C RITERIOS Y R EQUISITOS DE INGRESO , PERMANENCIA Y EGRESO

6-45. Even in fluid situations, attacks are best organized and co ordinated in assembly areas. If the commander decides that rapid action is essential to retain a tactical advantage, he may opt not to use an assembly area. Detailed advance planning, combined with digital communications, SOP, and battle drills. reduces any negative impacts of such a decision.

6-46. Unless already in one, the attacking unit moves into an assembly area during the preparation phase. The unit moves with as much secrecy as possible, normally at night and along routes that prevent or degrade the enemy’s capabilities to visually observe or otherwise detect the movement. It avoids congesting its assembly area and occupies it for the minimum possible time. While in the assembly area, each unit provides its own local ground security and air defense.

6-47. Units moving to assembly areas send out their quartering parties and link up with their guides at the designated locations. While subordinate units move to and occupy assembly areas, the commander completes th e process of planni ng and coordinating the attack.

6-48. The attacking unit completes its final preparations for the attack in the assembly area as far as practicable before moving to an attack position. These preparations include:

l Protection of the force.

l Reconnaissance.

l Plan refinement.

l Troop briefings.

l Rehearsals.

l Movement forward of necessary logistics support.

l Adequate rest for both leaders and soldiers.

l Positioning of the force for subsequent action.

As part of troop-leading procedures, leaders at all levels should conduct a personal reconnaissance of the actual terrain. If a limited-visibility attack is planned, they should also reconnoiter the terrain at night.

6-48. A thorough reconnaissance of the objective, its foreground, and other enemy positions is a critical part of attack preparations. Reconnaissance forces infiltrate through the enemy security zone to conduct an area reconnaissance. They can employ precision munitions and conventional indirect fires to destroy detected enemy outposts while remaining undetected. They locate and attempt to infiltrate the enemy's main defensive positions to confirm his dispositions. When properly task-organized, forces conducting reconnaissance may also be given a mission to conduct covert breaches in the enemy's obstacle complexes to facilitate rapid movement of the decisive or shaping operation.

6-49. During this phase, the commander positions artillery target acquisition radars to provide support throughout the AO. Divisions and corps establish quick-fire channels between sensors, such as counterbattery radars and firing units, to rapidly silence enemy indirect fire systems. These channels do not change command relationships or priority of fires.

6-50. The commander exercises and refines his maneuver and fire plans during rehearsals. Rehearsals are an important part of ensuring the plan’s coordination and synchronization. As part of the rehearsal process, the commander and his subordinates review the anticipated battle sequence to ensure all units understand the plan, the

relationship between fire and movement, and the synchronization of critical events.

These critical events include:

l Occupation of support-by-fire positions.

l Conduct of the breach.

l Assault of the objective.

l Consolidation on the objective.

l Exploitation or pursuit.

The unit should conduct rehearsals under as many types of adverse conditions as possible with time and other restraints to identify and prepare the unit to cope with problems. At lower tactical echelons, the rehearsal includes battle drills, such as creating lanes through minefields.

6-51. From their assembly areas, attacking units move to their respective LDs. Units move from assembly areas to the LD in the same way as for any other tactical movement. (Chapter 14 details troop movements.) The number of columns a unit employs in its movement depends on the availability of suitable routes and the friendly and enemy situation. The march formation is governed primarily by the tactical situation and the order in which the commander wants his subordinate units to arrive at their attack positions. The use of an LD facilitates the start of the attack at the prescribed time by all attacking units.

6-52. Light infantry units should move by tactical vehicles to the maximum extent possible to avoid prematurely exhausting their soldiers. However, light infantry forces should not travel too far forward in tactical vehicles. The enemy can detect the noise and other battlefield signatures associated with the use of tactical vehicles at a greater distance than he can detect dismounted infantry soldiers and will probably respond to the presence of tactical vehicles with direct and indirect fire systems directed against these vulnerable targets. The commander must weigh the need for security against the time required to conduct a foot march and its resulting effects on soldiers.

6-53. Units move rapidly through their attack positions and across the LD, which should be controlled by friendly forces. A unit uses its designated attack position only by exception when it is necessary to refuel or conditions required to support the planned maneuver are not yet established. A unit does not occupy its attack positions for more than ten to fifteen minutes without initiating actions to protect itself and increase its survivability, such as deploying local security and camouflage nets and starting the construction of fighting and survivability positions. If necessary, a unit can use guides

to assist in occupying the attack position. These guides may come from organic resources or from another unit.

6-54. For units attacking on foot using infiltration and stealth, a commander may designate a point of departure for the attacking units instead of an LD. Armor and mechanized infantry units normally use gaps or lanes through the friendly positions to allow them to deploy into combat formations before they cross the LD.

6-55. Preliminary operations for an attack may include the use of preparatory fires, and the relief of units in contact by executing a relief in place or a forward passage of lines.

The relief of units may be desirable to continue the momentum of the attack with fresh troops, change the direction of the attack, exploit a weakness in the enemy position with reserve forces, or initiate an offensive on a stabilized front. (Chapter 15 details a relief in place. Chapter 16 details a forward passage of lines.)

6-56. The commander uses available artillery, mortar, close air support (CAS), and offensive information operations to conduct preparatory fires. Preparatory fires are developed from the top-down with bottom-up refinement. The subordinate commander most affected by the effects of these preparatory fires must strongly emphasize the bottom-up refinement process. Preparatory fires can accomplish the following functions:

l Destroy the enemy.

l Suppress, neutralize, or disrupt high-value or high-priority targets.

l Gain fire superiority.

l Suppress the enemey in his defensive positions.

l Facilitate the attacking force’s maneuver.

l Deceive the enemy.

6-57. If the attacking forces are in contact with the enemy's security zone, preparatory fires may initially destroy or disrupt only the enemy's reconnaissance and security forces and positions. In either case, counterfires and counterbattery fires conducted as part of preparatory fires serve to degrade the enemy's fire support systems and assist in achieving fire superiority.

6-58. The commander ensures that his maneuver forces have the CS and CSS assets necessary to conduct the operation and continue the momentum of the attack as part of the preparation process. That support effort must anticip ate future maneuvers to ensure the uninterrupted sustainment of the maneuver force.