STRAC Advice
Chunae of Zoh
been formally taught it until this weekend. I made a good showing for
myself when I was SL. However, I see that I have a LONG way to go before I
can say I am good at it.
Can anyone give me any advice or tips to improve my STRAC skills? I think
I have tactics down. I got an O in technical competence for my
maneuvering. I think that is because I play(ed) so much paintball,
although reading the 7-8 helped...
What can I do to accomplish my mission more efficiently and get an O
overall?
--
Chunae Zoh
zo...@midway.uchicago.edu
Nicholas G. Alexander
1) OPORD, OPORD, OPORD. Practice writing them, practice giving them.
Get one of your competent MSIVs to evaluate you. Make sure you follow
the format in 7-8, us the one-thirds/two thirds rule, follow the TLPs,
and THINK about what you are saying. Pre written formats with just
about everything except the direction and distance written in make life
a lot easier. (Hint: Ambush, Raid, and Recon all require different
execution paragraphs. Plan accordingly.) A good opord is the key to a
good evaluation. Even if you pull the best execution in the world out
of your ass, it doesn't mean crap unless your OPORD was squared away.
2) BACKBRIEF. REHEARSE. INSPECT. Don't move out until 17 min 30 sec
at the earliest. If you are done your OPORD at 12 minutes (which you
will be if you have your shit together), run rehearsals of EVERYTHING.
Actions on the objective, occupation of ORP, reactions to enemy contact,
crossing a LDA. If you still have time, do it again.
3) Be a good follower. Volunteer to be the RTO. Write SALUTE reports
for your Squad Leader before he even has a chance to think of it. Get
damn good at land nav so you can start plotting points and figguring out
azimuths before the TAC is even done issuing the mission. Help your SL
out. If you are a good follower, it will show in your overall grade,
not just your followership grade.
With all this said, keep in mind that STRAC recieves less and less
emphasis every year. My wife's class had their cards thrown out because
BG Johnson said they were "too subjective" (like the entire damn camp
isn't too subjective). Of the 5s and 4s in my platoon, there was a very
broad distribution of S, E, and O grades. I got an S one day, and an O
the next. The point: develop your tactical skills, not your STRAC
skills. They will serve you in much better stead when PTAC, PPAT, and
the other major events roll around.
Nick Alexander
Panther Battalion, University of Pittsburgh AROTC
Francis J Park
1. You can ask for just about anything BEFORE the timer starts.
BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, tell your team leaders to check three things:
* CAMO, AMMO, WATER (shows DE/TC/JU/SE)
A short list of things to ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS ask for:
* SMOKE (called in as a Target Reference Point or a standard fire mission)
* ARTILLERY (called in as a TRP or a standard fire mission; even on a recon
it can't hurt, you can justify it as a diversionary tool)
* GHOST SECURITY FOR REHEARSALS AND OPORD (if not, you'll have a HARD time
trying to get your OPORD, and more importantly, YOUR REHEARSALS out if you
need to keep a secure perimeter)
* MEDEVAC (Ever tried to carry a dead body 400m? It's difficult at best.
Worse still is if one of your people is wounded and immobile. You can't
leave it/him/her behind in either case!)
* RECHECK COORDINATES, ASSEMBLY AREA AND OBJECTIVE (Just to be sure. If you
recheck them, you can't be faulted for not making sure the coordinates are
what they are.)
* SPECIAL WEAPONS (if you ask for and get them, USE THEM!)
- M72 LAW or M136 AT4 for bunker assault or raid
- M18 Claymore for ambush (or squad defense)
- Binoculars (the evaluator might have them, and they're useful)
Some things you might want to ask for if you think you're real slick:
* CLOSE AIR SUPPORT (IF YOU KNOW how to call, look in J-Fire or FM 6-20-20)
* SPECIALIZED ARTILLERY ROUND: FASCAM (FAmily of SCAtterable Mines) -
try firing FASCAM around your perimeter outside of your LP/OP if you're doing a
defense. Make sure to specify a delay for activation that will arm the mines
when the enemy gets there as well as a time for the minefield to inactivate.
If you do it right, you'll impress your evaluator a LOT. Of course, the
evaluator might deny your request altogether.
2. Once time starts, you have 18 MINUTES exactly to clear the assembly area.
If you don't make it out in 18 minutes:
* The evaluator will start dropping artillery rounds into your position real
fast. If you don't do the battle drill for react to artillery, you're all
probably DEAD, overall UNSAT.
* YOU, the squad leader, just graded an automatic UNSAT in PO.
* Unless your lead team is already set up, you're off azimuth and it's hard
to get back on track.
How to prevent this:
* APPOINT A TIMEKEEPER to call out EACH MINUTE, without fail, in the AA.
This gives both you and your team leaders a chance to figure out how
much time is left. Be CRYSTAL CLEAR what is being called out - whether
it's 5 minutes LEFT or 5 minutes ELAPSED. Try to standardize that
BEFORE you get in the hot seat. The timekeeper doesn't have to be the
same one as for actions on the objective, but it can't hurt, either,
since it reduces confusion of roles.
* If you spent more than 30 seconds on your WARNORD or 4 minutes on your
OPORD it's probably too much time spent for too little effort. A lot of
both can be pre-written.
3. Things you should have worked out BEFORE you start STRAC.
Things that will make life much easier as a team member and key leader:
* Squad Patrolling tactical SOP - what do people do and what is the succession
of command?
If everyone in your squad has the Squad Patrolling SOP that I put in the JHU
Tactical Book pages then it's a simple matter. You can copy it to an index
card and carry it in your helmet or in your patrol cap (whatever they allow
you to wear). This SOP should cover the following:
- NEAR SIDE security on danger area crossings
- FAR SIDE security on danger area crossings
- BODY SEARCH/POW SEARCH and AID AND LITTER teams
- SUCCESSION OF COMMAND by number - if the SL dies, who takes over?
* Rehearsed battle drills and squad drills
- Cross Linear Danger Area
- React to Sniper or Far Ambush
- React to Near Ambush
- React to Artillery
- Hand and Arm Signals
- if night movement, React to Flares if there is time (do this last)
4. Technical Competence
There are too many cadets out there who don't do the right procedures when
they get into the squad leader position. Here are some common mistakes that'll
get you dinged on TC:
* Call for artillery, then walk onto objective before you hear SPLASH, OVER.
* Call for artillery, then flail as they forget to do the entire call after
the fire mission.
* Call for artillery that is AFU (e.g. "Uh, I want some artillery at
grid coordinates...")
* Ask for the wrong special weapon (e.g. Claymore for a recon).
* Fail to keep spacing or correct interval between people in formation.
* Fail to do all the Troop Leading Procedures to include these tasks:
- WARNING ORDER (At least! Can't have an OPORD w/o a WARNORD.)
- MAKE A TENTATIVE PLAN ("Have a damn plan" - 2LT Chris Hickey)
- SUPERVISE, INSPECT, REHEARSE, REHEARSE, REHEARSE (backbriefing
your troops never hurts either; you can correct people on the spot if
you need to. Just put the squad on line and fire your questions back
at them. Make sure the questions you ask are mission-oriented. Once
done, put them at double-arm interval and do a test fire of ONE round
if you so feel.)
* In squad defense (not really a STRAC mission), forget to do the
following things:
- set out an LP/OP (listening post/observation post)
- interlock fields of fire
- set up sector stakes
- get sector sketches from positions and turn into a range card
- set up final protective line and final protective fires
5. Other things in the Assembly Area
Here are a few other things you should have in mind when in the AA:
* Have your mapman sit as close to the briefing as he/she can; if he/she
hears, ah well, they have the coordinates, so why wait for you to give them
the coordinates? They can work on it as soon as they hear the coordinates.
* If the STRAC lanes are properly set up, the direction from which the hot
box faces out to the rest of the sandtable will match the direction of
movement. If this is correct, do the coordinates, and set your compass off
the hot box.
* Ensure that your lead team's compass and pacemen are set up and ready to go.
As soon as rehearsals are over, you should be able to expect your first team
leader to have set up his/her wedge in the CORRECT direction. If not, FIX
IT. All it takes is a simple "move out" hand and arm signal - all set.
6. Image and Attitude
It's important that you look in control, even pseudo-arrogant if you need to.
React AGGRESSIVELY to any situation. Indecision is a far greater sin than
poor judgment here.
Leadership by committee leads to a bad grade. It's better to be assertively
wrong than hesitantly correct.
Try to avoid being a "spotlight Ranger." What goes around comes around...
Good luck,
C/LTC Francis Park, AR
Johns Hopkins University ROTC
--
Francis Park The Johns Hopkins University, Department of Military Science
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fogarty chanted as he jogged, in a mindless, repetitive whisper. "I can run all
night ... I can run all day ... I can run all night..." - James Webb
Nicholas G. Alexander
any better than that.
One caviot: be careful what you ask for, 'cause you may get it. If you
don't know how to call for fire, DON'T ASK FOR IT. Especially if you
have a cannon cocker as a TAC. He'll kill you. Besides, most of the
lanes are so short your already within the minimum distance before you
even start.
C/LTC Nick Alexander
Michael Favero
If you're a III, save it, print it, and memorize that info.
Here's a few additions:
1. One other task your TL's can check on is that each of their team
members know their SOP assignments; if you use SOP cards, make sure
each person has the right one.
2. At Ft. Lewis, during the 7th regiment, the evaluators were very
no-nonsense. They told us right off "I have 5 arty simulators, 4 green
smokes. Don't ask for anything else." IF that happens, don't ask for
anything else! You don't impress an evalutor by wasting his or her
time.
3. We were able not only to confirm our objective with the evaluator,
but our distance and azimuth as well. A good map person will,
especially with the crummy photocopy maps used for STRAC lanes.
4. Use SPAT, the day before STRAC, as a dress rehearsal for STRAC. Use
your SOP's, fine tune your OPORDs, get used to your squad in the
tactical environment.
5. Be an active participant during your counseling: ask questions,
pick brains, and carefully evaluate what your evaluator tells you.
6. Finally, remember that your STRAC evals. are still evaluated as
part of a whole. Don't get flustered over a sub-par first day grade.An
informal survey of various peers showed that those who got 4's and 5's
at camp did better their second day than the first. However, they were
strong general performers in all the other areas as well.
If anyone is compiling all the advice thrown around here on STRAC, I'd
be interested in getting a copy.
Good Luck
Michael Favero
CDT/1LT, MSC
Bronco BN MSIII Tac Officer
Santa Clara / Stanford ROTC
--
Michael D. Favero e-mail: den...@leland.stanford.edu
US mail: PO Box 15242 Stanford, CA 94309
>>Nobody wants my opinions<<
"Second floor. Hardware, childrens' wear, ladies' lingerie. . . "
Francis J Park
>One caviot: be careful what you ask for, 'cause you may get it. If you
>don't know how to call for fire, DON'T ASK FOR IT. Especially if you
>have a cannon cocker as a TAC. He'll kill you. Besides, most of the
>lanes are so short your already within the minimum distance before you
>even start.
I can second that - my battle buddy at camp told me an interesting horror
story of what happened to this one guy who drew an FA officer as his evaluator.
His calls for fire were not totally squared away. I think to add insult to
injury, he walked onto the objective immediately after calling the fire in from
the ORP. He got onto the objective, got engaged by hostiles. It was just about
then that the evaluator said "splash, out."
I'd venture a guess the guy got an overall unsat from the evaluator, but maybe
the FA officer was a tad generous and graded him a weak satisfactory.
Fortunately for the cadet, this happened at a mini-camp.
For all those budding forward observers out there, by the way, danger close for
most FA is 600m. Consider this when you're planning fires, and you're lucky
enough to draw an FA officer as an evaluator...
best regards,
William C. Gawne
please explain what STRAC stands for?
-Bill Gawne, MSgt USMCR
--
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
internet: laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
Michael Favero
Sorry. (S)quad (T)actical (R)eaction (A)ssessment (C)ourse. Basically
an ROTC evaluation tool. You and your squad conduct squad patrolling
operations; you have an hour (approx) to receive and execute your
mission, and deal with all the variables along the way. It used to be
called lanes training ( from what I understand from my advisor ) and I
don't think there is an analog in NROTC/MC Option training.
Mike Favero
Chunae of Zoh
(William C. Gawne) wrote:
> For the benefit of all us clueless jarheads and others, could you soldiers
> please explain what STRAC stands for?
STRAC:
Squad Tactical Reaction Assessment Course
--
Chunae Zoh
zo...@midway.uchicago.edu
Francis J Park
>mission, and deal with all the variables along the way. It used to be
>called lanes training ( from what I understand from my advisor ) and I
>don't think there is an analog in NROTC/MC Option training.
"Lanes training" most likely comes from Ranger School. When the Army was big
into its mandatory Ranger School phase (during the mid-60s, every combat arms
officer either went to jump school, which was 5 weeks then, or Ranger, which
I think was 8. One or the other, like it or not.), it published a book called
'Ranger Training and Operations,' the old SH 21-50. Its first revision was in
1957, as 'Ranger Training,' but it later on expanded (adding the "operations"
part). In both there were sections on "lane graders." Go figure...
Marcus Johnston
Organization: Illinois State University
Could someone amuse a Cadet Private's Question...
If you say, "Repeat," over the radio during a message, is it true that
you're ordering an artillery strike? Thanks.
C/PVT Marcus Johnston (AROTC)
Redbird Battalion/1st P, 2nd Sq
Illinois State University
Normal, Illinois
"Power is when you have every justifaction to do something... and don't."
-paraphrased from Schindler's List.
P.S.: Reason for message: You happened to be mentioning artillery strikes.
Francis J Park
> If you say, "Repeat," over the radio during a message, is it true that
>you're ordering an artillery strike? Thanks.
"repeat," as you mentioned, DOES mean to fire the same target again in FA-ese.
If you want someone to say something again over the air, "say again" is the
proword to use.
>P.S.: Reason for message: You happened to be mentioning artillery strikes.
While I have no intent of being an artillery officer, there are reasons as to
why artillery has been called the biggest killer of men on the battlefield.
They also don't discriminate between friendly and foe. A forward observer from
3 US Armored Division in the Gulf killed himself calling in a MLRS mission. The
usual load for an MLRS missile is DPICM, or dual purpose improved conventional
munitions. Unfortunately for him, he was inside the 1000m danger close and he
was shredded by DPICM bomblets. This is why I say 600m is the danger close for
MOST, but not all artillery.
On the other hand, you're doing what a lot of people in ROTC fail to do in
putting this question up - they DON'T ASK. People are usually slow to
volunteer information. But if you know that someone knows more than you, it
can't hurt to ask at the very least if you have a question.
I hope as more people find out about this newsgroup that they take advantage of
what it can offer. Knowing about it has made a huge difference for me...
Best of luck for the future.
David Emery
So, if you're on target, and there are still badguys running around,
you can say "repeat", and we'll hit 'em again. You can change some of
the control measures. For instance, if we hit them with a 'battery 1
round' (generally 6 shells), you can say "two rounds, repeat".
As has been mentioned, the correct way to ask for retransmission of a
message is "Say again". It's good to get into this habit early.
'Civilians' occasionally give you a strange look, but it's as
acceptable as "Say What?" and you'll sound really hardcore in a
military context. Most importantly, you'll be in the habit of doing
the right thing on the radio, so you won't make this mistake when it
could really count.
dave
--
David Emery (em...@mitre.org)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I divide officers into four classes - the clever, the lazy, the stupid
and the industrious. Each officer possesses at least two of these
qualities. Those who are clever and indistrious are fitted for the
high staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and
lazy. The man who is clever and lazy is fit for the very highest
commands. He has the temperment and the requisite nerves to deal with
all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious must be
removed immediately.
Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord
------------------------------------------------------------------------