_The Director_: “Captain Harvey, what would you do?”
_Captain Harvey_: “I would get the men of my squad together and while
they are assembling I would size up the situation and determine just
what orders I am going to give. When the men are together I would give
them their orders:
“‘Manley, Harrison and Kline will be the first visiting patrol.
“‘Oliver, Hasker and Payne will be the second visiting patrol.
“‘We go out at 12 and 2 o’clock tonight. Be ready at those hours.
“‘I am going over the route of the patrol before dark.
“‘Dismissed.’
“I do not think of anything else to say at this time.”
_The Director_: “Captain Hodges, have you any criticism to make of
Captain Harvey’s order?”
_Captain Hodges_: “Yes, sir. In the first place, he has left out several
things that ought to be told to the men. He has not provided any
instructions for one man of the squad. He has not made it clear just
which patrol each man belongs to. He has not told the men what equipment
they are to carry with them.”
_The Director_: “To what do you attribute these omissions?”
_Captain Hodges_: “Well, sir, I could not say. The thing that appeals to
me is that if I were one of the men I would want to know about them.”
_The Director_: “I think, if you will all reflect, that the underlying
trouble with Captain Harvey’s order is that he has not followed our five
paragraph order. Had he done so, I am sure he would not have omitted
these essentials. Now I am going to have Captain Harvey give the order
again and follow the five paragraph order system and see how he comes
out. Your first paragraph would be ‘Information of the enemy and our
supporting troops.’ All right, Captain Harvey, what would your first
paragraph contain?”
_Captain Harvey_: “Well, sir, the men know everything that I do
regarding the enemy and our own troops. They all heard the Lieutenants
order when he established the support. So I would say:
“‘There is no further information of the enemy or our supporting
troops.’”
_The Director_: “You have stated it exactly in your last sentence. Now
for your plan.”
_Captain Harvey_: “My plan would be to have the squad furnish two of the
visiting patrols—I see what you mean.
“‘Our squad will furnish two visiting patrols tonight.’”
_The Director_: “Now comes the disposition of troops and orders for each
element.”
_Captain Harvey_: “I would divide up the squad as I did in my previous
order and provide for that extra man that Captain Hodges spoke of. He is
my Automatic Rifleman. I would say:
“‘Manley, Harrison and Kline will be visiting patrol No. 1. It will
go out at 12 o’clock midnight.
“‘Oliver, Hasker and Payne will be visiting patrol No. 2. It will go
out at 2 o’clock a. m.
“‘Bailey (automatic rifleman) will be supernumerary.’”
_The Director_: “The next is your administrative arrangements, paragraph
4 of an order. What would you include in that?”
_Captain Harvey_: “The equipment to be carried. I would say:
“‘Rifle and belts of ammunition only will be carried. The bayonet
will be fixed. The scabbard and canteen will be left here.’
I would not want the men to carry anything that is not absolutely
essential.”
_The Director_: “You are right. The members of the visiting patrol
travel light. They do not want to be hampered with equipment that is not
necessary. Above all, they do not want anything with them that will
rattle and make a noise. They leave the bayonet scabbard at the post of
the support because if they wear it on the belt it will be dangling
between the men’s legs and interfere with their freedom of movement.
They will probably not need any water on this short march so I see no
objection to leaving the canteen behind, although, on the other hand, I
can see no objection to carrying it. That is a mere matter of opinion.
The bayonets are fixed so as to have them ready for hand to hand night
fighting in case it is required. A great deal of the night work will be
done with the bayonet. Rifle fire is effective only for short distances
due to inability to see the target for any distance. Now, Captain
Harvey, how do you conclude your order?”
_Captain Harvey_: “In the usual manner by telling the men where messages
are to be brought, I would say:
“‘Messages will be brought back to the support, here.’”
That concludes the order. I see my error and will profit by it in the
future.”
_Captain James_: “There is one point in the order that I did not
understand. Captain Harvey detailed his automatic rifleman as
‘supernumerary.’ Just what does he mean by that.”
_The Director_: “He means that he is an extra man not specifically
detailed with either patrol. But, if for any reason, one of the other
men is unable to go on the patrol when the time comes the supernumerary
will take his place. Do you see the point now?”
_Captain James_: “Yes, sir.”
_The Director_: “I hope you all now realize how far astray you can go in
issuing tactical orders if you fail to follow the five paragraph system.
On the other hand, I hope you have observed how simple it is to include
all of the essential elements in an order if you do follow the system.
You here see the system applied to the most insignificant element in the
domain of tactics, the visiting patrol. You see how nicely it fits. If
you were issuing an order for a division of 20,000 men you would see how
well it works there. I hope you will all stick to this plan of issuing
orders. You positively cannot go far wrong if you will. If there are no
further questions we will proceed.”