Decision Making Exercise 06: Please Mind the Gap
"Beware of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories." President Abraham Lincoln. Letter to MajGen Joseph Hooker, 26 Jan 1863
Editor’s Note: This is an installment in our Decision Making Exercise (DMX) Series. Solutions should be sent to cxfile0302@gmail.com NLT 28 September for a chance at publication.
You are Kilo Six, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines.
3/7 is back on the offensive. The Blade is fighting as part of Regimental Combat Team 7 (RCT 7) against a Threat Charlie, marine mechanized adversary. The terrain is flat, open grassland punctuated by thickets of dense, jungle-like forests, agricultural plots, and orchards. The area is almost entirely unpopulated. Highways and rail lines connect widely dispersed villages and cattle stations. Dirt tracks meander through the region but have fallen into disuse. Weather is cold and wet, with visibility often impacted by early morning fog.
3/7 has been tasked to clear several identified enemy positions threatening the right flank of the RCT’s offensive north.
Kilo Company is the far right company of the battalion attack. On your left is India Company (off the map, 4 KM). They are attacking north along one of the disused and severely degraded highways in the Area of Operations (AO). Lima Company is mechanized and in reserve 6 KM to your rear.
The enemy in 3/7’s AO is estimated to be a company-reinforced marine mechanized task force. They have at least some form of howitzer artillery, counter-battery capability, rocket artillery, and an air defense section. Their higher headquarters is a brigade with access to attack aviation. The enemy company in the battalion’s AO is estimated to be able to reinforce to a battalion size within 2 hours. The enemy is known to have multiple types of small UAS and FPV attack drones.
Your mission:
Kilo Company- Battalion Main Effort. NLT 0700 tomorrow morning, DESTROY enemy mech platoon reinforced at Battalion Objective 1 (OBJ 1) in order to pass forward follow-on forces into the enemy’s rear area.
OBJ 1 is an abandoned agricultural station. It has several office buildings, warehouses, and an industrial train platform. The buildings are constructed of cinderblock reinforced with rebar, and the roofing is sheet metal.
OBJ 1 sits astride a 25-meter-high berm, the only elevated terrain in your AO. The berm is soil and gravel and supports the rail line running through the area. The rail/berm extends for hundreds of miles from north to south. The berm is steep in places but can be climbed by wheeled or tracked vehicles.
Your company has been reinforced for this attack. You have two attached Javelin Teams, each capable of employing up to four FPV attack drones in addition to their missiles. You also have a LAAD team attached. You are first in priority for 81mm mortars and 155mm artillery (1 Battery). You are also first in priority for rotary wing aviation. A mixed section of AH-1Z and UH-1Y is on a 20-minute strip alert.
An LAR platoon with four LAV-25s and one LAV-AT is in direct support and is expected to rendezvous with your company in 3 hours.
You arrive at your assembly area with the mounted 81mm mortar platoon as night falls. You attempt to make contact with the battalion scout teams already reconnoitering OBJ 1.
Team One is located in a neglected and overgrown orchard. They report an enemy fighting position in the woods to the west of OBJ 1. They can make out at least one machine gun and an ATGM. The enemy size is estimated to be at least a squad, but the team leader isn’t sure. They also saw two ZBD-05s parked on the berm south of OBJ 1. The team leader also reports troops on the OBJ but can’t tell how many there are. He estimates a reinforced squad.
Though Team Two had been diligent about their radio checks after occupying their hide in the dense woods to the east of the berm, they aren’t responding to your attempts to hail them.
As you pull your leaders in for a huddle, Team One comes back on the net.
“K6, Shadow One. Looks like several trucks just pulled into OBJ 1 from the north. They used the rail berm as a road. They have some kind of radar with them. Multiple personnel dismounting from the trucks with lots of equipment. I think I see crew-served weapons as well.”
You check your watch. 2200. One hour until LAR links up with you.
What now, Captain?
Write your order including any reports to higher.
