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Spike

@spikesguides

Sep 28

You can’t fight alone.

You fight as a fireteam — four men acting as one.

This is where real tactics begin. 🧵

Fireteams.

After mastering the buddy team and understanding the basics of how to maneuver as a unit composed of individuals, the next logical step is the fireteam. The fireteam is composed of four to five men and makes up one half to one third of a normal squad. The fireteam is compact, easy to maneuver, and much more self-sufficient than a buddy team. The fireteam is the smallest unit that is capable of coordinated simultaneous fire and movement.

Fireteams in their most basic form are composed of a team leader (TL), a rifleman, an automatic rifleman, and a grenadier as per US military doctrine. In a more irregular context, the team may be composed of three rifleman and a TL, one automatic rifleman, a TL, and two riflemen, or even a situation where there is a TL, a rifleman, a breacher, and a medic. Generally specialized inserts are added based on the mission and tasks needed to be conducted or threats that are anticipated; at the same time manpower constraints can lead to more unique fireteam compositions.

Regardless of the composition, the functional principles are that fireteams feature firepower, command and control, flexibility, and ideally specialization. This is what allows fireteams to operate as cells within the greater body that is a squad.

Common Team Roles and Responsibilities.

As stated previously, fireteam composition with irregular forces can vary, this will be a breakdown of the four common roles as per US military doctrine first and then moving onto others that may pop up in an irregular setting or with more specialized fireteams.

The doctrinal big four are, as mentioned, a team leader (TL), an automatic rifleman (AR), a grenadier (G), and a rifleman (R).

The TL’s job is to command the team and issue fire commands and coordinates with higher leadership (usually the squad leader). The team leader’s primary weapon is communication and control. The TL generally carries a rifle or carbine and a radio to communicate with other squads, he may also have a compass and protractor along with maps for orientation.

The AR holds the unique position of sustaining suppressive fire, using some type of weapon suited for such a task, this can be a box magazine fed rifle or even a belt-fed system. His objective is to control the team’s rate of fire and anchors the base of fire in contact. That is to say, he keeps heads down while the rest of the team pinpoints and picks off the rest. The AR must understand how their system operates under sustained fire and how to mitigate issues such as barrel swapping or judiciously utilizing fire, they need to have fire discipline and ammunition management skills, and be able to operate in a support position rapidly (drawing sectors of fire, estimating ranges effectively, and able to leverage their weapon into the environment to provide stable fire).

The G(renadier) employs some form of grenade launcher to provide high angle fragmentation, smoke, and illumination. This can be done with an underbarrel option or a dedicated platform. Their skills are crucial when dislodging hostiles from cover, breaking up attacks, and providing concealment during movement. The grenadier otherwise generally carries the same equipment as the rifleman.

The R(ifleman) is the most flexible position. A jack of all trades and master of none. They can provide accurate and direct fire and often double as assistants to Ars or grenadiers. They often carry mission-specific gear such as AT weapons and extra batteries.

Along with the big four, irregular forces may utilize other team members for specialization purposes or due to sheer lack of manpower and necessity. There are untold numbers of specialties and roles out there, sometimes individuals may cover multiple specialties at once, but the most common individual roles are: designated marksmen (DMR), breachers, anti-tank (AT), combat lifesaver (CLS) or medic (corpsman), communications or SIGINT operator, engineer/demolitions, scout/pointman, and drone operator.

The DMR is a rifleman trained with the use of precision weapons at intermediate ranges, generally between 300 and 700 yards. They utilize some form of an accurized rifle with magnified optics. Their objective is to fill the roll between a rifleman and a sniper. The DMR provides overwatch, counters hostile DMRs, and provides longer distance and accurate fire.

The breacher handles the use of entry tools in the act of breaching. While breaching is an act conducted as a group, a breacher handles the entry tools such as shotguns, sledgehammers, or explosive charges and employs them effectively during a breaching operation. The breacher generally carries a rifle or carbine.

The AT’s primary job is to counter hostile armor and vehicles. They generally carry a shoulder fired heavy weapon such as a rocket or recoiless weapon’s system. It is not uncommon in irregular forces for the AT and breacher to be hybridized as a singular man. The AT generally carries a rifle or a carbine.

CLS, or Combat Life Saver, is a soldier who can provide advanced trauma care beyond the MARCH (massive hemorrhage, airway, respiration, circulation, hypothermia (see combat medicine)) baseline. They generally carry an expanded IFAK or a CLS bag with more bandages and IV gear but not the full medical suite of a corpsman. They bridge the gap between individual aid and professional care. A corpsman on the other hand is a medical specialist responsible for the triage, treatment, and evacuation of casualties. The corpsman carries a full aid bag complete with medications, airway kits, chest seals, the works. They are generally not embedded within every fireteam but may be present within one. The CLS or medic generally carries a carbine.

The comms/SIGINT operator manages radios, data links, or even field telephones. They may also be used for intercepting signals, coordinating UAV data, and maintaining encryption discipline. They are likely to double as a rifleman.

Engineers/demolitions are responsible for field engineering tasks such as construction of obstacles, laying charges, demolishing hostile positions, or rigging explosives for ambush sites. They generally carry detonators in a case, tape, wire, det cord, and prepared explosives. The engineer/demo-man generally carry a rifle or carbine.

Scouts/pointmen are the lead element of a patrol or team, that is to say, they are the man in the front leading the rest along, not leading the team in a commanding way generally. Their job is to be the tip of the spear. They scan the environment for movement, traps, and any other anomalies. They must be skilled in reading the terrain, reaction drills, and have the best situational awareness. The scout likely doubles as a rifleman.

Drone operators provide real time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) for the fireteam or squad. They generally carry some form of a small UAV that is deployed for shorter range observation. They can then relay visual intelligence to the TL, maintain greater situational awareness as the team moves, mark or lase targets (or drop small munitions on targets) depending on the drone’s capabilities. The drone operator generally carries a carbine or a rifle and doubles as a rifleman.

The fireteam can be composed of many individual parts, as seen above, but is a series of individuals that make up a robust organism where it’s strength lies within it’s ability to leverage firepower, communications, flexibility, and discipline to move and fight as one.

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Spike

@spikesguides

Sep 21

Two men. One covers, one moves.

The smallest tactical unit in existence.

Before fireteams or squads, you master this: the Buddy Team. 🧵

Buddy Team Fundamentals

Before we run we must first learn to walk, prior to that we must crawl. Before jumping into working with a full squad of ten men, one must first become comfortable and fluid working with another, a buddy. Starting with duos after becoming comfortable with the basics of weapons handling and individual movements builds safety and cohesion as well as communication skills that are all transferable upwards as the number of men working together increases. Buddy teams are simple two-person units that operate as a single warfighting element, they are the building block that get us to fireteams. They are the smallest tactical element and they share in responsibility of each other, maintain mutual security of each other, communicate clearly, and move with purpose.

Buddy teams ensure that nobody fights, moves, or survives alone.

Core Buddy Technique: Bounding Overwatch.

When buddies work in tandem, they will switch roles often between being the one providing coverage and the one moving. This is the core of bounding overwatch. Bounding overwatch is the core technique that buddy teams use in the field. Bounding overwatch comes in two forms: successive and alternating. In this case, we will not cover alternating as it is not recommended to be conducted with two men and is best done with at least two fireteam sized elements, both forms of bounding can be scaled up beyond just the buddy sized element.

In successive bounding overwatch, the buddy providing cover watches and covers their buddy who moves either towards or away from their target, usually while in defilade (in cover). Prior to moving, the mover calls out “MOVING!” at which point the man providing overwatch yells “MOVE!” to confirm that they know their buddy is moving. The mover then proceeds toward their point. Once they reach either their buddy or the next piece of cover, they halt and yell “SET!” and the roles switch. Now the runner is providing overwatch while the previous watcher is running. The same “MOVING!” “MOVE!” “SET!” callout is given again to prevent accidents and to ensure everyone is on the same page. When moving, each man does not cover their buddy’s “lane” of where they are firing, to put it as painfully clear as possible, NEVER CROSS IN FRONT OF ANOTHER FRIENDLY UNIT’S RIFLE WHEN THEY ARE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN A FIREFIGHT. Each buddy is responsible for the arc of space to their left or right, whichever side their buddy is NOT on!

A note about the verbal cadence of “MOVING/MOVE/ SET” another verbal callout that can be given is “HALT!” wherein the movement is aborted due to either an immediate threat or a weapon’s malfunction. Both men will immediately go into cover, scan, and the reporting buddy shares the observation or reports on the malfunction.

When buddy teams are operating in different environments, they should use good IMT-related judgement when determining bound length, good cover selection, and how to move most effectively, leveraging the choice between quiet movement and quick movement.

Bounding overwatch is used by buddies when reacting to fire and when breaking contact, it is the simplest unit movement while also being the building block of all other tactical movements.

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Spike

@spikesguides

Sep 7

You’re moving through the woods.
It’s quiet. Too quiet.

Would you recognize the signs of an enemy lying in wait, or stroll straight into their kill zone? 🧵

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance, or recon for short, is the deliberate collection of information relating to hostile forces, terrain, and the environment that forces will be operating within. Recon’s central objective is to gather intelligence, not to engage in kinetic actions. The intelligence gained from recon operations can give smaller fighting units the tactical edge that they need to leverage against a larger, hostile force. Without recon, forces are operating blindly in an area, working against the whims of the battlespace, but when teams are operating with the intelligence gained from proper recon, they can set the terms of their fights.

Purpose of Reconnaissance.

There are five primary objectives of the recon mission and the use of recon in general. They are: gathering information on the enemy, learning the area’s terrain, providing an early warning against enemy activity, supporting operational planning, and giving a psychological edge.

When gathering information on enemy personnel, recon teams can quantify and note things such as the number of enemy personnel, their uniforms, units, weapons, locate supply lines, and even estimate morale. Recon teams also observe and note movement patterns, keeping eyes on when guard shifts change, patrol timings, and convoy schedules.

Teams that are performing terrain study, also known as area study, are identifying potential choke points, highlighting natural cover and concealment, obstacles, and defensible terrain. Teams also take note of important local resources such as water, shelter, escape routes, and in some cases even food sources.

With regards to early warnings, recon teams sweep areas to detect likely ambush locations, or even identify actively manned ambush positions, IEDs, land mines, or enemy troop concentrations prior to contact. Recon teams identifying threats before the rest of the element enters the area can save lives by having maneuver elements avoid ambushes entirely or maneuvering around area denial assets.

Operations that are planned with good area intelligence are doomed to fail. The intelligence gained by recon teams can be the difference between a successful raid or ambush or total failure. Teams that identify and locate defensive positions based on avenues of approach are spotted during recon operations. While ambushes can be conducted in an ad-hoc way, an ambush planned around good area intelligence will almost always go better than the one without.

The mind is as important of a battlefield as the physical one, the status and soundness of it influence every facet of operations from the command level to the individual. Units that know the ground they are working on and the basics about their enemy in the area will operate more confidently and effectively than those who are working in the dark, giving them a psychological boost. At the same time, an enemy that knows they’re being scouted are likely to be more paranoid and apprehensive when working in the field. Finally, leaders that are equipped with quality intelligence will make faster, and better decisions.

Recon operations are conducting much more analysis than squinting on top of a hill at an enemy base (despite what Guntubers will tell you). Proper recon is as integral to the planning and conducting of operations as well as the overall proper functioning of a unit as equipment and supplies. Reconnaissance is how the intelligence that makes or breaks plans is gathered.

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Spike

@spikesguides

Aug 31

You bought the gear. You read the manuals. You played the sims.

But when it comes time to move, fight, and survive, are you actually ready? 🧵

Training isn’t optional. It’s what separates a functioning unit from a group of armed civilians

Training Methods for Small-Unit Preparedness

No matter how many technical manuals you read, how many times you and your buddies played SWAT 4 and Arma, or how much everyone spent on their kit; without training, everyone will be useless in the field. Luckily that isn’t the end of the story. By adhering to a training regime and sticking to common training methods, prepared citizens can become more robust in their personal skills and the skills their team brings to the field.

Why train?

As stated, owning gear is not the same as being ready. If I own a jet fighter it doesn’t mean I know how to use a jet fighter. I may have seen a few films and watched a tutorial video on YouTube but I am not a jet fighter pilot. Theory and one’s knowledge of it, such as field manuals, is a wonderful starting point for small units and individuals but without practice, they will not succeed in the field when the time comes to utilize that theory. It’s much like running a marathon, nobody starts running a marathon right out the gate. They need to work up to it.

Training builds three core elements of a successful unit. They are muscle memory, cohesion, and trust. Muscle memory allows teams to perform automatically under stress. Cohesion means the unit learns to move and think as a singular unit rather than a collection of individuals. Finally trust means that everyone feels confident in themselves and the other members of their team.

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Spike

@spikesguides

Aug 27

ALRIGHT WE GOT CONFIRMATION. TIME FOR A CONSOLIDATION THREAD 🧵

WHO IS THE MINNEAPOLIS MASS SHOOTER ROBIN WESTMAN?

Robin was born with the name Robert and changed their name legally to Robert to coincide with their gender transition.

Robin's mother had a tight association with the school that Robin would target later on.

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Spike

@spikesguides

Aug 10

🧵Most prepared citizens want to be fit.

Most people have no idea where to start.

Here’s the no-BS guide to getting there. 🧵

Getting Fit:

It’s no surprise that most people in the US and Western civilization as a whole are not physically active enough. Many people are overweight, have little muscle endurance, and absolutely no cardiovascular ability. By not maintaining some basic level of physical fitness one is put at much higher risk for various health conditions such as heart disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes, and a number of cancers by up to 40% in some cases. From a more practical and less abstract approach, US Army data shows that soldiers with higher aerobic capacity and muscle endurance had less non-combat injuries in the field, as well as being more effective in their roles in the field.

From a prepping perspective, not being mildly to moderately fit puts yourself at a massive disadvantage and makes one a liability. Fitness means you can do the physical tasks such as walking home with a 30 pound get-home (bug out) bag, it means you can haul water from a body to your home for purification, it means you can cut up and remove the fallen tree after the tornado in your front yard, it means you can properly engage a potential threat if the fight lasts longer than a minute. Prepping is often thought of a “hobby” where you are just hoarding goods and items (something I have fought vehemently against and wrote 2 books because of it), as a byproduct of that mentality, the body is often neglected. Both from a medical perspective and a fitness perspective. Prepping is as much about “weathering the storm,” as it is about being able to effectively operate after it. You can’t be a basement shut-in forever.

Thankfully getting a basic level of fitness doesn’t require you to become a psychopath who lives in the gym and eats nothing but liver and chicken breast for ever meal. You can make minor adjustments that grow your abilities with TIME without even needing a gym membership! Americans tend to want to go hard and fast with things, expecting instant results, this is one of the many cases where that is not realistic. To become better we must slowly build ourselves up. The purpose of this piece is to help those who are just starting find initiative, assess their current abilities, build a weekly exercise regimen, and then stick to it. I also want to briefly touch on diet at the tail end of this.

Assessing Current Abilities.

Before determining what sort of exercise plan one is going to adhere to, they need to determine what their current abilities are. This unfortunately is a usually a very humbling experience and needs to happen. Without knowing what one’s limitations are, they risk injury, overtraining, or wasting time on an inappropriate plan.

Cardiovascular endurance can be tested in a high impact and low impact test, ideally one performs both. The high impact test begins with a 5 minute walk, then try to cover 1.5 miles as fast as one can without harming themselves. This does not mean push yourself beyond your limits and risk injury. If you need to stop or walk, that’s okay. After achieving 1.5 miles the time taken is noted and checked against a generic reference. If it takes less than 13 minutes, one is an above average point for a beginner, for between 13 and 16 minutes, that is a relatively average start point, and if it is longer than 16 minutes, they are below average (and that is okay!). The low impact test is a 6 minute walk on a flat surface and after 6 minutes the distance is noted, healthy adults often exceed 500 to 600 meters (~1600-1900 feet). Note all of this information for the next section and for goal planning.

Testing muscular strength likewise is a relatively quick process and does not require any specific equipment, bodyweight is a decent enough baseline. Begin with testing pushups, see how many you can do without breaking form. If you can’t even do one, try knee pushups, if you can’t do one, try against a wall! Then try squats, perform as many as you can in one set. Then try a pull up if you have a pull-up bar (very cheap online and cheaper if bought used), if you cannot do one, try a flexed arm hang, if you can’t do longer than a second, note it. Finally try a forearm plank and hold it as long as you can with good form. Note all of this information for the next section and for goal planning.

You can also test your mobility and flexibility with a sit and reach test where you sit flat on the ground, legs extended, knees straight, and reach forward. Not being able to reach past your toes is generally regarded as a negative score and is something to work on.

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