The Director should point out the location of the enemy and should
indicate the exact location of each member of the patrol, so that all
members of the class will make their solutions on the same basis.
_The Director_: “Captain Hall, what would you do under the
circumstances?”
_Captain Hall_: “I would send a message to the support commander telling
him what I have seen.”
_The Director_: “Is there anything that you would do before starting to
compose your message?”
_Captain Hall_: “I do not think so. I have located the enemy and want to
get the information back as quickly as possible.”
_The Director_: “That is true. But there are certain things that must be
done in connection with it. You have discovered what you estimate to be
the enemy’s main body. You know the strength and composition of it. You
know what he is doing for the time being. The members of your patrol are
still in patrol formation and must be told what to do. In other words,
there are several things to be done. In the first place, you want to
dispose your men for observation of the enemy and to prevent surprise.
Enemy patrols may be operating in the vicinity. One of these may pick
you up and prevent you from getting any information back. This is the
thing you must guard against. You must consider the contents of your
message and you must figure out how you are going to get it back
considering the fact that there is an enemy patrol of six men operating
between you and the outpost line.
“When the patrol has encountered the enemy the disposition must be such
as to permit the leader to observe the hostile force for the purpose of
forming an estimate of its strength and composition, dispositions, and
probable intentions. With this end in view, the leader must go to a
vantage point from which he may obtain a good view of the enemy. The
remaining members of the patrol must be so disposed as to guard all the
avenues of approach from the known direction of the enemy’s forces, in
order to prevent surprise.
“Lieutenant Barry, what disposition would you make of the members of the
patrol?”