Infantry Drill Regulations, United States Army, 1911 Part 33

When practicable, the patrol leader may communicate with the main body by means of visual signaling.

PART III.--MARCHES AND CAMPS.

MARCHES.

_TRAINING AND DISCIPLINE._

623. Marching const.i.tutes the princ.i.p.al occupation of troops in campaign and is one of the heaviest causes of loss. This loss may be materially reduced by proper training and by the proper conduct of the march.

624. The training of infantry should consist of systematic physical exercises to develop the general physique and of actual marching to accustom men to the fatigue of bearing arms and equipment.

Before mobilization troops should be kept in good physical condition and so practiced as to teach them thoroughly the principles of marching. At the first opportunity after mobilization the men should be hardened to cover long distances without loss.

625. With new or untrained troops, the process of hardening the men to this work must be gradual. Immediately after being mustered into the service the physical exercises and marching should be begun.

Ten-minute periods of vigorous setting-up exercises should be given three times a day to loosen and develop the muscles. One march should be made each day, with full equipment, beginning with a distance of 2 or 3 miles and increasing the distance daily as the troops become hardened, until a full day's march under full equipment may be made without exhaustion.

626. A long march should not be made with untrained troops. If a long distance must be covered in a few days, the first march should be short, the length being increased each succeeding day.

627. Special attention should be paid to the fitting of shoes and the care of feet. Shoes should not be too wide or too short. Sores and blisters on the feet should be promptly dressed during halts. At the end of the march feet should be bathed and dressed; the socks and, if practicable, the shoes should be changed.

628. The drinking of water on the march should be avoided. The thirst should be thoroughly quenched before starting on the march and after arrival in camp. On the march the use of water should, in general, be confined to gargling the mouth and throat or to an occasional small drink at most.

629. Except for urgent reasons, marches should not begin before an hour after daylight, but if the distance to be covered necessitates either breaking camp before daylight or making camp after dark, it is better to do the former.

Night marching should be avoided when possible.

630. A halt of 15 minutes should be made after the first half or three-quarters of an hour of marching; thereafter a halt of 10 minutes is made in each hour. The number and length of halts may be varied, according to the weather, the condition of the roads, and the equipment carried by the men. When the day's march is long a halt of an hour should be made at noon and the men allowed to eat.

631. The rate of march is regulated by the commander of the leading company of each regiment, or, if the battalions be separated by greater than normal distances, by the commander of the leading company of each battalion. He should maintain a uniform rate, uninfluenced by the movements of troops or mounted men in front of him.

The position of companies in the battalion and of battalions in the regiment is ordinarily changed daily so that each in turn leads.

632. The marching efficiency of an organization is judged by the amount of straggling and elongation and the condition of the men at the end of the march.

An officer of each company marches in its rear to prevent undue elongation and straggling.

When necessary for a man to fall out on account of sickness, he should be given a permit to do so. This is presented to the surgeon, who will admit him to the ambulance, have him wait for the trains, or follow and rejoin his company at the first halt.

633. Special attention should be paid to the rate of march. It is greater for trained than for untrained troops; for small commands than for large ones; for lightly burdened than for heavily burdened troops. It is greater during cool than during hot weather. With trained troops, in commands of a regiment or less, marching over average roads, the rate should be from 2-3/4 to 3 miles per hour. With larger commands carrying full equipment, the rate will be from 2 to 2-1/2 miles per hour.

634. The marching capacity of trained infantry in small commands is from 20 to 25 miles per day. This distance will decrease as the size of the command increases. For a complete division the distance can seldom exceed 12-1/2 miles per day unless the division camps in column.

635. In large commands the marching capacity of troops is greatly reduced by faulty march orders and poor march discipline.

The march order should contain such instructions as will enable the troops to take their proper places in column promptly. Delay or confusion in doing so should be investigated. On the other hand, organization commanders should be required to time their movements so that the troops will not be formed sooner than necessary.

The halts and starts of the units of a column should be regulated by the watch and be simultaneous.

Closing up during a halt, or changing gait to gain or lose distance should be prohibited.

(_C.I.D.R., Nos. 2 and 12._)

_PROTECTION OF THE MARCH._

_General Considerations._

636. A column on the march in the vicinity of the enemy is covered by detachments called "advance guards," "rear guards," or "flank guards."

The object of these covering detachments is to facilitate the advance of the main body and to protect it from surprise or observation.

They facilitate the advance of the main body by promptly driving off small bodies of the enemy who seek to hara.s.s or delay it; by removing obstacles from the line of advance, by repairing roads, bridges, etc., thus enabling the main body to advance uninterruptedly in convenient marching formations.

They protect the main body by preventing the enemy from firing into it when in close formation; by holding the enemy and enabling the main body to deploy before coming under effective fire; by preventing its size and conditions from being observed by the enemy; and, in retreat, by gaining time for it to make its escape or to reorganize its forces.

637. Tactical units should not be broken in making details for covering detachments.

638. The march order of the whole command should explain the situation, and, among other things, detail the commander and troops for each covering detachment. It should specify the route to be taken and the distance to be maintained between the main body and its covering detachments. It should order such reconnaissance as the commander specially desires to have made.

The order of the commander of a covering detachment should clearly explain the situation to subordinates, a.s.sign the troops to the subdivisions, prescribe their distances, and order such special reconnaissance as may be deemed necessary in the beginning.

An advance or flank guard commander marches well to the front and, from time to time, orders such additional reconnaissance or makes such changes in his dispositions as the circ.u.mstances of the case demand.

_Advance Guards._

639. An _advance guard_ is a detachment of the main body which precedes and covers it on the march.

640. The advance guard commander is responsible for its formation and conduct. He should bear in mind that its purpose is to facilitate and protect the march of the main body. Its own security must be effected by proper dispositions and reconnaissance, not by timid or cautious advance. It must advance at normal gait and search aggressively for information of the enemy. Its action when the enemy attempts to block it with a large force depends upon the situation and plans of the commander of the troops.

641. The strength of the advance guard varies from one-twentieth to one-third of the main body, depending upon the size of the main body and the service expected of the advance guard.

642. The formation of the advance guard must be such that the enemy will be met first by a patrol, then in turn by one or more larger detachments, each capable of holding the enemy until the next in rear has time to deploy before coming under effective fire.

643. Generally an advance guard consisting of a battalion or more is divided primarily into the _reserve_ and the _support_. When the advance guard consists of less than a battalion, the reserve is generally omitted.

644. In an advance guard consisting of two battalions or less, the reserve and support, if both are used, are approximately equal; in larger advance guards, the reserve is approximately two-thirds of the whole detachment.

In an advance guard consisting of one battalion, the machine guns, if any, form part of the reserve. In an advance guard consisting of two or more battalions, the machine guns form part of the support.

645. The _support_ sends forward an _advance party_. The _advance party_, in turn, sends a patrol, called a _point_, still farther to the front. Patrols are sent out to the flanks when necessary. When the distance between parts of the advance guard or the nature of the country is such as to make direct communication difficult, connecting files march between the subdivisions to keep up communication. Each element of the column sends the necessary connecting files to its front.

646. A battalion acting as an advance guard should be formed about as follows: The _reserve_, two companies; the _support_, two companies; the _advance party_, three to eight squads (about a half company), depending upon the strength of the companies and the reconnaissance to be made; the _point_, a noncommissioned officer and three or four men.