Convoy Rat Patrol

by Captain Dean J. Dominique

    The ambush is set. As the enemy commander waits for his target, he goes over every detail repeatedly. Although this is supposed to be an easy target, he still wants to make sure nothing is left to chance. The mission is to interdict a logistics convoy in order to deny his U.S. opponent critical supplies. Intelligence indicates that the U.S. supply convoys pass this same route twice a day at regular intervals. The command and control element usually is leading with little, if any, security.

    Out of the corner of his eye, the enemy commander sees a flash of light in the distance. The convoy is lumbering slowly into the kill zone. A smile comes across his face as he notices what looks like the command vehicle leading the way. He activates the command-detonated mine under the lead vehicle, thereby eliminating the convoy commander along with his communications. The machineguns open fire and destroy the targets in priority order: supplies, troops, and equipment. As his soldiers sweep the kill zone, he reflects back on his intelligence brief. The information was correct; it was an easy target. He has destroyed all supplies, troops, and equipment. His mission is complete.

A soldier test-fires a gun truck's .50-caliber machinegun.

    Logistics convoys are prime targets for an enemy force. They typically are large, lumbering beasts heading to troops on the front lines with essential supplies. A typical convoy can have supplies of different classes mixed together and travel with little or no security. Destroying the convoy can mean that the maneuver unit not only will go hungry but also may run out of ammunition. This is one of the reasons convoys are a high payoff target for an enemy.

    In a perfect world, each convoy would have an escort provided by either military police or tactical support elements. But the world is rarely perfect, especially on the battlefield, and such support often is not available. This leaves convoys on their own and often unprotected. The enemy needs only minimal force to destroy poorly protected convoys. By interdicting supplies, the enemy can have a direct impact on the combat power they face.

    As a convoy commander, how do you prevent such a calamity? One technique is the "rat patrol." What is a rat patrol? you ask. Simply put, the rat patrol is an advance security element that precedes a convoy in the absence of a military police or other escort. The rat patrol reconnoiters the route, provides overwatch, and possibly prevents the enemy from destroying the convoy. The fundamentals of a well-executed rat patrol are organization, training, planning, precombat checks, and rehearsals.

Organization

    One technique for organizing a rat patrol is to reserve two high-mobility, multipurpose, wheeled vehicles with two or more heavily armed soldiers per vehicle. Do not use your gun truck in place of the rat patrol or vice versa; instead, use them together as a complementary force. Generally, it is best to have the same personnel run each rat patrol to provide experience and reduce training time. This allows the rat patrol members to get better at their missions and not have to retrain each time a convoy moves out. Better performance means increased survivability for both the convoys and the rat patrols.

    These patrols need to be well equipped. At a minimum, this includes an automatic weapon (make sure it is test-fired), communications (also tested), binoculars, a compass, and a map with graphics. If possible, have your mechanics remove the windshield along with the doors and vehicle top. This will allow a maximum observation of the battlefield and minimize the signature caused by light reflection. When you are running multiple convoys, rotating your personnel will be crucial, and you may be able to lead each convoy with only one vehicle. In that case, use the most experienced and
rehearsed team members.

Training

    Rat patrol leaders must be well trained on mounted land navigation and call-for-fire skills. The team members need to understand that their mission is scouting and, on occasion, breaking contact with the enemy. That means the team must establish battle drills for reconnaissance, reaction to contact, and breaking contact. It also means that the team members must be qualified on their individual weapons or the crew-served weapons they use. They also need to know what the enemy looks like and what his most probable course of action will be.

 

A rat patrol team member drives the team's high-mobility, multipurpose, wheeled vehicle.

Planning

    The rat patrol team leaders must have a comprehensive understanding of the route, the enemy, and the terrain along the route. Each rat patrol team must know the enemy's capabilities and potential ambush sites. This begins with a detailed consultation with the S2. If possible, named areas of interest and en route indirect targets should be developed and submitted to the commander. The team members must understand the commander's intent for the rat patrol. They need to recognize that the rat patrol is not normally a fighting force; it must not become decisively engaged. If the rat patrol members spot the enemy, they should stay out of the enemy's range and call back with a systematic size, activity, location, unit, time, and equipment report. If they are fired on, they should return fire and move back while informing the convoy. Again, the rat patrol should be a reconnaissance element, not a fighting force.

Precombat Checks and Rehearsals

    The unit should develop internal standing operating procedures, battle drills, and checklists for precombat checks or inspections and for actions on contact. Before departing on a patrol, the team leaders must inspect all personnel, weapons, and equipment for serviceability and accountability. A "single-shot" machinegun will do little to deter an enemy bent on killing.

    All key elements—the convoy commander, the rat patrol, the gun truck, and higher headquarters—must participate in rehearsals. Instructions must be clear-cut, and all actions must be rehearsed. The team leaders must establish communications with the convoy commander, higher headquarters, and the gun truck to coordinate fires if needed. If time is limited, rehearsals should focus first on actions on contact.

Execution

    Tactically, the rat patrol moves ahead of the convoy in a bounding overwatch. The commander should designate points on the map to which each element will bound. The rat patrol teams should alternately move ahead of the convoy to reconnoiter possible ambush sites and stop short of intervisibility lines to provide eyes and ears for the convoy commander. This can alleviate the misfortune of large convoys rolling into a roadblock or bottleneck.

    The rat patrol does not need to travel precisely on the convoy route. Conversely, they should use the terrain to their full advantage to mask their movements while they try to locate the enemy.

    A properly executed rat patrol can save lives and ensure that the soldiers engaged in active combat on the front lines have the supplies they need to close with and destroy the enemy. If the convoy in the vignette at the beginning of the article had organized, planned, rehearsed, and executed a rat patrol, it could have been saved. The convoy could have used an alternate route, increased the security placed along that route, or rained artillery on the ambush to clear the route. The soldiers and supplies may have arrived late, but they would have arrived. ALOG

    Captain Dean J. Dominique is the senior Transportation and Division Support Command (Forward) observer-controller for the Combat Service Support Division, Operations Group, Joint Readiness
Training Center, at Fort Polk, Louisiana.