28 Dec Army Writing Style Conduct a battle analysis with the provided battle in Afghanistan using active voice with no more than 500 words. See criteria on attachment and battle analysis on sepa

Army Writing Style

· The first sentence should address the BLUF: Bottom Line Up Front: Put the recommendation, conclusions, and/or reason for writing up front

· Use active voice in a concise, organized, to-the-point manner as you support your BLUF with reliable details.

· Use correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and a professional tone.

· Maximum 500 words count

Per Army Writing Style and history philosophy

Your essay answer is via three sections: 

    

· A Background

· A Narrative

· An Analysis 

–Background is up to the section called “The Fight”

–Narrative is the “The Fight” section

–Analysis:  all the above, plus textbook and slides to remind you what the analytical items mean.

–Note:  the background and narrative must include items that you use to support your analysis. DO NOT USE QUOTES FROM THE PASSAGE. DO NOT INCLUDE AFTERMATH ON BATTLE ANALISYS.

Per the question you picked, the analysis will be via the Principles of War, METT-TC, and/or OAKOC.

Your BLUF/essay answers one of the questions in this menu.

1-Summarize the background, conduct and analysis of LT McEvoy and 1st PLT’s Tiranan firefight, and use four Principles of War to support your analysis.

2-Summarize the background, conduct and analysis of LT McEvoy and 1st PLT’s Tiranan firefight, and use four METT-TC items to support your analysis.

3-Summarize the background, conduct and analysis of LT McEvoy and 1st PLT’s Tiranan firefight, and use two Principles of War and two METT-TC items to support your analysis.

4-Summarize the background, conduct and analysis of LT McEvoy and 1st PLT’s Tiranan firefight, and use two Principles of War and two OAKOC items to support 

your analysis.

Principle of Wars

· Objective

· Offensive

· Mass

· Economy of Force

· Maneuver

· Unity of Command

· Security

· Surprise

· Simplicity

· Legitimacy

· Perseverance

· Restraints

METT-TC

· Mission

· Enemy

· Terrain and Weather

· Troops

· Time

· Civil Considerations

OAKOC

· Observation and Fields of Fire

· Avenues of Approach

· Key and Decisive Terrain

· Obstacles

· Cover and Concealment

,

Disrupt and Destroy

Platoon Patrol in Zhari District, September 2010

by Matt M. Matthews

On the morning of 5 September 2010, 1st Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment (1/HHT/1-75 CAV) of the US Army’s 2d Brigade Combat Team (2BCT), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) embarked on its first combat patrol south of Highway 1 in the Zhari District, Kandahar Province. The mission would take 1st Platoon into the heart of Taliban territory as part of the initial 1-75 CAV effort to dismantle the enemy infrastructure and force its withdrawal from Zhari. As the HHT commander pointed out afterwards, “The fight in Tiranan set the tone for the rest of the year and let the Taliban know that the unit they were fighting would not withdraw under sporadic or even heavy fire.” To be sure, the enemy was taken aback by the aggressive character of the operation and immediately realized that its Zhari stronghold was not impenetrable. The mission proved a learning experience for the platoon leader and his young Soldiers and demonstrated what a well led, highly motivated, extremely competent platoon can accomplish against an entrenched and determined foe. 

Figure 1. First Platoon embarking on its first combat patrol south of Highway 1 in the Zhari District, Kandahar Province. Photo courtesy of Captain Riley E. McEvoy

Background

By the early summer of 2010, a resurgent Taliban had enveloped Kandahar Province. Across large swaths of the province, explosions and billowing plumes of smoke revealed the presence of a determined and resilient enemy. Indeed, by the beginning of the spring fighting season of 2010, the Taliban had assembled a formidable force around Kandahar City. In a series of offensive actions dating back to 2003, they had captured key terrain around the city which allowed them to intimidate the population and launch attacks against the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan security forces. A relative paucity of soldiers in Kandahar Province during the period 2003-2010, significantly restricted the efforts of ISAF and its Afghan partners who had endeavored for years to destroy the Taliban in the Province.

As the Taliban increased its attacks in the province, ISAF in early 2010, prepared to strike back with a hard hitting and wide ranging counteroffensive to drive the Taliban away from the city. This action, made possible by the recent troop surge, aimed to strike directly into several crucial districts in Kandahar Province. One of the targeted districts, Zhari, dubbed the “heart of darkness” by apprehensive Soviet troops sent there in the 1980s, was also the birthplace of the Taliban. One specialist in the field pointed out the importance of the operation when she stated, “To strike at the heart of the insurgency, strike at the historical and spiritual home of the Taliban sends a very clear message – with the resources we have, we are on the offensive.”

Figure 2. Kandahar Province, Zhari District.

By 1 September 2010, two infantry battalions and one cavalry squadron of 2BCT, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) had occupied positions in Zhari along Highway 1. The 1-75 CAV occupied 2BCT’s center sector moving into Forward Operating Base (FOB) Wilson in early September. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas McFadyen, the unit was responsible for a sizable portion of Zhari. As a Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (RSTA) unit, 1-75 CAV was not as large as the infantry battalions in 2BCT and its Modified Table of Organization and Equipment (MTOE) differed greatly. Alpha and Bravo Troops of 1-75 CAV were, for the most part, made up of cavalry scouts while Charlie Company (also known as “Chaos” Company), was an infantry element.

Prior to deploying to Afghanistan, Chaos Company’s 1st Platoon trained with HHT. The Platoon Leader, First Lieutenant Riley E. McEvoy, wrote that, “During JRTC [Joint Readiness Training Center] they made the decision that HHT needed a maneuver element.” Halfway through their training at JRTC, McEvoy’s platoon was assigned to HHT but at the end of the training program they were sent back to their own company. Within weeks of the Squadron’s arrival in Afghanistan however, 1st Platoon was reassigned to HHT and given the unit designation 1st Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry (1/HHT/1-75 CAV). 

There were two important reasons for attaching McEvoy’s Platoon to HHT. The first object was the need for four maneuver companies as partners with the Afghan National Army (ANA) Kandak (Afghan Battalion) which was attached to the 1-75 CAV. There were four ANA companies and without the attachment of 1st Platoon to HHT there would be only three maneuver elements to partner with the Kandak. First Platoon was also assigned to HHT because the Squadron Commander wanted a maneuver force which could work with his Intelligence Officer (S2). McEvoy recalled that McFadyen sought “to have a maneuver force partially controlled by the Squadron S2 and himself to action high-value intelligence targets and time-sensitive targets.” The S2, Captain Matthew A. Crawford, described 1st Platoon’s mission as “unique.” They were used “to specifically disrupt, target HVIs (high-value individuals), and destroy known insurgent infrastructure. Their mission statement almost always had the words ‘disrupt’ and ‘destroy’ in them.” McEvoy used few words to explain why his platoon was chosen, simply stating, “We were the best.” 

McEvoy’s Platoon contained some of the most experienced Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and enlisted men in the US Army. His Platoon Sergeant, Sergeant First Class Derek Leach, was a solid combat veteran and a superb leader, so much so that McEvoy pointed out their relationship “was perfect.” The Platoon Leader wrote that Leach, “brought a fresh attitude and perspective to the platoon. He was…gung-ho and ready to train and fight.” The Squad Leaders, Staff Sergeant Timothy McKinnis and Sergeant Victor Faggiano, were also first rate combat veterans. McEvoy stated that McKinnis was “just a wealth of experience, [an] amazing NCO, and it was a great mix between Sergeant Faggiano …a young fire breather, ready to go at all times and then Sergeant McKinnis… [an] old crusty NCO that has so much perspective about everyone in the squad, and just so much experience and intelligence to share, and just a great, calm combat leader.” McKinnis’ 2d Squad also contained two excellent Team Leaders, Sergeant Jesse Hattesohl and Sergeant Zachary Fraker. In Faggiano’s 1st Squad, Team Leaders Specialist Joseph Lee and Specialist Cody Chandler imparted a wealth of knowledge, skill, and leadership. Chandler was also one of the most popular soldiers in the platoon. McEvoy’s weapons squad was led by Staff Sergeant Robert Singley who had just returned from drill sergeant duty. Like the others, he was a solid combat veteran and leader.

The Mission

By 1 September 2010, Crawford had produced intelligence packages on numerous enemy compounds, fighting positions, meeting locations, and bed-down locations. He had also accumulated a massive amount of intelligence material on Taliban Improvised Explosive Device (IED) caches and IED production facilities. All of the sites had been identified either by historical reporting or other intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) means. With the addition of full-motion video shot by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), it did not take Crawford long to identify certain enemy patterns. “So we had a…patterned enemy in Zhari…he was so comfortable with the terrain and the fact that they owned it that they just…became almost lazy in their movement patterns,” the S2 remarked.

The Squadron’s initial objective was to force the enemy away from Highway 1 and Route Summit in order to set conditions for an impending 2BCT operation dubbed Operation DRAGON STRIKE. “We wanted to shape the AO, so once DRAGON STRIKE started we could go in and not have to slug it out,” Crawford recounted. The entire operation was intelligence-driven, targeting Taliban compounds, cache sites, and bed-down locations near Highway 1 and Route SUMMIT. “We wanted to open up those two major routes in our AO…and we were running patrols 750 meters in, 1,000 meters in, making contact, and then trying to kill the enemy with artillery and UAV strikes,” Crawford recalled. 

Early in the first week of September, McEvoy received orders to prepare his platoon for a mission south of Highway 1. The operation would take place on the morning of 5 September. Although they had performed combat patrols north of the highway, 1st Platoon had yet to conduct operations to the south. It would be an extremely dangerous mission. The Taliban owned the ground, and the terrain which was a jumble of dense grape fields, wadis, tree lines, and open grassland and this only served to increase the strength of the enemy. As Crawford pointed out, “you couldn’t get 300 meters south of that highway without getting attacked.” Crawford wanted McEvoy’s platoon to check a possible IED cache site west of Route SUMMIT. The S2 was also convinced that the enemy was using at least one building along Route ST. JOHN’S, a dirt road running north of Tiranan, as a Command and Control (C2) point. 

As soon as they received the warning order, McEvoy and his NCOs began their pre-combat checks (PCCs) and pre-combat inspections (PCIs). They received reliable intelligence on possible routes and the locations of recent IED attacks. “We actually got really deep into finding intelligence about this area,” Hattesohl recalled. First Platoon would be supported for this mission by UAVs, 155mm howitzers, and 120mm mortars from FOB Wilson and Close Combat Attack (CCA) aircraft. With all necessary preparations in place, McEvoy’s platoon and their ANA counterparts were fully prepared by the night of 4 September. 

The Patrol

At approximately 0700 on 5 September, 1st Platoon and the ANA platoon started moving south from FOB Wilson. The patrol should have moved out earlier but the ANA contingent arrived late. Hattesohl, the 2d Squad A Team Leader, led the dismounted platoon through the Afghan National Police (ANP) gate. Following behind Hattesohl were his two team members, Private First Class Steven Craythorn and Private First Class Joseph Arvizu. Hattesohl’s team advanced south toward Highway 1 in a staggered road-march formation. They were followed by about half of the ANA platoon along with 2d Squad Leader McKinnis and Fraker, the B Team Leader. Fraker was the lone man in B Team, as two of his soldiers, Specialist Ryan Johnson and Private First Class Yeng Her, were on leave. 

Toward the center of the column, McEvoy maintained a watchful eye on the balance of the ANA intermingled with the rest of the patrol. “It was one of our first patrols,” McEvoy recalled, “so controlling the ANA was a bit difficult.” With the platoon leader was Captain Michael Krayer, the HHT Commander, who had come along as an observer and Private First Class Mark Drake, the forward 

observer (FO). Private First Class Anthony Surrett also traveled with McEvoy serving as his radio telephone operator (RTO). 

Behind this element, the 1st Squad A Team Leader, Chandler, advanced with Private Michael Iacoviello and Private First Class Kyle Hall. In the center, 1st Squad Leader Faggiano and attached HHT Medic Sergeant Timothy “Doc” Peterson moved forward. Behind Faggiano, 1st Squad B Team Leader Lee and his two soldiers, Private First Class Anthony Thompson and Private First Class Hector Bonilla, followed their squad leader through the front gate. Also moving with Faggiano was Weapons Squad Leader Singley and his M240G gun team members, Private First Class Spencer Harris, Private First Class Rigoberto Soto and Private First Class Corey Doty. 

Bringing up the rear of the patrol was Platoon Sergeant Leach, Medic Private First Class Robert Kruse and the designated marksman and ammo bearer (AB) from Weapons Squad, Specialist Andrew Ingram. Ingram carried an “assault pack” of 500 rounds of 7.62 ammunition for the gun team and he also carried an M14 rifle. As the platoon began to stretch out between the front gate and Highway 1, Leach and Kruse, along with Ingram, began moving toward the front of the long column. “As usual,” Leach stated, “we would patrol up and down between everyone ensuring everyone was good and also for my situational awareness and coordination with the platoon leader and squad leaders.” As his platoon marched through the ANP gate, McEvoy called the command post (CP) to announce their departure. He remembered the day as “hot, over 100 [degrees], sunny [and] cloudless.”

At Highway 1, 1st Platoon set up left and right security, stopping all traffic and quickly moving across to the south side of the highway. Once there, the platoon changed from a staggered road-march formation into a squad wedge formation and headed west through an open field toward Route SUMMIT. Hattesohl remained on point during this phase of the movement. Crossing Route SUMMIT McEvoy’s soldiers cautiously approached the rural community of Pasab. “We continued with this movement until we made it closer to the village of Pasab where we set in security watching every avenue of approach and especially Highway 1,” Leach recalled. Ever mindful of the threat from IEDs, Hattesohl continued to select the “hardest and safest route possible” for the platoon. Moving north of Pasab, Leach remembered that, “Once we started moving between buildings we switched to a bounding and traveling overwatch [formation] to ensure security was set with one element while still being able to push on with the other element.” McEvoy stated that he gave few instructions up to this point.

 

Figure 3. First Platoon Patrol to Tiranan.

“The squad leaders knew their route and what they were supposed to do.” 

The patrol moved west past Pasab about 600 meters and then turned south toward the first wadi line. When Hattesohl approached the wadi, he called a halt to check for “danger zones.” He recalled that there was little water in the wadi but there were “a lot of trees a lot of bushes” and “You couldn’t see more than maybe 15 [or] 10 feet in front of you.” After the brief pause, the platoon began crossing the riverbed. “For this mission we came up to the wadi [and] walked through the water roughly 100 meters or so,” Leach stated. “For this movement we were in single file, but spaced well enough apart and mutually supporting each other. We would push a team up, find the crossing, set in security while bringing up a gun team, [and] then move everyone else up.” 

While the rest of the platoon made its way across the first wadi line, Hattesohl and his team moved farther south into an open field about 100 meters long. About halfway through the field, Hattesohl noticed a small piece of plastic. Believing it could be an IED the team leader called another halt and moved to clear it. “Everything’s a hazard for us,” he later stated. After checking the piece of plastic Hattesohl declared, “It was nothing,” and his team moved out once more in the direction of a tree line to the south.

Making their way past the tree line, Hattesohl’s team proceeded about 200 meters to the next wadi line. The team leader described this obstacle as a “creek wadi.” Entering the creek, McKinnis’ 2d Squad, with Hattesohl’s team on point, moved northeast toward a large mud hut with an oval roof. While 2d Squad moved on the structure, Faggiano’s 1st Squad set the gun teams to provide security for the other squad. “We had learned from [past experience] the terrain is so dense that a machine gun [placed] in [a] grape orchard can’t really cover anybody,” Faggiano noted. The gun teams and Faggiano’s 1st Squad provided overwatch for McKinnis’ 2d Squad as they approached a large mud hut with a small open courtyard surrounded by damaged walls. As 1st Squad moved up to the structure, Faggiano’s Soldiers and the gun crews continued to provide overwatch. McKinnis’ squad found nothing at the house. McEvoy recalled “visually” cleaning the house. “Nothing was really there,” Hattesohl reported. “Our leadership talked with the locals that were living in that village…we asked them questions like where have the Taliban been…has there been any activity in the area?” It was all for naught. The platoon received no actionable intelligence from the local population. Finding neither IED caches nor IED production facilities in the vicinity, McEvoy made the decision to move south to the objective.

Once again, Hattesohl led the way for McKinnis’ 2d Squad, south toward the third wadi line and the objective. At the same time, Faggiano’s 1st Squad headed in a southwesterly direction toward the third wadi line. Making their way through the dense underbrush, Faggiano’s soldiers emerged on the south side of the wadi. “Just south of me, it was wide open, there was tall grass, and then a village just off to the south,” the 1st Squad Leader recalled. Faggiano’s squad quickly set up an overwatch position to cover 2d Squad as they worked their way toward the third wadi line. Lee and his team faced north to provide security for 2d Squad. McKinnis stated that 1st Squad’s mission was “to overwatch movement and deny the enemy use of the wadi line to the west while my squad went to the objective to confirm or deny it as a cache site.”

After working their way through the wadi, McKinnis’ men emerged onto an open field near the objective, which McEvoy remarked, “turned out to be a well.” With 2d Squad were McEvoy, the FO Drake, Leach, Krayer, his security element, as well as 10 ANA soldiers and the gun teams. A quick search of the well turned up nothing. “[The] primary objective was the well, which was believed to have been a cache site,” McKinnis recalled. “After discovering that the objective was not a cache site, we moved about 50-75 meters further southwest to the northern corner of the grape field in order to set a small perimeter.” Hattesohl and his A Team, along with Harris and his M240G from the gun team, took up an overwatch position in the southwest corner behind a wall near the grape field. Fraker also took up a position behind the wall. Other soldiers in the element pulled security to the northwest and east. Hattesohl was soon joined by McKinnis who crouched behind the wall. While this was taking place, the other gun team which included Singley, Doty and Soto, set up rear security on the north side of the wadi.

The Fight

As McKinnis’ men took up their positions, an ANA soldier fired a warning shot at an Afghan “farmer” in the grape field. The farmer turned and fled whereupon several ANA soldiers bolted into the grape field after him. At this point, McEvoy decided to wait and to keep pulling security until the ANA returned from pursuing the man. The ANA soon led the farmer out of the grape field. Hattesohl remembered talking to the man, tactfully questioning him about the Taliban presence in the area. Seated nearby on a haystack, McEvoy recalled McKinnis and the ANA chatting with the farmer. To the west, Faggiano stated that his squad was “kind of obsessing over what was going on” in the 2d Squad area.

About five to eight minutes into the questioning of the farmer, Hattesohl heard another gunshot. “I heard a snap. I thought it was one of the ANAs shooting again but it sounded a little bit different. Then it was on. It was game on from there. I called the direction and distance. I saw that there were two lone buildings just to my southwest, about…300, 350 meters and that’s where we were taking the fire from.” Fraker also heard the gunfire from behind the wall north of the grape field. “We heard a couple pop shots and then everything broke loose,” he stated. From their rear security position north of the third wadi, Singley, Soto, and Doty could hear the rounds going over their heads. Kruse recalled that the fire was so intense that “we were pinned down.” He remembered being exposed to the initial enemy fire and sprinted to the wall north of the grape field under a hail of bullets. “There [were] rounds hitting the grape field in front of us [and] behind us,” he later stated. Although under a storm of small arms fire, 1st Squad, the gun team, and the headquarters element struck back swiftly against the enemy. Hattesohl and Harris with his M240G were the first to return fire from north of the grape field. 

Sergeant Fraker could see about 20 enemy fighters in and around two buildings to his southwest. He recognized instantly that the squad’s weapons could not fire effectively on the Taliban locations. Under a withering barrage of bullets from enemy small arms and machine guns, Fraker and Hattesohl moved from their defensive position behind the wall about 25 meters into an open field. As they moved forward, other members of the squad laid down a suppressive volley with their M4s and M249Gs. Once in the open field Hattesohl put down suppressive fire while Fraker fired his M320 at the enemy to his front. As Fraker’s 40mm high explosive grenades burst around the Taliban defensive positions, Hattesohl continued to direct his team and coordinate its fires.

To the west, Faggiano’s 1st Squad also came under a torrent of gun fire. He immediately called up a contact report to McEvoy and began to study the situation. “There was really nowhere to maneuver,” he later noted. “These guys were the masters of their terrain. They knew we weren’t going to come at them. They knew we were going to have to slug it out with them, from wadi line to wadi line.” Faggiano quickly discerned that he needed to gain fire superiority over the enemy and began coordinating with his team leaders Chandler and Lee.

Most of the fire was coming from the wadi line directly to the south of 1st Squad and from two buildings on the north side of Route ST. JOHNS. Faggiano recalled listening to McEvoy on the radio. The platoon leader had already called in a contact report to the troop command post (CP). He thereupon assisted the FO Drake in coordinating his radio calls to the squadron for Close Combat Attack (CCA) aircraft (OH-58 Kiowas), along with indirect fire support. For now, McEvoy was determined to let his squad leaders “fight for a while” until he could acquire more air and artillery. Faggiano remembered McEvoy saying, “All right, we’re going to get CCA. Let’s hold up right here.” Bolstered with the knowledge of the  

enemy’s locations, McEvoy determined to bring air and artillery down on them while his squads attempted to gain fire superiority.

As Faggiano’s 1st Squad fired back, they immediately drew added attention from the enemy to their south. “They obviously were the ones that the Taliban saw first so they took most of the rounds,” Hattesohl noted after the fight. “Then when 1st squad opened up, that’s when the enemy shifted fire towards them.” Indeed, Faggiano’s squad was engulfed in a hail of small arms fire which whizzed over their heads, ripped into the dirt and sliced through the vegetation along the wadi line. The enemy fire was so intense that Faggiano was not certain he could maintain fire superiority. The squad leader now called on Lee, who with Thompson and Bonilla, had been covering the rear on the north side of the wadi. “I wanted to bring more [M]320’s and team leaders…I wanted to bring more of their gunners over, so Lee jumped over and we left two guys facing north,” Faggiano stated. 

Although the enemy was outside the range of the M320, Lee recalled firing HE rounds as a scare tactic. On the east side of Faggiano’s line, Chandler, Iacoviello, and Hall laid down a steady stream of fire with their M203s, M320s, and the SAW. Chandler could see large groups of the enemy running in and out of a building directly south of his position. As the enemy ran out of the structure, they would try to establish firing positions and then duck back into the house. As the firefight grew in intensity, Lee began rotating his team from rear security to the firing line in order to conserve ammunition. To Lee’s great consternation, the enemy continued their withering assault on 1st Squad. “They weren’t trying to bound back and leave. They were actually sticking there and fighting with us. They just had all the buildings that they could hide in where we had a berm with trees and basically a couple walls, nothing major to really stop anything,” Lee remembered.

In the east, 2d Squad continued to fire back at the buildings to the southwest. From his position in the open field, Fraker noticed about 10 enemy fighters attempting to move east along Route ST. JOHNS. Realizing the Taliban was attempting to flank 2d Squad’s position, Fraker instantly reoriented a portion of the squad’s fire on the enemy’s flanking party. The intense gunfire quickly halted the flanking movement. While this was taking place, Hattesohl continued to move back and forth between the open field and his team’s defensive position. Hattesohl alternated between these two positions in order to engage the enemy with the squad’s highest-caliber weapons. He also continued to provide his team with tactical instructions and direct their fires,