TACTICAL DECISION GAMES
TDG #10–3
Hostile Intent
Situation
You are the 3d Squad Leader, 2d
Platoon, Company F, Battalion Landing Team 2d Battalion, 1st Marines
(BLT 2/1), 11th MEU. Your company
has recently taken over the area of responsibility (AOR) of Jalalabad,
Afghanistan. After initial operations,
organized resistance has ceased. However, insurgent and tribal fighters remain as active combatants.
Your AOR is in an urban environment characterized by densely but haphazardly arranged mud brick houses of
one and two stories with flat roofs,
with the occasional taller building, usually a mosque or other religiously associated structure. The main roads are
paved and two lanes wide. Side roads
are also paved but only 11/2 lanes wide.
In addition, there are numerous narrow dirt alleyways only suitable for foot
traffic.
The enemy you face wears no standardized military uniform and often
appears in civilian dress, uses Soviet-era
infantry weapons (AK–47s, light machineguns, and rocket propelled
grenades (RPGs)), and has the occasional command of 82mm mortars and
12.7mm machineguns. His main tactic is the ambush, initiated by RPG attack or improvised explosive device
(IED). The enemy rarely stands to
fight, even after such ambushes. When
they do, it is often the signal of a major
engagement. S– 2 (intelligence) believes
such battles center around religious
sites.
The BLT has been relatively successful in the matter of civil affairs and
civil-military relations. They initiated
a “weapons buy back program,” paying
for each weapon turned in depending
upon its lethality. Despite such gain,
the AOR still has its share of insurgent
attacks. Of the seven major clans in the
area of operations, the BLT has secured
TDG #10–3. (Map by Google Earth.)
the support of the one smaller clan but
still faces resistance from several of the
larger clans in the city and surrounding area.
Currently, your platoon is on its second patrol. After crossing the Route 6
bridge, you enter the area controlled by
the smaller clan that supports coalition
forces. You are moving from south to
north. 1st Squad is on the left flank, 2d
Squad is in the center with the command element, and your squad is on
the right. You have only your organic
weapons and are in radio contact with
the other squads and command element, though such contact is not always 100 percent due to the urban
environment.
Approximately 20 minutes after
crossing the bridge, you hear and see
an explosion where you expect 1st
Squad to be, followed by automatic
and semiautomatic weapons fire. You
execute a halt in place and establish
360-degree security. Firing continues
for 30 seconds before you hear 1st
Squad report: “Enemy squad with
AKs, RPG, mortar IED. Watson and
Perez are down. Need casevac. Break.
Recommend 2d Squad move north of
my position and cut off retreating
enemy elements. Over.”
Approximately 30 seconds after the
1st Squad report, the platoon com-
mander radios to you: “2d Squad is re-
inforcing 1st Squad attack. Proceed
