Forward Movement

 

For Manual Monday, we are continuing our discussion on Movement. Specifically, we will be addressing forward movement according to doctrine. Our reference for this discussion is TC 3-22.9 Change 1, dated January 2017.

As mentioned last week, there are four major categories of movement according to doctrine. Forward, Retrograde, Lateral, and Turning about Left/Right. We are going to focus in on Forward Movement for today.

Forward movement is defined by the TC as “continued progress in a direction toward the adversary or route of march.” This is the most basic form of movement during an engagement. During forward movement, we want our Paratroopers executing the following:

• Foot movement is incorporating a rolling motion from the heel to toe to best provide a stable firing platform.
• Shooting while moving should be very close to the natural walking gait and come directly from the position obtained while stationary. This means that we are taking the standing unsupported position as shown in the picture below, and apply movement to it to achieve our stabilized platform for firing. Ideally, we are using our legs as shock absorbers to absorb impact from movement to stabilize our shooting platform.

• Keep the weapon at the ready position. Always maintain awareness of the surroundings, both to your left and right, at all times during movement. This ties back in with having both eyes open while shooting the reflex sight or M150 RCO. Both optics are designed to be fired in that manner, we need to train in that manner.
• Maintain an aggressive position; leaning forward at the waist slightly with the shoulders squared to help in recoil management, knees slightly flexed more than normal to help absorb any impact from movement.
• The feet should almost fall in line during movement. This straight-line movement will reduce the arc of movement and visible “bouncing” of the sight picture.
• The muzzle of the weapon remains facing down range toward the expected or detected threat.
• The hips remain as stationary as possible: Use the upper body as a turret, twisting at the waist, maintaining proper platform with the upper body. This is important for recoil management and preventing misaligned sights due to the buttstock slipping.

So to sum up, we’ve re-visited the various movement techniques, and we addressed the major points of how to create a stable platform for fire for forward movement. Next week we will continue our discussion on movement as we focus on retrograde movement.

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