In this episode of Tactical Tuesday with Modern Milsim, we discuss defensive operations including defending objectives and critical terrain on the MILSIM battlefield. Specifically, we discuss:
A new episode of Tactical Tuesdays is typically uploaded on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
SHOW LINKS/RESOURCES
To learn more about Craig White click HERE.
To find “From Alpha to Omega, A Milsim Tactical Primer and Training Manual” : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FZ57B23/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
To find “From Insertion to Extraction: Advanced MILSIM CQB Tactics, Techniques and Procedures” : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07THX1CFT/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernMilsim
If you have a topic you would like to see in an episode of Tactical Tuesdays, please suggest it in the comments of the post containing the posted episode. We do read them.
Website: https://tacticaltuesdaywithmodernmilsim.buzzsprout.com
YouTube Instructional Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUXI_GBdPeDuIoq_KJeCgWg
SUBSCRIBE
If you like what you hear on this episode, please subscribe and provide us with a review and a rating. You can subscribe to Tactical Tuesday on ITunes, Stitcher, Spotify and YouTube. You can also find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ModernMilsim. If you like this episode, you can find others Here.
You can also find “From Alpha to Omega, A Milsim Tactical Primer and Training Manual” and “From Insertion to Extraction: Advanced MILSIM CQB Tactics, Techniques and Procedures” at Amazon.com.
In this episode of Tactical Tuesday with Modern Milsim, we discuss defensive operations including defending objectives and critical terrain on the MILSIM battlefield. Specifically, we discuss:
A new episode of Tactical Tuesdays is typically uploaded on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
SHOW LINKS/RESOURCES
To learn more about Craig White click HERE.
To find “From Alpha to Omega, A Milsim Tactical Primer and Training Manual” : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FZ57B23/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
To find “From Insertion to Extraction: Advanced MILSIM CQB Tactics, Techniques and Procedures” : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07THX1CFT/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernMilsim
If you have a topic you would like to see in an episode of Tactical Tuesdays, please suggest it in the comments of the post containing the posted episode. We do read them.
Website: https://tacticaltuesdaywithmodernmilsim.buzzsprout.com
YouTube Instructional Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUXI_GBdPeDuIoq_KJeCgWg
SUBSCRIBE
If you like what you hear on this episode, please subscribe and provide us with a review and a rating. You can subscribe to Tactical Tuesday on ITunes, Stitcher, Spotify and YouTube. You can also find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ModernMilsim. If you like this episode, you can find others Here.
You can also find “From Alpha to Omega, A Milsim Tactical Primer and Training Manual” and “From Insertion to Extraction: Advanced MILSIM CQB Tactics, Techniques and Procedures” at Amazon.com.
TACTICAL TUESDAY WITH MODERN MILSIM – EPISODE 19 TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to another episode of Tactical Tuesday with Modern MilSim. Through this podcast, we will bring you real world tactics, techniques, and procedures that will enable you to succeed on the MilSim battlefield. It's time to make ready.
Hello, and welcome to Episode Nineteen of Tactical Tuesday with Modern MilSim. As always, I am your host, Craig White. Thank you for being here. Well, since our last episode was about offensive operations, I thought it made sense to follow up with an episode about defensive operations and how to defend objectives and critical terrain. So let's get to it.
So what are defensive operations? Defensive operations are actions conducted to defeat an enemy attack, to gain time, to economize forces, and or develop conditions favorable for offensive operations. Most often defensive operations are the means for a unit commander to create conditions for a counter offensive that allows his forces to regain the initiative; however, defensive operations can also be conducted to retain key or decisive terrain, to deny a key or vital area from the enemy, to fix the enemy as a prelude to offensive operations, to counter enemy action and/or to increase the enemy's vulnerability by forcing the enemy commander to concentrate his attention on subordinate units instead of on the larger picture.
Although offensive operations are necessary to seize objectives and to defeat the enemy, defensive operations are the stronger of the two. The inherent strengths of the defense include the defender's ability to occupy positions before an attack to take advantage of favorable terrain and to use the available time to prepare and improve defenses.
A defending force stops improving its defensive preparations only when it withdraws or engages enemy forces. Central to defensive operations is that the unit OIC seeks opportunities to counterattack and regain the initiative against the enemy. A defending force does not wait passively to be attacked. Instead, it aggressively seeks ways of attriting and weakening enemy forces. A defending force also maneuvers to place the enemy in a position of disadvantage and to attack the enemy at every opportunity.
The key to successful defensive operations is to seize the initiative from the attacking enemy. As such, both the static and mobile elements of a defense combine to deprive enemy forces of the initiative and to successfully transition to offensive operations. As with offensive operations, defensive operations applied to both the operational and tactical levels of milsim combat.
Like in our last episode, today we're going to focus on defensive operations at the tactical level with platoons and smaller units. I'll circle back around the discussing defensive operations at the operational level in a later episode of this podcast.
So before we get into the details of defensive operations, we need to discuss the seven characteristics that are common to them. These characteristics are disruption, flexibility, maneuver, mass, operations in depth, preparation, and security.
So let's talk about each of them in more detail. The first characteristic of defensive operations is disruption. Defending forces seek to disrupt enemy attacks by taking actions that desynchronize the enemy's operations. These actions include deceiving or destroying the enemy's recon elements, breaking up the enemy's combat formations, separating enemy unit echelons from each other and impeding the enemy's ability to synchronize its forces in a combined arms attack. The platoon or squad leader must direct his unit to conduct spoiling attacks to impede the enemy's ability to focus its combat power and counterattack the enemy to prevent it from exploiting after a successful attack.
Disruption also involves any effort to cause negative effects on the enemy, command, control, and communications. You want the enemy to be disrupted enough so that instead of attacking in one massed attack, he is attacking with ineffective separate and or sporadic attacks. Particularly, the defending force seeks to degrade the enemy's fires, command, and control, and its reserves. Doing so will stall or stop enemy forces and allow the defending force to regain the initiative.
Next is flexibility. Defensive operations require flexible plans that anticipate enemy actions and allocates resources accordingly. Squad and platoon leaders must be able to shift the main effort of their defense as circumstances require it. They must establish battle positions in depth and use reserves in spoiling attacks and counterattacks to not only disrupt the enemy's attack but also allow their force to transition to offensive operations. OICs conducting a mobile defense must be mentally nimble enough to shift forces and adjust plans on very short notice.
Then we come to maneuver. Maneuver allows the defending force to achieve and exploit a position of advantage over an enemy force. During the course of defensive operations, platoon and squad leaders need to seek opportunities to maneuver against the attacking force into positions That will result in slowing or stopping the enemy attack and the commiserate shifting of the initiative of the initial attacking force to the force that is initially defending.
Next is mass. Mass is the concentration of combat power for a single purpose. With defensive operations that purpose is to focus and concentrate the effects of defensive direct and or indirect fires against the enemy so as to allow the defenders to seize the initiative. Defenders can give up ground to gain time that allows them to mass and concentrate direct and or indirect fire effects on critical points of the enemy's offensive operations.
Toward that end, the platoon and or squad leaders will use surveillance and recon assets to ascertain the strength and disposition of enemy forces and to mitigate the risk of mass casualty events. Platoon and squad leaders also determine when and how to employ reserves. The OIC of these units can employ their reserve to exploit counterattack opportunities, to regain local fire superiority, to preserve the integrity of the unit's defense, and to preserve their force.
And then we come to operations in depth. Commanders plan their operations in depth. They create favorable conditions on the Milsim battlefield by disrupting enemy long range fires, sustainment, and command and control. These disruptions weaken enemy forces and will likely prevent the enemy from achieving early success. Operations in depth can largely prevent enemy forces from maintaining their battlefield tempo. In turn, this undermines the enemy's efforts to synchronize their attacks.
And then we come to preparation. Defending units prepare their areas of operation before attacking enemy forces even arrive or they establish the defense behind another force conducting security operations. Platoon and squad leaders should deploy forward and flank security elements to protect their units from surprise. To prepare a proper defense, platoon and squad leaders must study the terrain, must study enemy forces and combine natural and manmade obstacles to canalize attacking forces into engagement areas or kill sacks.
In addition, platoon leaders and squad leaders need to emplace surveillance and observation assets throughout their respective areas of operation to provide intelligence and early warning of enemy actions. Similarly, the unit OIC must position organic fire support and other combat multipliers to support their defensive plans.
Finally, defensive forces must improve their survivability of their units by fortifying their defensive positions using camouflage and dispersing units in an effort to avoid mass casualty events. Unit OICs must also maintain protection largely through the use of area security as well as security operations to prevent enemy intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets from determining the location, strength, and weaknesses of defending units. These operations also serve to provide early warning to continuously disrupt enemy attacks and efforts to preserve combat power.
Now, defensive operations are typically built around three different types of defenses. They are the area defense, the mobile defense, and the retrograde based defense. So let's talk about the area defense first.
The area defense focuses on retaining terrain where the bulk of the defending force positions itself in mutually supporting prepared positions. The defending force uses these prepared positions to control the terrain between them. The decisive operation in an area defense is defeating the enemy attack within the engagement area. Commanders draw the enemy into engagement areas wherein defenders destroy them using mass fires, obstacles, and other assets. The area defense is a type of defensive operation that concentrates on denying enemy forces access to particular terrain for a specific time rather than simply destroying the enemy outright.
The focus of an area defense is on retaining terrain where the bulk of the defending force positions itself in mutually supporting and prepared positions. With the area defense, the unit retains terrain by absorbing the enemy into interlocking series of defensive positions where it can be destroyed largely by fires.
A unit OIC should conduct an area defense when the following conditions occur. One, when directed to defend or retain specific terrain. Two, when he does not have the resources to establish a striking force. Three, when his forces have less mobility than the enemy. Four, when the terrain affords natural lines of resistance and limits the enemy to a few well defined avenues of approach. Five, when there is enough time to organize positions and fortify defenses. Six, when terrain constraints and lack of friendly air superiority limits a striking force's options in a mobile defense to a few probable deployment options.
The area defense retains dominance over a given geographical location. A unit does this by employing fortified defensive lines, the use of a screening force to provide early warning of any actions by the enemy, and a reserve element to react to unexpected enemy actions and or to reinforce defensive positions. Pre plotted indirect fires and close air support missions are also essential.
Units maintain positions to control the terrain between enemy forces and the terrain the enemy is seeking to seize or occupy. In an area defense, defenders focus their collective fires and any counterattacks. against the enemy in specific engagement areas designated by their unit OIC. Toward that end, unit OICs can use their reserve to reinforce fires, add depth, block, or restore a position by counterattack to seize the initiative and destroy enemy forces.
Now, an engagement area is an area where the unit OIC intends to contain and destroy an enemy force with the massed effects of all weapons and supporting systems available to him or her. In the area defense, commanders shape the enemy approach and direct enemy formations into the engagement areas. They then concentrate overwhelming combat power in a focused area to defeat an enemy attack.
The unit OIC utilizes seven steps to determine where to place engagement areas. They are to identify all likely enemy avenues of approach, to determine likely enemy schemes of maneuver, to determine where the OIC wants to kill the enemy force, to plan and integrate obstacles such as wire and mines, to emplace weapon systems, to plan and integrate indirect fires and back brief or rehearse the missions of units assigned to that engagement area.
At the small unit level, an area defense typically employs three squads or teams and rotates them through three tasks responsibilities…manning the line, manning the reserve and patrolling forward. Each squad or team will take turns conducting these responsibilities on a two hour shift basis.
It is important to note that an effective air defense relies on defense in depth. Defense in depth is essentially a defense where your forces are in place and concentric rings around the objective to be defended during the attack. The outer rings weaken the enemy attack before moving inward to other defensive positions, located closer to the objective being defended. Eventually, the defenders will reach what I call a final defensive or hard line, where the defenders will hold their position and will no longer give up terrain as part of their defense. The area defense is probably the most common form of defensive operation that you will encounter on the Milsim battlefield.
So now we get to the mobile defense. Unlike the area defense, the mobile defense focuses on the movement of enemy forces instead of on the terrain. In a mobile defense, the counter attack by the striking force is the decisive operation. The more commanders know about the enemy situation, the more they can wait the counter attack.
The mobile defense is a type of defensive operation that concentrates on the destruction or defeat of the enemy. Through a decisive attack by a striking force the mobile defense focuses on defeating or destroying enemy forces by allowing them to advance to a point where they are exposed to a decisive counterattack by the striking force.
The mobile defense is based on two elements, a fixing force and a striking force. A fixing force is the element designated to fixing or preventing the enemy from moving away from a specific area for a specific period of time. The unit OIC commits the minimum possible combat power to its fixing force that is necessary to conduct shaping operations to control the depth and breadth of the enemy advance.
A Fixing Force supplements a Striking Force by fixing attacking enemy forces in place, by canalizing and attacking enemy forces into ambush kill zones, and/or by retaining areas from which the striking force will launch its decisive counter attack. As a result, the fixing force has most of the unit's counter mobility assets.
In contrast, theStriking Force is the element designated to destroy the enemy through a flanking attack or counterattack. Of these two elements, the bulk of the mobile defense's combat power is in the Striking Force. The Striking Force decisively engages the enemy as he becomes exposed in his attempts to defeat the Fixing Force.
The term Striking Force is used rather than reserve because the term reserve indicates that it is an uncommitted force. The Striking Force is a committed force that has the resources to conduct a decisive counterattack. Such a counterattack is the decisive action of the Mobile Defense. The Striking Force contains the maximum combat power available to the unit OIC at the time of its counterattack.
The Striking Force is a combined arms force that has greater combat power and mobility than the enemy unit is seeking to defeat or destroy. The Striking Force is the key to a successful Mobile Defense. If the opportunity does not exist to decisively commit the striking force, the unit OIC repositions his forces to establish the conditions for success.
The tactics used in the execution of a mobile defense divides it into essentially five phases. The duration and nature of each phase, if it occurs at all, varies as the situation on the ground changes. These phases are the gain and maintain contact with the enemy, disrupt the enemy, fix the enemy, maneuver to destroy the enemy, and follow through.
So first we're going to talk about gain and maintain enemy contact. The unit OIC conducting a mobile defense focuses on ascertaining the exact location and strength of the enemy to facilitate the effectiveness of the striking force. The unit's security elements (guard or cover) or the fixing force confirms the enemy's course of action and main avenues of approach.
Disrupt the Enemy. The unit OIC conducts shaping operations designed to shape the enemy's penetration into the main battle area and to disrupt the enemy's ability to inject fresh forces into the fight. These shaping operations also help establish the conditions for committing the striking force by destroying the enemy's command and control, communications, and supply lines, and reserves. This is done to generate a tempo to hopefully paralyze enemy command and control. The intensity of shaping operations may increase dramatically at the time the striking force is committed to destroying the enemy.
Fixing the enemy is the second part of shaping operations with the intent of establishing conditions necessary for conducting a decisive operation by the striking force. The unit OIC allows the enemy to penetrate into the defensive area of operations before committing the striking force to its counterattack.
Next is maneuver. The unit OIC uses its situational awareness to mask its forces, i.e., the striking force at a time in place where they will be most effective against the enemy and to maximize their chances of success. The unit OIC will attempt to portray that his unit is engaging in an area defense while hiding the existence and location of the striking force from the enemy.
And then finally you have follow through. All defensive operations are intended to create an opportunity for defending units to transition to offensive operations. With a mobile defense, that transitional opportunity occurs immediately following the success of the striking force's counterattack. When this occurs, the unit OIC exploits this success and attempts to establish conditions for a pursuit. For a more in depth discussion of the pursuit, listen to last week's episode.
Because the mobile defense relies on multiple engagements throughout the area of operations, while simultaneously resourcing striking, fixing, and reserve elements, smaller units such as platoons or squads are not typically task organized as the striking element. Instead, smaller units generally conduct area defenses or delaying actions as part of the fixing force. Alternatively, smaller units can constitute a portion of the reserve element.
Unlike the area and mobile defense, the retrograde based defense is focused on movement of friendly forces. The retrograde is a type of defensive operation that involves organized movement away from the enemy. A unit OIC may voluntarily perform this defense or the enemy force may dictate this defense for him. Usually, the retrograde defense is only performed when authorized by the commander of the higher echelon units. Because a retrograde defense is not conducted in isolation, it is most often performed by a company or larger units.
In any event, there are three flavors of the retrograde defense. They are the delay, the withdrawal, and the retirement. So let's talk about delay first. A delay is when a force under pressure trades space for time by slowing down the enemy's momentum and inflicting maximum damage on enemy forces without itself becoming decisively engaged. With a delay, Defending units trade ground to gain time while retaining flexibility and freedom of action to inflict maximum damage on pursuing enemy forces.
While the enemy gains access to vacated ground, defending forces have time to conduct necessary operations while retaining freedom of maneuver. The delay in action can best be summed up with the phrase, hit hard, then move.
A delay has three components. First is the ability to stop or slow the enemy's momentum while avoiding decisive engagement. Second is the ability to degrade the enemy's combat power. And third is the ability to maintain a mobility advantage.
There are two types of delaying operations at the small unit level. They are delay within a sector and delaying forward of a specific line for a specified time. With the delay within a sector, a unit is tasked with delaying the enemy in a specific sector. This form of delay is normally assigned to a unit when force preservation is the highest priority and whether there is considerable depth in the area of operations.
With the delay forward of a specified line and for a specified time, the unit operates forward of a specific line or other control measure designated by the parent unit's OIC and usually for a specified period of time. This form of delay is typically performed by battalion or larger echelon units as part of a shaping operation of a larger battle plan. As such, you're unlikely to see this form of delay on most MIlsim battlefields.
A withdrawal is when the defending force disengages from enemy forces. And moves in a direction away from the enemy. Withdrawing units, whether all or part of a committed force, voluntarily disengages from the enemy force to preserve the withdrawing force or release it for a new mission.
A retirement is when a force out of contact moves away from the enemy. In each variation of a retrograde, a force not in contact with an enemy force moves to another location…normally by tactical road march.
So now that we've talked about the foundation of defensive operations, let's talk in detail about defensive operations by platoons and smaller units. With these smaller units especially, defensive operations are usually built around battle positions. This is especially true for conducting an area defense.
A battle position is a defensive location oriented on a likely enemy avenue of approach. Unit OICs select battle positions based on terrain, enemy capabilities, and friendly capabilities. The unit occupying a given battle position prepares fighting positions for its troops. weapon systems, vehicles, and supplies to accomplish its mission. Battle positions need to be positioned so that each member of a unit can provide support to troops in nearby battle positions and should have covered ingress and egress routes so that troops can move to, from, or between battle positions.
Units as large as battalion task forces and as small as squads use battle positions. Unit OICs decide under what conditions specific troops under his or her command can displace from a given battle position. This is to maintain mutual support between battle positions for as long as possible.
Especially with an area defense, battle positions need to be positioned with interlocking fields of fire. What this means is that every battle position has supporting fire to its immediate front, from the fighting positions to its left and to its right. Interlocking fire ensures that regardless of what section of the defense the enemy attacks, it will be engaged by a minimum of three fighting positions simultaneously.
Now there are five different types of battle positions. They are the primary, alternate, supplementary, subsequent, and strongpoint battle positions. The primary battle position is the position that covers the enemy's most likely avenue of approach into the unit's area of operations. It is the best position from which to accomplish the defensive mission, such as the overwatch of an engagement area to prevent enemy penetration.
An alternate battle position is a defensive position that the commander assigns to a unit or weapon system for occupation when the primary position becomes untenable or unsuitable for carrying out the unit or weapons assigned task. The unit commander locates alternate positions so that troops occupying them can continue to fulfill their original task, such as covering the same avenue of approach or engagement area as the primary position. Alternate battle positions increase a defending unit's survivability by allowing the defending force to engage the enemy from multiple positions.
A supplementary battle position is a defensive position located within a unit's assigned area of operations that provides the best sectors and defensive terrain along the avenue of approach that is not the primary avenue where the enemy is expected to attack. An avenue approach into a unit's AO from one of its flanks normally requires establishing supplementary positions to allow a unit or weapon system to engage enemy forces traveling along that route.
A subsequent battle position is a defensive position that a unit expects to move to during the course of the battle. It is a position to which troops may displace during defensive operations. A defending unit may have a series of subsequent positions. Subsequent positions can also have primary, alternate, and supplementary positions associated with them.
And then finally, a strong point is a heavily fortified battle position tied to a natural or reinforcing obstacle to create an anchor for the defense or to deny the enemy access to decisive or key terrain. Strong points are designed for all around defense.
Essential to the survival of battle positions on the Milsim battlefield is to ensure that they can mutually support each other. Mutual support exists when positions and units support each other by direct and indirect fires, thereby preventing an enemy force from attacking one position without receiving fire from one or more adjacent positions. Mutual support increases the strength of all defensive positions, prevents defeat in detail, and helps prevent enemy infiltration between positions. Battle positions achieve the maximum degree of mutual support when they are located to observe or monitor the ground between the positions or when they conduct patrols to prevent any enemy infiltration. At night or during periods of limited visibility, OICs may position smaller units closer together to retain the advantages of mutual support.
To be successful during defensive operations, the unit OIC seeks to defeat the attacks of enemy forces by attracting those forces with repeated unexpected engagements before they can conduct their final assaults on friendly defensive positions. When their attack fails, enemy forces will likely attempt to withdraw or transition to the defense in the face of defender counterattacks. If an enemy force succeeds in overrunning a key defensive position, the defending force must counterattack to restore defensive integrity before the enemy can establish a defensive position or exploit its success.
The biggest advantage to a unit OIC conducting defensive operations is exploiting the advantages of terrain where engagement with the enemy will take place. A defending force engages the attacker from terrain positions that provide it with an advantage. These terrain features that favor the defense include: one, a series of parallel ridges that lie perpendicular to the enemy's axis of advance. Two, unfordable streams, swamps, lakes, rivers, or any other obstacles on the defending unit's front and flanks. Three, high ground with good observation and long-range fields of fire. Four, concealed movement routes immediately behind established defensive positions. Five, limited road or trail network in front of the defender's line of contact which confines an enemy force to predictable avenues of approach. And then finally, six. A good road or trail network behind the defender's line of contact that allows an OIC to reposition his forces as the battle progresses.
One of the more significant dangers to defensive operations is enemy penetrations. Unit OICs must use all available means to contain or destroy enemy penetrations. In an area defense, commanders block and eliminate penetrations as quickly as possible. In a mobile defense, Unit OICs may allow a significant penetration in order to position attackers for destruction by the striking force.
Unit OICs must also be ready to shift their main effort to counter enemy actions and create conditions. That favor decisive operations. This may require adjusting boundaries, repeatedly committing and reconstituting reserves and executing branches to the original plan.
Now, as we have already discussed, the primary goal of defensive operations is to seize the initiative and transition to offensive operations. If the defense is successful, the unit OIC anticipates and attempts to transition to offensive operations. This transition from one type of operation to another requires mental agility on the part of the unit OICs, as well as an accurate understanding of the situation on the ground. The unit OIC deliberately plans for sequential operations during the course of conducting defensive operations to assist in the transition process and sending the conditions necessary for a successful transition. Opportunities to do so arise when the enemy attack stalls and or the enemy forces are overextended.
Here are some indicators that the enemy is overextended. One. Enemy forces begin to transition to defensive operations. This transition may be by enemy forces in or out of contact with defending forces. Two. Enemy forces have sustained heavy casualties. Three. Enemy forces start to deploy before they encounter defenders. Four. Enemy forces have been defeated in most of their engagements. Five. Enemy forces are committed piecemeal to continuing attacks. Six. Enemy close air support is used in place of ineffective ground forces. Seven. Enemy reserves are observed in the attacking force. Eight. Evidence in the field indicates that the enemy can no longer sustain itself, i.e., enemy appears to be short on ammunition, water, food, etc. Nine. The tempo of enemy operations has noticeably slowed. Ten. Local counterattacks against enemy forces meet with unexpected success.
It is especially important that the transition to offensive operations takes place before the enemy can reset and reconsolidate. Remember that a large number of enemy players will regenerate shortly after a failed attack once they either revive in place or at an event determined assembly area or casualty collection point.
You should transition to offensive operations and push the enemy until it is still weakened, but be careful not to overextend your attack to the point where your flanks are exposed.
So I hope this episode has helped explain the concept of defensive operations on a tactical level on the Milsim battlefield. The main takeaways I would like you to remember from this episode is that defense is not a final goal in and of its own right. It is intended to be a temporary operation until defending forces can repel an attack and engage in a counterattack to seize the initiative and transition to offensive operations. Offensive operations are the means of defeating the enemy and prevailing on the Milsim battlefield.
Once the enemy attack slows drastically or stops, the enemy has lost freedom of movement and likely its situational awareness. This is the time to counterattack hard with combined arms to render him combat ineffective and to create the opportunity to seize key terrain and or objectives previously lost to the enemy.
I hope you've enjoyed this episode. Tune in next week when we're going to discuss force multipliers and how to achieve more with less manpower. If you have any topics you would like to see covered in future episodes of Tactical Tuesday, please let us know by posting it on the Modern Milsim Facebook page. If it's not one of the topics we are already planning to cover, we will likely add it to our ever growing topic list.
If you like this podcast, please subscribe to it on Apple Podcasts. Spotify, Google Podcasts, as well as many other podcast directories. As always, thank you for your support, and I'll see you in our next episode. See you then.
To our listeners out there, thank you for tuning in and I look forward to providing you with new episodes every two weeks. If you like what you're hearing on this podcast, please subscribe and provide us with a review. We want to know what you like and how we can improve. You can also contact us on our Facebook page at Facebook.com/ModernMilSim with any suggestions you may have. In our next episode of Tactical Tuesday, we will discuss force multipliers and how to achieve more with less manpower.
If you want to know more about application of real world tactics, techniques and procedures to MilSim, please check out From Alpha to Omega: a Milsim Tactical Primer and Training Manual, as well as From Insertion to Extraction: Advanced CQB Tactics, Techniques and Procedures. Both books are available at Amazon.com. As always, thank you for your support, and I'll see you at our next installment of Tactical Tuesday.
TRANSCRIPTION PERFORMED BY DESCRIPT.COM