AMERICAN MERCENARY: FIRE AND MANEUVER

Fire and Maneuver

Practice the Simple Things HARD, and the hard things become simple.  I can't remember which of my buddies has that as part of his signature line, but it is largely true.  SF, Rangers, SEALs don't really train on anything different than a regular Soldier or Marine, they just train on the basics until they never get it wrong.

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So what does this have to do with "A Nation of Riflemen?"  Well first is that a nation of Riflemen is NOT a National Army.  The vaunted "Hunters of Wisconsin" being the whatever largest Army in the world is pure horse crap.  Yes they can shoot, and yes there is potential there, but it takes more than a rifle and the ability to shoot it to make an Army.  It is easier to teach a Soldier to shoot than it is to teach a shooter to soldier.  I'm not going to say that shooters don't have the skills to provide a credible threat against a modern miltary force, just that if you can't transition your INDIVIDUAL skills into a TEAM EFFORT then you are likely to get destroyed by those who can.  As a historical note, the Boers were excellent at combining their individual skills into a group effort.

As a recent historical example the Taliban has been fighting US Forces for over a decade now.  Individually they are fine warriors.  Collectively they fail to add up to a sum greater than its individual parts.  While the Taliban have the ability to mass forces, they aren't good at fire and maneuver.  Their cell structure doesn't give much scalability and their commanders keep getting killed off.  But to become more effect than a few disjointed teams here and there they need to be able to move teams the way a buddy team moves individuals.

So what do you need to know about Fire and Maneuver at the ground level?  First off the basics all apply, Shoot, Move, Communicate.  You shoot so your buddy can move, he moves, then he gets set and communicates to you that he is shooting so you can move.  It really is that simple, but when other guys are shooting back at you things get complicated in a hurry.

rest here: http://randomthoughtsandguns.blogspot.com/2012/01/fire-and-maneuver.html