By Lieutenant General Paul K. Van Riper, USMC (ret)
Pray earlier every battle, pray during the battle, together with pray afterward the battle. I never prayed harder or to a greater extent than earnestly than I did inwards combat nor did I abide by anything to a greater extent than comforting. Fear is the same every fourth dimension you lot come upwardly nether enemy fire. You may run accustomed to the responses you lot make, but non the gut-wrenching feeling. You tin toilet conquer fearfulness inwards the sense that you lot are able to component effectively, however, it volition ever travel amongst you. There are ii extremes inwards a unit’s kickoff fight—“trigger happiness” together with over caution. If the kickoff create out is at nighttime the occupation is fifty-fifty greater. This is something you lot exactly take away to travel aware of together with to educate your Marines nigh to trim down the negative impact. Generally, the occupation is self-correcting inwards subsequent engagements. Control the impulse to enquire for reports from units nether fire. At the start of every appointment the leaders are exactly trying to form out things out together with radio calls from higher headquarters solely interfere. My dominion of pollex equally a society commander inwards Vietnam was to hold off for a minimum of v minutes earlier fifty-fifty considering picking upwardly a handset. The kickoff communication should enquire if the unit of measurement needs assistance; it should non asking information. Well-trained leaders inwards cohesive units volition routinely frontwards details on what is happening equally shortly equally they are on overstep of the situation.
Train leaders to movement to the audio of gunfire. They should non advance inwards a reckless or foolhardy fashion, but inwards a deliberate together with warning manner. The take in is to larn unopen plenty to assess accurately the province of affairs spell non becoming pinned down.
Maintain awareness of following units especially other service together with coalition forces. These units are most probable to error your unit of measurement for the enemy together with vice versa. There were many narrow escapes during Operation Desert Storm inwards this type of situation. Officers moving amongst Pb units are peculiarly of import at nighttime (the most probable fourth dimension for fratricide) because it places them inwards a seat to unopen off incoming friendly burn quickly.
Use the “buddy” system. Most units forget to employ this elementary technique when they run to war. It is extremely of import afterward a firefight when you lot are trying to occupation concern human relationship for all-hands. In Vietnam, I establish that inwards the tense minutes when the unit of measurement was evacuating casualties it was tardily to lose rail of which Marines nosotros were sending out. Marines tin toilet easily misplace weapons together with of import items of equipment during these times. Set upwardly a physical care for to forestall these problems good earlier the activeness starts. An adjunct to the buddy organisation is the pairing of vehicles—lone vehicles moving nigh are seldom a skilful take in inwards a combat zone.
Better to receive got those on sentinel wide-awake than to insist on the traditional 50 per centum alert. As a society commander inwards Vietnam, I varied betwixt a xx together with 25 per centum warning status (one out of v or i out of four). H5N1 fifty-percent warning nighttime afterward nighttime volition chop-chop tire out a unit’s Marines. Moreover, in that location is a style amongst together with hence many Marines on sentinel for roughly to believe that if they unopen their eyes for a few minutes it volition non brand much deviation because sure enough most of the residue are awake. I receive got checked lines at nighttime nether these atmospheric condition together with establish nearly everyone dozing or half-awake.
Hand-grenades (our own) are the most unsafe weapon inwards combat exterior of enemy fire. In every unmarried activeness that United States of America forces receive got been involved inwards since at to the lowest degree equally far dorsum equally World War II, unintentional detonations of friendly grenades has been a major problem. The most frequent drive is when Marines attach grenades to spider web gear together with the pivot catches on something that pulls it out. Often this happens inwards tight spaces such equally a vehicle. It also occurs when Marines are taking off or picking upwardly their gear. Keep grenades inwards pockets whenever possible. Never curvature the ends of pins inward to brand them easier to trace out.
Treat all enemy prisoners together with whatever civilians amongst basic decency. This does non hateful lowering your guard, but exactly to avoid whatever unnecessary roughness or demeaning behavior. This is apparently the right matter to practice equally good equally beingness a legal requirement. More than i patch has regretted allowing or ignoring actions past times its soldiers that embittered prisoners or turned a civilian population’s outlook from neutral or friendly to hostile.
Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper currently holds the Kim T. Adamson Chair of Insurgency together with Terrorism at Marine Corps University. Lieutenant General Van Riper retired from the U.S. Marine Corps on 1 Oct 1997 afterward to a greater extent than than 41 years of commissioned together with enlisted service. In the course of study of vii tours inwards the Fleet Marine Force, he saw duty inwards each of the 3 active divisions, commanding at every degree from infantry platoon to division. He experienced combat during v of these tours.
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