategy is one of the slower methods of breaking contact and is quite vulnerable to flanking if not executed properly. It also requires quite a bit of practice, training and coordination are going to be required for any semblance of success. Without it, elements may become confused and risk accidental friendly fire by crossing into fields of fire or mistaking covering fire for hostiles.

Peeling Maneuver.

The peeling maneuver is a rapid break contact tactic that involves continuous fallback movement from the element. In the element, the frontmost unit fires at the threat to suppress them and then moves backwards rapidly past the next man behind him. The man behind him is now the new frontmost unit and they take over suppression duties until the “peeling” man has repositioned and then he will retreat backwards as the man behind him takes over. This process is repeated until the element has disengaged with the enemy.

The peeling maneuver is fast and easy to execute and requires minimal training (but still requires it!) It works by providing constant suppressing fire that discourages enemy pursuit while also maintaining constant movement.

While the peeling maneuver is strong, it is best used for smaller groups, ideally fireteams and nothing larger than a squad element. They can also be difficult to coordinate in areas with dense terrain. Teams should also have practice with the peeling maneuver so as to avoid potential friendly fire incidents and minimize downtime between suppressing fire.

Smoke Concealment Based Withdrawal.

This is possibly the most straight forward strategy. Teams will break the enemy’s line of sight using some form of artificial obscurants (smoke, dust, vapor, etc). Generally this is done with smoke grenades. The process is very simple. Smoke grenades are deployed to obscure the location of the team in a way that obscures the enemy’s vision of themselves. Then they move quickly under the cover of the smoke away from the area, avoiding obvious routes to avoid any potential blind fire from the hostile force.

Obviously this strategy is effective because the enemy can’t see where the team is at and if they do attempt to engage, they risk wasting ammunition. This strategy can be further used to fake the team’s movement directions or make it appear that they split up by deploying a second wave of smoke so as to mislead pursuers. Wind direction is the biggest hazard to this strategy. Windy days or even days where the wind is blowing laterally can nullify the effectiveness of the deployed smoke. Hostiles may also be using IR or thermal optics that can see or partially see through smoke, making movement as hazardous as moving in the open. Smoke is concealment, not cover.

Feint and Deception Withdrawal.

Utilizing misdirection, the withdrawing force is able to trick the enemy into hesitating, shifting focus, and making mistakes. Options for deception include giving false movement orders such as stating “advance left” while the team is pulling back on the right, use of sound distractions such as flashbangs or throwing rocks. The use of harassment fire is also something that can be utilized, if the force is split into groups, the main group can withdraw backwards while the others engage the enemy to suppress and harass them. This works by exploiting enemy uncertainty, causing hesitation. It generally only works against undisciplined or overly aggressive adversaries and shouldn’t be employed against well-trained units.

This option also requires a degree of prior planning or some rapid thinking in the field as well as proper coordination. Teams utilizing this should be cohesive units that can operate according to a plan with minimal micromanagement.

Fighting Through to Break Contact.

I am putting this one at the end because it is an insanely high risk tactic and only will work if the enemy is not overwhelming in terms of men and firepower. It’s something that should only be employed if the element is being ambushed or flanked where retreat is not immediately possible and the element is facing certain doom otherwise.

The idea is simple, instead of immediately falling back, force the enemy into a defensive stance, and then fall back. It requires the team to rapidly identify weaknesses in the enemy’s formation and then launch a concentrated assault into it to push gain leverage over the situation. After disrupting the enemy’s cohesion, the team falls back immediately and withdraws.

By forcing the enemy into a reactive posture, the team gains a moment to disengage as they adjust to the perceived situation and orders are being given.
Once again this is basically a last resort type of strategy, the only other option that would be more desperate would be to actually assault through fully but this article is about withdrawing.

Read 7 tweets

Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

Spike

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

More from @spikesguides

Spike

Spike

Spike

Spike

Spike

Spike

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Send Email!