Troop Movement and Load Management

Here you will learn how to conduct Troop Movement and manage a Soldier's load (administative and tactical) from start to finish...

Intro

Troop Movement is the technical term to describe:

• Soldier/supplies/equipment moving from Point "A" to Point "B"

Troop Movements (TMs) are NOT Combat Patrols or Movement to Contact

Troop Movement (TM) must be successfully executed in order to achieve the mission(s) at hand. It is but one of many aspects that must come together to fulfill your task(s).

Example of TM as part of a larger mission:
"1st PLT is to conduct TM from USS FREEDOM to the central Airbase and prepare for combat operations"

Basic methods of movement are:

• Air
  

• Sea (surface and sub-surface)
  
  

• Mounted (vehicle)
  

• Rail (not for Arma III)
  

TM success:

• Troops/supplies/equipment arrive at Final Destination

• All the necessary gear is present and serviceable

• Arrive in time to coordinate before attack/mission time

Classification

3 basic types of TMs exist:

• Administrative

• Tactical

• Approach

Administrative:
This is when your force is "safe" and there is little to no threat of Enemy contact
Speed of transport is the priority

Administrative TM:

• Behind friendly lines

• Use "soft-skinned" vehicles

• Uses "hard-ball" roads

Example:
Administrative TM
Moving from the central Airbase (South of Gravia) to the town of Rodopoli
Route GREEN

Tactical:
This is when your force is at risk of possible Enemy contact/observation

Tactical TM:

• Behind Enemy lines

• Armored vehicles

• Off roads

Example:
Tactical TM
Moving from the town of Rodopoli to COP WARHORSE
Route BROWN

Approach:
This is when your force is expected to make Enemy contact

Approach TM
Stealth, remaining covert and protection is the priority

• Enemy contac is expected

• Done during limited visibility conditions

• On foot or other covert means (surface/sub-surface swim or SDVs)

• Close to or behind Enemy lines

• Uses concealment to remained hidden

• Avoids roads, towns, hill tops etc

Example:
Approach TM:
Moving from COP WARHORSE to the ORP
Route BLACK

Transition from Admin to Tactical TMs

A key aspect to TMs is the transition from Admin to Tactical TMs

It is important to understand when you should transition:

• Before you come into visual contact of Enemy forces

• Before you come into audible range of Enemy forces

• Before you come into Enemy acquisition equipment (thermal, NVGs, drone etc)

• At least 1 km if Enemy location is unknown (2 km is preffered)

The transition must occor in a "safe" location:

• An area that offers cover/concealment

• An area that can allow planning, reorganization, OOM (Order Of Movement) etc

• Deceptive false insertion points to confuse Enemy observation

At the transition point:

• Soldiers get into their OOM formation:
  
  • 1st SQD, then 2nd SQD, then Headquarters and then 3rd SQD

• Soldiers get into their Squad/team formation
  
  • Wedge/Lline/File etc

• Gear not needed for the immediate mission/task(s) are seperated to stay light

• Support Soldiers take control of extra gear and start movement to:
  
  • ORP (Objective Rally Point)
  • SBF (Support By Fire)

• A Recon element can be sent forward to observe

Protecting the Force

Especially when the movement becomes a Tactical TM, the force must be protected.

This can be done in several ways:

• Cover
  
  • A form of Security Operation

• Guard
  
  • A form of Security Operation

• Screen
  
  • A form of Security Operation

• Recon
  
  • Depending on available Sodliers

It is important to remember that a TM is NOT a patrol or Movement to Contact, so you should try to avoid contact with the Enemy.

Load Tailoring

Gear/equipment/supply transport

Administrative TM

• As much weight as a Soldier/vehicle can possibly carry

Tactical/Approach March TM

• Fighting Load PLUS limited supplies:
  
  • ammo/demo/medical etc

• Fighting Load (limited ammo/demo/medical in order to stay "light")

Load Management

There are different types of loads a Soldier can have:

• Minimun Fighting Load
  
  • Just enough for Force Protection (small arms and limited ammunition)

• Combat Load
  
  • Enough to accomplish most imminent task(s) (breaching and assaulting Enemy OBJ etc)

• Sustainment Load
  
  • Enough to sustain a Soldier for extended combat operations

• Contingency Loads
  
  • Enough supplies to carry out possible follow-on mission(s)

Administrative TM:

• Sustainment Load
  
  Extra ammo/demo
  Entrenching tool/mine detector
  Mortar tube/bipod
  Heavy machine gun/tripod
  AT/AA launcher/tripod

Tactical TM:

• Combat Load
  
  Enough ammo/demo/supplies for extended combat operations
  Remote Designator

Approach March:

• Minimum Fighting/Combat Load
  
  Limited ammo/medical supplies and only breaching demo

March Discipline

Important factors to remember are:

• Noise and LIGHT discipline

• Maintaining march speed/catch-up speed

• Maintaining march formation (wedge, column, file etc)

• Maintaining march distance (25 meters day and 10 meters night)

Graphic Control Measures (GCMs)

Several GCMs are important for TMs:

• Strip maps

• Phase Lines

• Check Points

• SP/RP (Start Point/Release Point)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1286024568

Mission Preperation

Follow the time honored tradition of the TLPs:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1213123291



Prepare a Convoy OPORD Annex:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1221180757

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1217995942

Active and Passive Security Measures

Active:

• Weapon status (free, tight or hold)

• Formation (wedge, file etc)

• Recon/UAV use

• Route taken (cover and concealment)

• CAS/artillery protection

• QRF (Quick Reaction Force)

Passive:

• Enemy intelligence reports

• Mission planning

• Map recon

• Graphic Control Measures (GCMs) (Check Points, SP/RP etc)

• OPORD

Sample Mission Brief

The unit that is supporting the TM (truck drivers/pilots etc) will have a different mission than those fighting (infantry, engineers etc)

Support mission example:
Transport unit is to move a PLT of dismounted Infantry from USS FREEDOM to Airbase and to RTB (Return To Base) for further transport mission(s).

Infantry mission example:
PLT is to be moved via transport from USS FREEDOM to Airbase and prepare for Combat Operations with follow-on OPORDs.

ANNEX C (Operations) can be used as a TM template:

TM Table Computations

D = Distance
R = Rate (speed)
T = Time

1) D = R X T

• 10 miles = 5 mph (5mph /60 minutes = 0.083 miles per minute) X 120 minutes

2) R = D/T

• 5 mph (0.083 miles per minute X 60 minutes) = 10 miles / 120 minutes

3) T = D/R

• 10 miles / 5 mph = 2 hours

Lenght of TM:
Lenght = # of Soldier X distance between Soldiers

18 Soldiers (2 SQDs) X 2.4 (single file) or 1.2 (column) = lenght of TM in meters

18 X 2.4 = 43.2 meters

18 X 1.2 = 21.6 meters

Formations

Conclusion

Troop Movement and the Soldier's Load Management are complex but instrumental in getting the: right type of Soldier to the right battlefield, in functional condition and with the necessary equipment.

[Greybeard]

WILCO***END OF MESSAGE

[Jettison]

Well Spylon is wrong, fortunately not everyone is like him and I've seen a few like him, guess what.. They seem to die too often! Surprise!

I definitely see a few very useful (Emphasize: Very) stuff here, quite an amount of other useful stuff too. Can't deny that formations are important. Sometimes it's better to know something rather than nothing. Keep posting Greybeard.

[nerd]

wtf

[Karsus]

More useful teaching material, wonderful

[Ketsa]

This maybe useful for roleplaying convoy ops or very large operations where logistics/reinforcements is necessary but that's pretty niche.

[Spylon]

Literally nothing here is usefull in arma