CHAPTER 4: Tactical Formations

INTRODUCTION.

    An attacking OPFOR can deploy into three types of tactical formations - march, prebattle, or battle - depending on its mission and the combat situation. The OPFOR employs a standard drill for deployment into battle. The drill proceeds from march formation, through prebattle formation, into battle formation. The sequence of deployment and the distances of the lines of deployment from the BLUFOR are determined by tactical considerations.

4-1 MARCH.

    The OPFOR prefers to remain in column or march formation as long as possible for the sake of speed. It resorts to lateral deployment only by necessity, such as when combat is imminent. Until combat is imminent, the maneuvering force is in some type of tactical march formation.

The OPFOR march is:

• The organized column movement of troops along roads and cross-country routes to a designated area or line.

• The most common method of OPFOR unit and subunit movement.

    a. A unit conducts a march when:

• Moving from a rear assembly area to a forward assembly area or attack position.

• Leaving an assembly area to launch an attack from the march.

• Moving forward in anticipation of a meeting battle.

• Conducting a pursuit.

• Conducting a passage of lines.

• Transferring laterally to a new area or large formation.

These formations and drills allow a rapid transition into combat while maintaining maximum security, speed, and firepower.

    b. Types of March.

• Administrative: contact with the enemy is not likely.

• Tactical: contact with enemy ground forces is likely. They are organized to ensure the march formation is ready to enter battle with little notice.

    c. March Planning Factors.

        (1) Route Allocation Norms:

• Division:

• Receives either a march zone (15-30 km wide) or two to three march routes.

• March columns are 80-100 km deep from the lead march security elements to the tail.

• Brigade:

• Receives one or two march routes.

• First-echelon brigade requires over 40 km of road space.

• Second-echelon brigade, with less march security deployed, needs 20-30 km.

• Battalion: one march route.

• Each route is separated by 3 to 4 km.

• Figure 4-1 shows typical OPFOR tactical march intervals.

Figure 4-1. Typical OPFOR tactical march intervals.

Figure 4-2. Average Rates of March (km per hour).

Figure 4-3. Daily march distances (km).

        (1) Order of March.

• The main body of the combat force employs reconnaissance and forward security forces in most situations.

• The reconnaissance forces move far ahead of the security force and try to avoid contact while sending back intelligence to the main body commander.

• The security force is responsible for ensuring the unhindered movement of the main body. It may engage enemy forces.

• An engineer movement support detachment (See Chapter 5) often moves either ahead of or behind this security force and supports the movement of the main body.

• Attached and organic artillery elements move well forward in the column, occasionally traveling ahead of the tanks and infantry combat vehicles.

• Air defense, engineer, AT, and chemical reconnaissance elements are dispersed throughout the march column.

    d. March Security. March security elements may be classified as advance guard, rearguard, security elements (forward, flank and rear) and patrols. Figure 4-4 shows these elements in relation to the main body.

Figure 4-4. Elements of march security.

    e. Advance Guard (AG).

• Consists of reinforced mechanized infantry battalions (MIBNs) from the first-echelon brigades.

• Mission: to ensure the security of the main axis.

• A reinforced battalion may be sent out on each brigade route during an advance to contact.

• A reinforced battalion as an advance guard is likely during a penetration or pursuit. (Usually MIBNs for this role, but can be tank battalions).

• When there is little chance of enemy contact, divisions may use only a battalion as an advance guard.

• The preferred employment on contact is to envelop the position, forcing the defender to pull back and to attempt to destroy the withdrawing force on the move.

• The advance guard tries to move about one hour (20 to 25 km) ahead of the main body, but this may be reduced if resistance or obstacles are encountered.

    f. Forward Detachment (FD).

• The purpose of the FD is to speed the advance of the division.

• Normally, a reinforced battalion from a division's second-echelon brigade.

• Missions:

• To seize critical terrain objectives such as river crossing sites.

• To disrupt the enemy’s covering forces to facilitate the division’s advance.

• To conduct raids against important enemy sites: NBC weapons systems, artillery positions, and CPs.

• Will try to avoid battle before it reaches its objective and before it moves off the main routes of the divisional columns.

Figure 4-5. March formation reinforced TBN acting as advance guard or forward detachment.

Figure 4-6. Disposition of a mechanized infantry division in a tactical march formation.

    g. Division Tactical March.

• The basic formation for achieving maximum rates of advance or maneuver in the attack, mechanized infantry or tank divisions use similar march formation.

• Division reconnaissance and REC battalion can proceed in front of the division's movement out to a range of 100 km.

• Ground reconnaissance elements concentrate on the major axes of advance and the most likely enemy concentrations.

• The division commander may dispatch a forward detachment for independent missions forward of the lead brigade’s advance guards.

• There is no actual divisional advance guard; the lead brigade on each of the routes used by the division forms an advance guard.

A mechanized infantry division's tactical march is shown in Figure 4-6.

Figure 4-7. Brigades in tactical march formation.

    h. Brigade Tactical March.

         Mechanized infantry and tank brigades have march formations similar to a division. These formations provide reconnaissance and early warning to the brigade commander. Reconnaissance elements from the advance guard, in increasingly larger formations, will encounter the enemy or obstacles well before the main body, allowing each successive commander to minimize losses in a surprise encounter by meeting the enemy with the smallest possible force. This also permits the maneuver of follow-on forces. If necessary, a brigade may send out a forward detachment to accomplish missions similar to those of the divisional forward detachment. An illustration of a brigade, with an advance guard, in tactical march formation is shown in Figure 4-7. More detail is provided in Figure 4.8.

Figure 4-8. Advance Guard in a tactical march.

4-2 PREBATTLE.

    When nearing the BLUFOR's defensive line, the OPFOR uses prebattle formation as a transition between the march and battle formations. Prebattle formation focuses on speed, dispersion, flexibility, and firepower in an anticipated direction. When entering prebattle formation, the OPFOR deploys into successively smaller unit columns. These multiple columns increase forward combat power until forces reach the attack line and assume battle formation. In prebattle formation, the columns have greater lateral dispersion, but less depth than in the march formation.

The OPFOR uses prebattle formation when:

• Approaching the battlefield.

• Developing the attack into the depth of the battle area.

• Pursuing the BLUFOR.

• Attacking a defending enemy whose defenses are weak or effectively suppressed.

• Crossing NBC-contaminated zones rapidly.

• Crossing areas with natural or artificial obstacles.

    Forces in prebattle formation either deploy into battle formation or return to march formation, depending on the tactical situation. A force might remain in this formation for a lengthy period of time. It normally would pass through some form of prebattle formation when moving from the march into full deployment for an attack.

    a. Brigade. The brigade assumes a prebattle formation by deploying from a single brigade column of battalions in its main body into individual battalion columns.

• The number of battalion columns depends on the tactical situation and the choice of echelonment that the situation dictates.

• Deployment into battalion columns should begin beyond the range of the bulk of the BLUFOR's artillery, at a line approximately 12 to 15 km from the BLUFOR forward edge.

• The artillery preparation of the attack is usually timed to begin as the attacking force reaches this line.

Figure 4-9. Battalion prebattle formations.

    b. Battalion. A battalion assumes prebattle formation by deploying from a single battalion column of companies into individual company columns. Figure 4-9 illustrates variations of battalion prebattle formations.

• Within the battalion prebattle formation, each company moves in march column.

• In relation to one another, the company columns may be configured in a line, in a forward or reverse wedge, or echelon left or right.

    c. Company. The line of deployment into company columns is set outside the maximum range of the defender's antitank weapons, tanks, and other direct fire systems. This is usually 4 to 6 km from the BLUFOR’s forward edge, depending on the terrain.

• The company prebattle formation is the final stage of deployment before battle formation.

• A company in prebattle formation does not laterally deploy beyond platoon columns.

• The intervals between company and platoon columns in prebattle formation should allow full deployment of the elements into battle formation without further lateral expansion of the entire formation.

• The deployment line into platoon columns is ideally located in terrain that screens the deployment, particularly from the defenders' short-range antitank weapons. It would normally be 2-3 km from the BLUFOR forward edge.

• Unlike higher-level organizations, the company does not necessarily have to use a prebattle formation. It can go directly from the march into battle formation, if the situation requires.

4-3 BATTLE FORMATION.

The OPFOR uses battle formation (attack formation) when encountering strong BLUFOR resistance during:

• The meeting battle.

• The attack against a defending enemy.

• The pursuit.

• The counterattack.

    a. Brigade. Only those elements expecting contact with the enemy deploy into battle formations. Therfore, an OPFOR maneuver brigade reaches battle formation when its first-echelon battalions deploy on line. Its second-echelon battalions remain in march or prebattle formation until they are actually committed. Maneuver brigades are reinforced with several combat and combat support elements prior to contact with the BLUFOR. These reinforcing assets deploy to become part of the supported maneuver brigades’ formations.

    b. Battalion. An OPFOR maneuver battalion reaches battle formation when its first-echelon companies deploy on line. Its second-echelon companies remain in march or prebattle formation until they are actually committed. Maneuver battalions are reinforced with several combat and combat support elements prior to contact with the BLUFOR. Reinforcement usually takes place in assembly areas or before reaching the start line for the march. These reinforcing assets deploy to become part of the supported maneuver battalion's battle formation. (See Figures 4-10 & 4-11).

    c. Line of transition to the attack.

• The line by which the attackers deploy into battle formation, with platoons on line and tanks in front of the infantry vehicles.

• Its location depends on the preparation of the BLUFOR defense and the degree of destruction inflicted by OPFOR artillery.

• The line should be outside the range of BLUFOR short to medium range antitank weapons and small arms and permit a rapid advance into the BLUFOR positions.

• It is usually at least 600 meters from the BLUFOR forward edge, but farther forward than the supporting BRAG.

    d. Dismount line.

• Never more than 1,000 meters from the forward edge of BLUFOR units, it should be as close to the BLUFOR positions as the terrain allows.

• Usually 300 to 400 meters from BLUFOR defenses. If troops dismount, they follow as closely as possible behind the tanks. The BTRs or BMPs follow 100 to 200 meters behind the infantry, providing supporting fire.

Figure 4-10. Battalion battle formations (reinforced MIBN).

Figure 4-11: Prebattle and Battle Formation Deployment Lines.