Tactical Tuesday Episode Eighteen - Offensive Operations: Seizing Objectives Through Smart Use of Your Forces

In this episode of Tactical Tuesday with Modern Milsim, we discuss offensive operations including seizing objectives through smart use of your forces on the MILSIM battlefield.  Specifically, we discuss:

• Definition of Offensive Operations (1:15)
• Characteristics of Offensive Operations (4:08)
• Forms of Maneuver (9:30)
• Envelopment (10:02)
• Turning Movement (11:46)
• Infiltration (12:12)
• Penetration (13:07)
• Frontal Attack (14:04) 
• Forms of Offensive Tasks (15:14)
• Movement to Contact (16:14)
• Approach March (19:43) 
• Search and Attack (20:26) 
• Hasty Attack (24:55)
• Deliberate Attack (25:58)
• Spoiling Attack (27:35)
• Counterattack (28:08)
• Feint (28:36)
• Exploitation (30:32)
• Pursuit (31:09)
• and more.

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

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Chapters

• 1:15 Definition of Offensive Operations
• 4:08 Characteristics of Offensive Operations
• 9:30 Forms of Maneuver
• 10:02 Envelopment
• 11:46 Turning Movement
• 12:12 Infiltration
• 13:07 Penetration
• 14:04 Frontal Attack
• 15:14 Forms of Offensive Tasks
• 16:14 Movement to Contact
• 19:43 Approach March
• 20:26 Search and Attack
• 24:55 Hasty Attack
• 25:58 Deliberate Attack
• 27:35 Spoiling Attack
• 28:08 Counterattack
• 28:36 Feint
• 30:32 Exploitation
• 31:09 Pursuit

Transcript

TACTICAL TUESDAY WITH MODERN MILSIM – EPISODE 18 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 eighteen of Tactical Tuesday with Modern MilSim. As always, I'm your host, Craig White. Thank you for being here. I've had a good holiday break. I hope you have too. During that time, I thought of additional land warfare topics to discuss. That will help fill out or build on the topics we have already discussed.  I expect we'll get to those topics in several upcoming episodes before we transition into discussing close quarters battle and related issues. So today we're going to discuss offensive operations including forms of attack and how to fix and flank the enemy. So let's get to it. 

So what are offensive operations?  Offensive operations are actions conducted to defeat and destroy enemy forces as well as to seize terrain, resources, and population centers. It is a means for the unit commander to exercise initiative and to impose his will on the enemy. These operations include efforts to throw the enemy off balance, to disrupt enemy defenses, to seize or secure key terrain, to deceive or divert the enemy, to keep developing intelligence, to fix the enemy in place, and any other operation that serves to destroy, degrade, and or defeat the enemy.

Central to offensive operations is that the unit OIC must seize and exploit the initiative against the enemy. As such, specific offensive operations may focus or orient on specific enemy forces or trained features as a means of affecting the enemy. Even when conducting primarily defensive actions, friendly unit commanders must seize the initiative before successfully transitioning to offensive operations.

Effective offensive operations capitalize on accurate intelligence regarding the strength and the disposition of enemy, terrain, and potentially civilian considerations. Unit OICs seek to maneuver their forces to advantageous positions before making contact with the enemy. While maneuvering his unit, the platoon or squad leader strives to prevent the enemy from acquiring accurate intel about his location of movements not only for force protection, but also to make sure the enemy leader sees only what the OIC wants him to see.

Although unit OICs may use smaller offensive operations to shape conditions on the Milsim battlefield by deliberately making contact with the enemy to develop a situation in the field and or to mislead the enemy. The Decisive Offensive Operation is a sudden, shattering action directed at enemy weaknesses that capitalizes on speed, surprise, and shock.  If the initial operation does not immediately destroy the enemy, operations continue until enemy forces disintegrate or retreat to where they are no longer a threat. The OIC must execute offensive operations violently and without hesitation to break the enemy's will and to destroy him. 

So if you have been following the topics discussed in previous episodes of this podcast, you can see how they tie together.  Unit OICs use recon assets to locate the enemy and decipher its weaknesses before moving to attack or ambush it. Offensive actions against the enemy are prosecuted by extreme violence of action to destroy the enemy while also achieving other objectives such as seizing key terrain and the like.

Although offensive operations apply to both the operational and tactical levels in Milsim combat, today we're going to focus on the tactical level. And when I say tactical level, I'm referring to offensive operations conducted by platoons or smaller units. We'll circle back to discussing offensive operations at the operational level in a later episode of this podcast.

So before we get to the details of offensive operations, we need to discuss the four characteristics that are common to them. These characteristics are surprise, mass, tempo, and audacity. So let's talk about each of these characteristics in more detail. Okay, so the first characteristic of offensive operations is surprise.  To maximize the effectiveness of offensive operations, the platoon or squad leader must seek to attack the enemy at unexpected times or places and or in a manner for which he is unprepared. As you can imagine, unpredictability and boldness in actions taken by the unit OIC helps to gain surprise.

Similarly, the direction, timing, and the force of the attack can also facilitate surprise. The whole point of surprise is to take the enemy off guard and to cause hesitation that can be exploited to destroy the enemy with a minimum of casualties. Surprise typically delays enemy reaction, overloads or confuses enemy leaders, and reduces the coherence of the enemy defense.  When the surprise is great enough to result in enemy paralysis, friendly forces are more likely to exploit through an ineffective defense and to surround the enemy. Enveloping the enemy allows the friendly forces to attack the enemy from multiple directions that with the exception of bunkers and strong points prevents them from effectively using cover.

The unit OIC can also create surprise by changing the tempo of offensive operations. Typically, this is achieved by speeding up offensive operations so that his forces are executing inside the enemy's OODA loop. In other words, the enemy cannot keep up with the tempo of friendly forces, and as a result it is reacting to the actions of those forces instead of finding ways to seize the initiative on its side.

An OIC may also attempt to surprise the enemy by concealing the concentration of his forces. For example, a platoon leader may use one squad to perform recon while the remaining two squads remain concealed. An enemy squad, thinking it may have the advantage, may engage the recon element. Surprise is achieved when the other two friendly squads attack the enemy squad unexpectedly from a differing direction.

All of a sudden, the enemy is being counterattacked by a superior force that it did not realize was there. Now, it is often difficult to achieve complete surprise over the enemy during a MILSIM event, because both sides know the date and time that each side will commence offensive operations. However, creating any level of surprise in the enemy will increase the likelihood of an attack's success.

So now let's talk about mass. Mass is the concentration of combat power for a single purpose. With offensive operations, that purpose is to attack and destroy the enemy. The OIC wants to concentrate his forces at a particular time and place where he can exert maximum combat power on the enemy during the main attack.  That being said, the OIC also does not want to telegraph the attack by massing his forces too early where the enemy can't observe them in time to form a response. Keeping your forces dispersed before an attack not only promotes force protection, but also stretches out the enemy defenses and makes it easier to prevent individual enemy units from supporting each other.

For example, forcing the enemy to spread its defenses into fixed positions. Before the attack makes it easier for a smaller force to fix them in place with either direct or indirect fires while the majority of the unit is attacking the enemy at its weakest point. Keep in mind that mass does not simply mean the number of people involved in the attack.  It also includes all vehicles, close support, and indirect fires. Also keep in mind that the larger the attacking force is, the more difficult it will be to coordinate individual units to mass at the right time and place. 

So the next characteristic we need to talk about is tempo. Tempo is the timing of offensive operations.  Tempo is not simply the speed of an individual attack. Instead, it is the momentum of offensive operations over time. Controlling or altering the tempo of offensive operations is essential to maintaining initiative. The loss of initiative will often result in the stalling or stopping of offensive operations.

At the tactical level, a faster tempo allows attackers to disrupt and overwhelm enemy forces by attacking exposed flanks, widening penetrations to the enemy lines, and other actions that undermine enemy coherence, command, and control. It also allows your forces to more quickly penetrate barriers and defenses so that the enemy can be destroyed in depth before they can react.

Essentially, the OIC never wants to permit the enemy to recover from the shock of the initial attack. Keep the pressure on so that enemy cannot form a counterattack or take other actions to better his situational awareness. and or take the initiative. Keep in mind that the OIC does not want to set the tempo that outstrips the ability of other units to support his unit or cover his flanks.  Too fast of a tempo can result in exposing your flanks to enemy attacking units or the likely shift of initiative as a result. 

So now this brings us to audacity. Audacity means boldly executing a simple plan of action. It is a characteristic that is closely related to tempo. An OIC can demonstrate audacity by violently applying combat power to execute his plan.  OICs take reasonable risk to create opportunities to exploit their unit's attack and to maintain initiative. Offensive operations are typically built around five forms of maneuver. Force Maneuver are distinct tactical combinations of Fire and Maneuver with a unique set of doctrinal characteristics that primarily differ in the relationship between the attacking force and the enemy.

These five forms of Maneuver are the Envelopment, Turning Movement, Infiltration, Penetration, and Frontal Attack. While these five forms of maneuver are normally combined, each one attacks the enemy differently. Each also poses different challenges for the attacker and dangers for the defender. 

So let's talk envelopment first.  At the tactical level, envelopment is essentially moving to attack the enemy's flanks or rear, with a focus on seizing terrain, destroying specific enemy forces, and or interdicting enemy withdrawal routes. With the envelopment, attacking forces avoid engaging the enemy at its front where the enemy can easily concentrate its fires.

As illustrated in earlier episodes of this podcast, components of Battle Drill 1 and Battle Drill 2A involve the use of a base of fire element to fix the enemy in place while another element moves to flank the enemy and destroy it, the base of fire element suppresses the enemy to keep their heads down and to deprive them of situational awareness in an effort to allow the flanking force to attack the enemy from the flank, hopefully by surprise.

That being said, the enemy will sometimes expose their flank by overextending itself by advancing too far.  Often this occurs when the enemy is unaware of attacking forces positioned laterally to its front left or right. When the enemy moves forward to engage these forces directly in front of it, it unwittingly exposes its flank to one or more of the attacking forces.

Attackers may also use close air support and indirect fires to create a assailable enemy flank to attack. Shaping attacks to isolate enemy on unfavorable terrain can also result in creating an enemy flank that is vulnerable to attack. Single envelopments consist of maneuver to one of the enemy's flanks.  Double envelopments are directed against both. Either variant of the envelopment can result in an encirclement. Encirclements result when the attacking force cuts off all lines of communication to or from an enemy unit. The enemy unit is effectively surrounded and cut off from support from other units.

A turning movement is a form of maneuver where the attacking force seeks to avoid engaging the enemy's primary defensive positions by seizing objectives at the enemy's rear. This causes the enemy forces to move out of their position and divert other forces to meet the threat. In MILSIM, turning maneuvers will typically be conducted by a company or larger units.  Generally speaking, platoon or smaller units do not have the manpower to engage in a turning maneuver. 

An infiltration is a form of maneuver in which the attacker conducts undetected movement through or into an area occupied by enemy forces to occupy an advantageous position in the enemy rear. Well, exposing only a small element to enemy defensive fires.  When you're thinking about infiltration, think of troops using stealth to move through enemy lines undetected so that they can attack the enemy from the rear. Obviously this form of maneuver requires that the attacking forces remain largely undetected while moving through enemy lines. That is the part of the maneuver when attacking forces are most vulnerable and can be eliminated piecemeal without the likelihood of support from the rest of the unit.

For that reason, infiltrations are often used as a shaping operation that is used prior to the attacker's main attack. The unit will move through enemy lines in small groups before reassembling at a rally point or other location in the enemy rear. 

An OIC will conduct a penetration maneuver when the enemy flanks are not vulnerable to attack or time does not permit another form of maneuver.  Essentially, attacking forces mass to attack and penetrate through enemy defenses along a narrow front in an effort to disrupt the defense. If the penetration is successful, it will likely create opportunities to attack the flanks. of enemy forces on each side of the axis of penetration. Because a penetration is typically directed at the front of an enemy defense, the unit engaging in that maneuver risks significantly more casualties than other forms of maneuver.

With a penetration, it is especially important for the unit OIC to mass the effects of direct and indirect fires at the point of the penetration to assist attacking forces in creating the initial breach. Thereafter, the unit can widen the breach by flanking units on the sides of the breach. Other forces can move through the center of the breach to seize objectives.

And finally, we have the frontal attack. At the tactical level, attacking forces use a frontal attack to rapidly overrun a weaker enemy force. A frontal attack is directed against the enemy on a wide front and along the most direct avenues of approach. Because of the risk of higher casualties, the unit OIC will normally employ a frontal attack when it possesses overwhelming combat power and the enemy is at a clear disadvantage.  The unit OIC uses superiority of fire including close air support and indirect fires to achieve victory. The frontal attack is useful for overwhelming light defenses, screening or covering forces, or disorganized enemy resistance. It is often employed in meeting engagements, where speed and simplicity are essential to maintaining initiative.

That being said, a frontal assault should not be utilized where the enemy has anywhere near parity in numbers or is in strong defensive positions. Attacking forces will be attacking into concentrated enemy defensive fire. Although these forms of maneuver are often employed by company or larger units, it is important to understand them in the context of how the company commander will employ platoons in order to achieve its objectives.

Now, there are four types of offensive tasks. They are the movement to contact, attack, exploitation, and pursuit. Unit OICs will combine and direct these operations sequentially to generate maximum combat power and to destroy the enemy. For example, a successful attack may lead to an exploitation, which then leads to a pursuit.  Note that attacks do not always lead to exploitations or pursuits. For example, spoiling, feints, or other similar attacks that are intended to slow down enemy operations rarely develop into exploitations because the objectives of these attacks are not in line with the objectives of an exploitation.  You're trying to slow down an enemy attack instead of exploiting a penetration through enemy defenses. 

Also note that OICs will often transition between types of offensive and defensive operations as needed. We will address defensive operations in a future episode of this podcast in the next few weeks.

So let's talk about movement to contact first. Movement to contact is the offensive task that you will most likely run into on the MIlsim battlefield. Movement to Contact is an offensive task designed to develop the situation on the Milsim battlefield and to establish or regain contact with enemy forces.  The goal of Movement to Contact is to initiate contact with a small enemy element while retaining enough combat power to develop the situation while mitigating the risk of decisive engagement with enemy forces. The platoon or squad leader conducts a movement to contact, i.e. think recon or combat patrol, when the enemy situation is vague or not specific enough to conduct an attack.

Properly executed, movement to contact should create favorable conditions for subsequent tactical actions by the platoon or squad leader. Again, use the initiative to seize terrain favorable to completing your mission, then maintain the momentum of tactical actions to keep the pressure on the enemy, to keep the enemy reacting to your actions and to keep operating within the enemy's OODA loop.  

Moving to contact may result in a meeting engagement.  Once enemy contact is made, the unit OIC has five options. He can order his unit to attack the enemy force. He can order his unit to take up positions and defend against enemy attack. He can order his unit to bypass the enemy force. He can order his unit to conduct a delaying action against the enemy force or he can order his unit to break contact and withdraw. A successful movement to contact requires that units with sufficient mobility and combat power gain contact with the enemy and rapidly develop the situation. 

Toward that end, the unit conducting the movement to contact must address six basic fundamentals.  They are. One, focus all efforts on finding the enemy. This may entail the use of multiple recon patrols to locate the enemy before he finds you. Two, make contact with the smallest enemy element possible in an effort to maintain force protection. In doing so, be aware that the enemy is likely attempting to do the same to you.  Although you may make contact with a fireteam or squad, there may be a much larger enemy unit waiting to engage you. Three, make initial enemy contact with small, mobile, and self-contained forces to avoid decisive engagement of the main unit body by the enemy on terrain of the enemy's choosing. Doing so will provide greater flexibility to develop the situation.  Four, task organize your force and use movement formations then allow your unit to react quickly to contact and rapidly redeploy to attack. Usually, fireteam wedge or online formations are best for this task. At the squad level, use fireteam wedges in squad column formation. Fireteam wedge and squad column formation consist of two fireteams in wedge formation, in line behind each other with the squad leader and any heavy weapons or other specialized squad members located in its center between the two fire teams. This particular squad formation facilitates movement of the trailing fire team to flank the enemy. Once the lead fire team makes contact with it. 

Five, keep all of the elements of your force position close enough to quickly respond to enemy attack to support each other.  Each squad or fire team needs to be close enough to the others so that each can be covered effectively by direct fire of the other. Six. Once enemy contact is made, maintain it unless the enemy force is too large to handle. In that event, break contact to maintain force protection. 

Now, movement to contact is conducted using one of two techniques.  They are the approach march or search and attack. The Approach March technique is used when the enemy is expected to deploy using relatively fixed offensive or defensive formations, and the situation currently remains vague. To properly employ the Approach March technique, the platoon leader or squad leader needs to know the units assigned to the mission, the location of his and enemy forces, the route and rate of movement to be used, the unit's actions to be conducted upon enemy contact, the fire support plan for the mission and actions to be conducted upon reaching the march objective if one is assigned to the unit. Typically, the approach march will utilize traveling overwatch movement until enemy contact is anticipated. At that point, the squad should transition to bounding overwatch.

Now, as opposed to the approach march technique, The search and attack technique is used when the enemy is dispersed, when he is expected to avoid contact or when higher command needs to deny the enemy freedom of movement. A platoon leader or squad leader will conduct a search and attack for the following purposes.

1.  To protect the force. This is to prevent the enemy from massing to disrupt or destroy the platoon or squad. 2. Collect information. This is an effort to develop intelligence concerning the enemy or the terrain in the area of interest. 3. Destroy the enemy or otherwise render him combat ineffective. 4.  Deny the enemy freedom of movement in the designated area of operations. 

Typically, a movement to contact will result in a meeting engagement. Meeting engagements usually occur when a moving element engages a stationary or moving enemy at an unexpected time and place. 

Now, at the squad and fireteam levels, meeting engagements will typically occur when both forces are generally aware of the presence of the other in the area of operations, but not the specific location.  Initial contact is usually initiated by direct fire by one force at the other. If the enemy initiates contact by fire, rhe squad and fire team will react to contact, and depending on the attack, will either transition to counterattack via Battle Drill 2A, or assault through the enemy ambush. On contact, your forces must act quickly to gain the advantage and seize initiative.  Speed of action and maneuver, coupled with accurate fire, are essential. To maintain momentum, lead elements quickly bypass or fight through light resistance. Although freedom to maneuver is advantageous, the unit OIC must choose to establish a hasty defense if the enemy force is larger or the train offers a significant benefit.

The initiative and audacity of fireteam and squad leaders are essential for their forces to act faster than the enemy. They balance focusing combat power rapidly with keeping other options open and maintaining pressure on the enemy. In meeting engagements, the force that gains and retains the initiative usually wins.  A successful meeting engagement fixes or reduces the enemy force with maneuver and masked overwhelming fire while the other element maneuvers to attack the enemy from the flank. 

So let's talk about the movement to contact at the squad level in a MILSIM context. Essentially, the squad departs the assembly area in a squad column with fire teams in wedge.  This formation provides the squad with good 360 degree fields of fire. while allowing the trailing fire team to move to flank the enemy if the lead fire team makes contact with the enemy. See episodes 2, 3, and 5 of this podcast for more information concerning Battle Drill 2 Alpha and React to Contact Drills.

Each fire team seeks visual contact with the enemy while carefully avoiding engagement in a firefight. If a fireteam gets engaged in a firefight, the squad leader loses the mobility necessary to develop the situation and collect intelligence for his platoon leader. It then becomes a fight for survival.

Now, the platoon leader assesses the information coming from the squad leader in contact to determine whether additional forces should be directed to support the squad engaged with the enemy. The fireteam in contact with the enemy is essentially the shaping element. That fireteam uses direct fire to suppress the enemy unit in contact until the other fireteam can maneuver to flank and destroy it.

If the platoon leader decides to commit the remaining squads to attack the enemy, this becomes the decisive engagement. Once the attack is successfully concluded, squad leaders and the platoon leader reset and reorganize the force before resuming their patrol. Please remember that the enemy is attempting to fix and flank you as you are attempting to flank him.  Be ready to break contact and withdraw if you believe you are engaged by a superior force or if the terrain and avenues of approach to your position heavily favor being flanked by the enemy. 

Now, next is attack. The attack is an offensive task that destroys or defeats enemy forces, seizes terrain, or both.  Attacks incorporate coordinated movement supported by direct and indirect fires. They may be either decisive or shaping operations. The attack differs from the movement to contact because with the attack, the platoon leader or squad leader knows at least part of the enemy's strength and disposition.  This allows the platoon leader or squad leader to better plan the operation for maximum effect on the enemy. 

Attacks are divided into three categories, hasty attacks, deliberate attacks, and special attacks. Unit OICs direct hasty attacks to seize opportunities to destroy the enemy or seize the initiative where time is a factor.  These opportunities occur during movement to contact and defensive operations. With a hasty attack, the OIC intentionally trades the advantages of thorough preparation and organization for those of immediate execution. Unit OICs execute hasty attacks when the situation calls for immediate action with available forces and with minimal preparation.

In a movement to contact, commanders launch hasty attacks to destroy enemy forces before they concentrate or establish a defense. Once he decides to attack, the unit OIC executes it as quickly as possible. While hasty attacks maximize the effects of agility and surprise, they incur the risk of losing some synchronization between elements engaging in the attack.  To minimize this risk, OICs must make maximum use of standing operating procedures, or SOPs, including standard formations and well understood and rehearsed battle drills. On the other hand, OICs conduct deliberate attacks when there is time to develop plans and coordinate preparations. 

In contrast to hasty attacks, Deliberate attacks are highly synchronized operations characterized by detailed planning and preparation.  Deliberate attacks use simultaneous operations throughout the AO, planned fires, shaping operations, and forward positioning of resources needed to sustain momentum. Commanders take the time necessary to position forces and develop sufficient intelligence to strike the enemy with maneuver and accurate fires.

Because of the time required to plan and prepare deliberate attacks, OICs often begin them from a defensive posture. However, an uncommitted force may conduct a deliberate attack as a sequel to an ongoing offensive operation. Because of the time spent preparing deliberate attacks may provide the enemy with opportunities to improve defenses, withdraw, or launch a spoiling attack, OICs typically direct deliberate attacks only when the enemy cannot be bypassed or be overcome with a hasty attack.  Typically, deliberate attacks are conducted at the platoon level or higher units. 

So this brings us to special purpose attacks. Certain forms of attack employ distinctive methods and require special planning. OICs direct these special purpose attacks to achieve objectives different from those of other attacks.  Special purpose attacks are divided into five different categories. They are the spoiling attack, the counter attack, feint. We've already discussed the ambush and raid in previous episodes of this podcast. See episodes 8 and 12 for more details on these specialized attacks. 

So now we're going to talk about the spoiling attack.  Normally conducted from a defensive posture, spoiling attacks strike where and when the enemy is most vulnerable during preparation for attack against friendly forces. Although it can be performed by platoon sized units, a spoiling attack is normally conducted at the company level. The intent of the spoiling attack is to undermine, degrade, or otherwise thwart the enemy's ability to conduct a particular attack or other offensive task.  A spoiling attack can be achieved not only with fire and maneuver, but sometimes by indirect or direct fires alone. 

Next is the counterattack. OICs normally conduct counterattacks from a defensive posture to defeat or destroy enemy forces after a failed attack or to regain control of terrain and facilities after a successful enemy attack.  Often a counterattack is conducted after the enemy launches an attack, reveals his main effort, or offers an assailable flank. Counterattacking forces may conduct local exploitations to take advantage of tactical opportunities but then usually resume a defensive posture. 

And then finally we come to the feint.  Feints are specialized attacks that are intended to divert attention from the decisive operation and prevent the enemy from focusing its combat power against it. They are usually shallow, limited objective attacks conducted before or during the main decisive operation. Feints can be used to fix the enemy forces in a specific location to prevent them from reinforcing another position or supporting other enemy forces.

The point of the feint is to lead the enemy facing the attack to believe it is the main effort against them and to prevent the enemy from repositioning itself to support the defense against the actual main attack. It is important to note that the same fundamentals of the offense apply to each type of attack.

Success depends on skillfully amassing the effects of combat power where the enemy is weakest in order to retake key terrain or prevent the enemy from conducting follow on offensive operations. At the tactical level, the squad should maneuver along lines of least resistance while using terrain for cover and concealment.  This indirect approach affords the best chance of the squad achieving surprise against the enemy when it attacks. Before the attack kicks off, the squad moves to its assault position. The assault position is the last covered and concealed position before commencing the attack. Unlike an operational rally point, the squad will not return to the assault position after the attack commences.

Although the squad does not have to stop at the assault position, it typically will do so when friendly forces and fires need to be synchronized before the attack commences. Squads are formed up to assault/initial bounding and support/initial base of fire teams. Once the squad is in the attack position and the aquad leader identifies the objective, he kicks off the attack.  The fireteams will bypass any obstacles that they are not specifically assigned to destroy unless they present a threat. Smoke can be used to help obscure the attack from any observation. Clear the objective using Battle Drill 2 Alpha. 

So now we come to Exploitation. Now, Exploitation is an offensive task that typically follows a successful attack against the enemy.  It is designed to further disorganize the enemy in depth. Exploitation seeks to disintegrate enemy forces to the point where they have no choice but to withdraw or be destroyed. The goal of the exploitation is to take advantage of tactical opportunities in an effort to destroy the enemy in depth while achieving follow on objectives.  In MILSIM, exploitation offensive tasks are conducted at the company or higher level. Exploitation is the primary means of translating tactical success into operational advantage. 

And then we come to pursuit. Pursuit is the offensive task that is designed to catch or cut off an enemy force that is attempting to escape with the ultimate goal of completely and utterly destroying the enemy unit in question.  It typically follows a successful exploitation. That being said, movement to contact and attacks can quickly transition into a pursuit if the enemy resistance breaks down and the enemy is fleeing the battlefield. Pursuits require rapid movement and decentralized command. 

So I hope this episode has helped to explain the concept of offensive operations on a tactical level on the Milsim battlefield.  The main takeaways I would like you to remember from this episode is that you want to avoid a frontal attack whenever possible. History and experience has repeatedly proven that fixing a flank of the enemy squad is much more effective than trying to assault directly through the enemy in a good defensive position.

A direct assault toward the enemy's front requires your forces to leave cover to bound forward to attack the enemy while he remains in cover. In this situation, the enemy has the advantage. However, if you suppress the enemy with a fireteam in initial contact with the enemy, it keeps his head down and largely prevents him from repositioning to a more advantageous position.

At the same time, using suppressive fire against the enemy not only degrades the situational awareness, but also fixes them in place. Once the enemy is fixed, the other fireteam can often maneuver to a position on the enemy's flank where it will be deprived of effective cover and is vulnerable. It is extremely difficult for individual players to cover two different avenues of approach, especially while under fire from two directions.  Because the enemy is at a severe disadvantage from the flanking fireteam, the odds of success for the friendly attack is great. 

It is my hope that you have enjoyed this episode. Tune in next week when we are going to discuss defensive operations, including defending objectives and critical terrain. 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 defensive operations, including defending objectives and critical terrrain. 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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