US Army
Note. Supplement night training schedule for close combat by night (App. IV) with specialized training program as outlined in this schedule. First week See Appendix II. Second week 1. Strengthening defensive positions by building field fortifications and constructing barbed-wire obstacles. 2. Knots and ties. Third week 1. Handling different types of detonators; preparing and placing charges, fuzes, and connecting wires. 2. Combat patrol action during which engineer equipment is employed. 3. Preparation and removal of obstacles with and without explosives. 4. Proper rise of pneumatic floats and emergency river crossing equipment. Fourth week 1. Laying and clearing open and concealed mines. 2. Clearing individual mines and lanes through mine fields. 3. Engineer reconnaissance of roads and detours, methods of marking same and guiding troops to their assembly areas. 4. Combat in inhabited localities utilizing engineer equipment: construction and removal of barriers; Planting booby traps. Fifth week 1. Reconnoitering river crossing sites; ferrying motorcycles and heavy weapons on pneumatic floats; building and operating 4-ton pneumatic float ferries: construction of landing stages. 2. Road repair work; crossing of swampy and sandy stretches. terrain pitted with shell craters, and antitank ditches. 3. Constructing platforms for tree snipers and observers. 4. Forest fighting, including preparation and removal of abatis ; Planting hidden small charges. Sixth week 1. Construction and camouflage or defensive positions and weapons emplacements for an armored reconnaissance battalion. 2. Attack on and defense of blocking positions. 3. Testing load capacity of bridges. 4. Reconnoitering bridge sites ; construction of short bridges : construction of approach and exit facilities ; marking roads and controlling traffic near bridge sites. Seventh week 1. Demolition of small structures with and without explosive charges. 2. Reinforcing and widening narrow bridges; repairing damaged bridges. 3. Reconnoitering, building, and crossing fords. 4. Construction of footbridges and hasty bridges under combat conditions. Eighth week Participation in a 7-day combat exercise of a combined armored reconnaissance company with practical application of training subject matter. Back to Night Combat Table of Contents Back to List of One-Drous Chapters: World War II Back to List of All One-Drous Chapters Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List Magazine articles and contents are copyrighted property of the respective publication. All copyrights, trademarks, and other rights are held by the respective magazines, companies, and/or licensors, with all rights reserved. MagWeb, its contents, and HTML coding are © Copyright 2002 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. |