In this bonys episode of Tactical Tuesday with Modern Milsim, we discuss "tactical" acronyms and their impact on the MILSIM Battlefield. Specifically, we discuss:
A new episode of Tactical Tuesdays is 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 bonys episode of Tactical Tuesday with Modern Milsim, we discuss "tactical" acronyms and their impact on the MILSIM Battlefield. Specifically, we discuss:
A new episode of Tactical Tuesdays is 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 - BONUS EPISODE 1 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 our first bonus episode of Tactical Tuesday with Modern MilSim. I am your host, Craig White. As always, thank you for being here. There are now ten episodes of Tactical Tuesday with Modern MilSim, with many more yet to come. To celebrate this initial milestone, and to thank you for your support, I've decided to do a bonus episode concerning the more common tactical acronyms used by the military.
I call them tactical acronyms because they act as a checklist to help us remember the steps or tasks that relate to particular tactics, techniques and procedures. I know they help remind me of some of the steps I need to do for particular techniques and procedures. I hope they'll do the same for you. So let's get to it.
So let's start with “SALUTE”. S A L U T E. Salute provides leaders and other players with important information regarding enemy contact. The enemy contact can be soft, such as when troops can observe the enemy but are not engaged or hard where troops are actually engaged with the enemy. So let's talk about what each letter of salute stands for.
S stands for the size of the enemy force. Size can be described as the actual number of troops or the size of the unit being observed such as a squad or a platoon, etc. A is the activity that the enemy is engaging in when it is being observed by friendlies. If the enemy is moving, be sure to give a direction to their movement so that higher command can better determine where they are moving to. L stands for the description of the location where the enemy troops are located. This can be described by a grid coordinate or in relation to a well known landmark. U stands for the uniform the enemy is wearing. This is important when you're attempting to identify specialty units such as special forces. T stands for the time when the observation of the enemy takes place. This can be expressed in how long ago the enemy was observed. If the unit is currently in contact with the enemy, time can be expressed as time is now. And then finally E stands for the equipment that the enemy is observed carrying or using. This includes the description and number of weapons and specialized equipment you observed the enemy using or carrying. Typically salute reports are provided via radio to friendly leaders. It is a concise way to get pertinent information up the chain of command so that leaders can make informed decisions.
So here's a quick example of how a salute report is given over the radio. Alpha 6, Alpha 6, this is Alpha 2-6 over. Alpha 6 responds with send your traffic Alpha 2-6. And here's where Alpha 2-6 actually provides the salute report. Alpha 6, we observe a squad of nine packs moving northwest in Desert Tiger Strike BDUs with assault rifles. Now, by listening to this, you can see how the salute report makes things very concise over the radio. Command gets exactly what they need to know what the enemy force is doing and where they are and where they're moving, and it also frees up bandwidth on the command net.
So, let's move on to the next acronym, and that's “SLLS”. S L L S. SLLS is a very important acronym that pertains to a technique for maintaining situational awareness and locating the enemy on the battlefield. It is called the S. L. L. S. Check. S. L. L. S. stands for Stop, Look, Listen, and Smell. A SLLS check should be conducted by a unit whenever it stops moving for any period of time.
First, the unit must completely stop movement of any kind and remain silent. Second, each member of the unit looks for signs of enemy movement, enemy presence, or anything that is out of place. Third, each member of the unit listens to become more attuned to the environment and to make it more likely that he or she may hear signs of the enemy and possibly the direction of its location. Remember that sometimes absence of sound can be just as telling as the sound itself. Finally, each member of the unit attempts to pick up the smell of the five Fs. Food, fuel, fire, feces, and freshly turned earth. Typically, this aspect of the SLLS check has less relevance to MILSIM operations than in the real world.
With the exception of 24 hour operations where players must cook their own meals in the field, it is unlikely the players will detect any of the five Fs. As the unit approaches an objective or anticipated enemy contact, It needs to stop more frequently to conduct SLLS checks.
A SLLS check will last as long as the OIC deems it necessary. It's typically less than three to five minutes. The whole point of the SLLS check is to prevent the unit from unexpectedly running into the enemy.
So the next acronym on our list is “GOTWA”, G O T W A. Whenever a unit is split into two or more sections, such as when a leader or a small element leaves the unit, the leader of the departed element provides a five point contingency plan to the OIC of the remaining unit. Think of when the OIC leaves the ORP, or the operational rally point, to inspect an ambushed site with the recon security team and the assault element leader. The OIC gives instructions to the leaders remaining with the main force as to his intentions. The acronym GOTWA is used to remind us of the five points of the contingency plan.
The letters of GOTWA stand for as follows. G stands for where the leader is going. O stands for the others that the leader is taking with him when he leaves the unit. T stands for the time that the leader anticipates he will return to his unit. W stands for the instructions for what the unit should do if the leader does not return by the prescribed time and A stands for the actions the unit should take if the unit receives enemy contact while the leader is away.
“I'm going to do a leader's recon of the ambush site with the rear security team and assault element leaders. I should be back in 10 minutes. If I do not come back by then, send a squad to locate me. If you are attacked by the enemy while I'm gone, destroy a weaker enemy unit by attack by fire, but break contact with a larger unit and withdraw to rally point 2.”
For purposes of this example, rally point 2 is the location that was previously established by the unit OIC before it reached the operational rally point.
So now we come to the acronym “LACE”. L A C E. A LACE report is conducted after engagement with the enemy. Each player reports to his squad or fireteam leader his physical status as well as the status of his equipment. So here's what the letters of L. A. C. E. stand for. L stands for liquid. This is a reference to the player's water supply. When giving a LACE report, green is good, red is short supply, and black is completely out. A stands for ammunition. Again, green means good, red means the player is short on ammunition, black means he is Winchester or out of ammunition, C stands for casualty. In response to this part of the LACE report, the player indicates whether he is wounded or eliminated. If the player is not hit, he states his name followed by the word up. If he is eliminated, the player must state his name followed by the word down or medic to indicate that he must be revived. E stands for equipment. Each player must indicate whether his weapon or any other equipment is malfunctioning or jammed, etc. For example, Johnson is up, I'm red on water, and green on ammo. Weapons and equipment are green.
The acronym “URBAN”, U R B A N, represents the basic principles of movement in urban terrain. So let's talk about what each letter of this acronym stands for. U stands for using cover whenever possible. Using cover in this context means that the OIC of your unit should use covered routes, including buildings, to move in urban terrain. The unit needs to use routes that will not block or mask suppressive fire from friendly overwatching units. Use smoke to conceal movement while your unit crosses streets or other spaces between buildings. Whenever possible, move between the buildings only when other friendly forces are providing suppressing fire on the enemy.
R stands for reducing your target size while in static or stopped positions. Examples of reducing your target size is to avoid silhouetting yourself, and to avoid standing in front of doorways or windows. Use concealment provided by shaded areas to prevent enemy detection. Finally, take a knee or go prone when your unit stops.
B stands for bypassing doors, windows, and corners. While moving to a target building, the unit should move and file along one or both sides of the street with overwatching fire from support weapons. As the lead man of the file comes to a window, door, or building corner, he holds cover over the danger area within the building or around the corner without telegraphing his position with the muzzle of his weapon. As he does so, the next person in the file takes on the lead man of the formation. Once the formation passes the danger area in question, the player covering that danger area rejoins the formation at the rear.
A stands for avoiding bunching or bogging down. You need to maintain dispersion between you and your buddies. Bogging down occurs when a leader cannot make a decision and or where the unit comes into enemy contact. The unit must avoid remaining in a static position too long because that may allow the enemy to gain the initiative and surround the unit. The unit should also avoid bunching up because it decreases unit security and situational awareness. By bunching up, the unit will make itself a tempting target. A single support weapon burst or a grenade may eliminate most, if not all, of a bunched up unit.
N stands for navigating to your objective by using routes where there is a low percentage of enemy contact. The OIC should select a route to the objective that is less traveled and less slighted to avoid contact with the enemy.
“SPARC”, S P A R C, is another important acronym. It represents the instructions that the OIC needs to provide players when they are being emplaced as part of an ambush. The letters of SPARK stand for the following.
S. The OIC needs to indicate to each player, the left and right margins of his sector by pointing out landmarks that represent the limit on each side.
P stands for priority of targets. The OIC must indicate to each player, what targets are a priority and must be engaged first. For example, the OIC can instruct the player to engage support gunners first. Followed by the designated marksmen, snipers, and riflemen in that order. For an anti-tank ambush, the OIC can make a particular vehicle a priority target.
A stands for assault line. The OIC needs to instruct each player in the assault element which lane they will need to use while assaulting through the kill zone. That reduces the possibility that a player may stray into the path of his neighbor and mask or block his fire into the kill zone during the assault phase of the ambush.
R stands for rate of fire. For Riflemen, the OIC will need to instruct them whether to engage the enemy with automatic or semi automatic fire. For Support Gunners, the OIC needs to instruct each one of them regarding whether to engage the enemy with rapid, sustained, or cyclic rate of fire.
C stands for Concealed Position. The OIC must ensure that each player is properly concealed and is not visible to enemy as they approach and enter the ambush kill zone. This is to ensure That the unit maintains concealment until when the ambush is initiated. This increases the chance that the enemy unit will be completely surprised by the ambush and cannot properly react to it.
Now, closely related to SPARK is “PINPOINT”. P I N P O I N T. The OIC uses this acronym when he does his initial recon of the ambush site to determine whether it is appropriate location for it. So let's talk about what the letters of pinpoint stand for.
P means that the OIC must pinpoint the location and verify the overall suitability of it for an ambush. I means the OIC must then identify the left, right, and center of the ambush kill zone. N means there are no obstacles that can block, fire, or assault movement between friendly forces at each point within the kill zone. P means to locate poplars, in other words trees, near the kill zone where to emplace claymores. This step can be skipped where the unit has no claymores to emplace. O means that the OIC ensures that each player in the ambush zone has clear lines of fire throughout the entire kill zone. The next I means for the OIC to identify the positions for the support and then for the assault elements of the ambush. The next N means that there is no dead space between the support and assault elements of the ambush and the kill zone. T means that the OIC must travel to identify the left and right side security team positions for the ambush.
So now we come to “BLAST”. B L A S T BLAST is an acronym that represents the task that each player must perform once the unit completes an assault through an objective, completes the assault phase of a near ambush, and similar attacks.
As the unit reaches its limit of advanced, or LOA, he checks off each element of the BLAST acronym. So this is what each letter of BLAST stands for.
B stands for Blood Check/Sweep. For MILSIM purposes, this simply means that the player must announce that he is hit so that the medic can come and revive him. L means that the player must turn off any lights that he was using during the assault. Once the LOA is reached, the lights act as targets for enemy fire, and by implication, you become a target as well. A stands for Ace Reports. Ace Reports are simply a lace report that drops the L. We're talking about ammunition, casualties, and equipment. S means that all support weapons, including SAWS, must be facing out with interlocking sectors of fire. This is to ensure that if the enemy should counter attack, They will run into interlocking fields of fire by multiple SAWs. T means that each player must perform a tactical reload to ensure that he has swapped out an empty magazine or partially full magazine for a full one, in case the enemy decides to counterattack.
So our next acronym we're going to be dealing with is “METT-TC”. M E T T T C. METT-TC is an acronym used to designate the considerations for operational planning. Typically, operational planning is conducted by an officer. or other leader in the force.
So the first letter M stands for mission. This is the mission that the unit is required to accomplish.
E stands for enemy. What enemy is expected by the unit as it attempts to accomplish its mission? In other words, what is the likely enemy contact going to be? And what is it going to look like?
The first T stands for terrain. What terrain will the unit encounter while attempting to accomplish its mission and how will that terrain affect the unit's ability to complete it?
The second T stands for troops available. What troops does the unit have available to complete the mission?
The third T stands for time available. How much time does the unit have to complete the mission?
And then finally, C. C stands for civilian considerations. Unless the event involves civilian role players, this part of METC is not really applicable. And just to be clear on this, METT-TC is not normally used by individual soldiers or players during the event. It's typically utilized by leaders to determine what and how they're going to be able to accomplish their mission. They also have to decide what issues will have an impact or bearing on whether and how the mission will be performed. And so that really encompasses the things we just talked about. Like I said, METT-TC stands for Mission Enemy Terrain Troops and Time Available. That's what you need to consider.
So then we have reached our last tactical acronym, and that is “SOSRA”. S O S R A. SOSRA is a reminder of the fundamentals of breaching an obstacle, such as simulated minefields, wire, and tank traps. These fundamentals are Suppress, Obscure, Secure, Reduce, and Assault. So let's talk about each one of these fundamentals separately.
S is for suppress. In this context, suppression is the use of direct or indirect fires on enemy troops, weapons, or equipment to prevent or degrade enemy fires and observation of unfriendly forces. Specifically, the support element for the breaching force uses suppression to protect the breaching assault elements of the breaching force. The breaching element is the one reducing, in other words, removing the obstacle. The assaulting element then assaults through the breach to eliminate enemy on the other side. We'll dive deeper into breaching obstacles in a later episode of this podcast.
O is for obscure the support and breach elements you smoke to obscure the breach elements, positions from the enemy, the obscuration of the breach elements position by smoke hampers the enemy's observation and target acquisition. It also conceals friendly activity and movement. It is especially important to deploy smoke between the reduction area and the enemy. For purpose of this discussion, the reduction area is the area immediately around the obstacle that friendly forces are attempting to breach or remove. This provides maximum obscuration for the breaching force. Keep in mind that obscuration cuts both ways. If the enemy cannot see you, you probably can't see them either.
The second S of SOSRA stands for secure. Friendly forces, i. e. the breaching force, Secures the reduction area to prevent the enemy from interfering with the removal or reduction of the obstacle in question, or the assault element's movement through the lanes created by reduction or removal of the obstacle in question. Usually, indirect fires are used to secure the far side of the obstacle by fixing the enemy's positions, attacking the enemy forces in depth, or if the event provides for it, counter fire support against the enemy.
R stands for reduction. Reduction is the creation of lanes through or over the obstacle to allow friendly forces in the form of the assault element to assault through the breach. The lanes must be sufficiently large enough to allow the assault force to pass through them quickly. If the assault force gets bogged down in the breaching lanes, They're very vulnerable to both enemy indirect fires and counter attack.
And finally, we have a, A stands for assault. Once the obstacle is reduced, the assault element assaults through the breach. It then destroys enemy on the far side of the obstacle that is capable of placing or observing direct or indirect fires on the reduction area.
The breaching operation is not complete until friendly forces have secured the terrain on both sides of the obstacle in question. Now you have probably noticed that I have left out one very important tactical acronym. OCOKA. O C O K A. That was intentional. I will be addressing that one as part of our next regular episode when we discuss terrain analysis and how you can use it to gain advantage over the enemy.
I hope you've enjoyed this bonus episode of Tactical Tuesdays with Modern MilSim. I will try to sneak some more in from time to time. I really appreciate your support of the podcast and I look forward to providing you with quality content concerning tactics techniques and procedures that are adapted for the MilSim battlefield.
We're just scratching the surface. There's a lot more to come. For now, I'll see you at our next episode of Terrain Analysis. 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 we will discuss terrain analysis and how to use it to your advantage on the battlefield.
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.
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