The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1917-10-06
SELFHELPS for the |
NEW SOLDIER ]
By United States Army Officer
SCopyrIght, 1917. by the Wheeler Syndicate, Incl
THE PATROL LEADER.

The leader of q patrol, usually cor
poral if it consists of squad or less,
must be specially chosen. And the
more important the work, the more
careful the selection. The leader must
be skilled in the methods of covering
large areas with a few men; he must
be able to report the strength and
character of hostile forces, deduce
their probable intentions, and report
lnteIligently to his commanding officer.
Endurance. courage and good judgment
are requisites of the patrol leader.
His judgment will be called constant
~ into play, in order to read indica-
lions and pass upon the significance of
the information at hand. He should be
capable of seeing a connection between
apparently irrelevant facts and formu-
Iating his reports accordingly.
Before setting out, however, the pa
troll leader should be given such infor-
nation of the enemy and country as
may be of value to him-the general
location of his own forces, and par
ticularly those with whom he may come
I'm contact. From this it will be seen
that the patrol leader already has a
basis upon which to interpret the in
formation he gains.
When possible, the patrol leader
should have map of the country he
is to traverse-in many cases the route
specified-and he should have a COM
pass, q watch. pencil and q notebook.
When practicable, he should take with
him field message blanks. He carries,
of course, his arms and ammunition.
When the patrol leader assemblies
the men detailed for the patrol, he
makes sure of several things: That
their arms and ammunition are in q
suitable condition for duty; that none
has any papers or maps which would
be of value to the enemy if captured (;
that their accOutrements do not gliSten
or rattle as they move. He then re-
peats his instructions and explains
them until he is satisfied that every
man understands them; he also re-
hearses with the men the signals which
are to be used; and deSignates a man
to take his place if he should be dis
abled.
The formation of the patrol will de
pend upon the nature of the country
and the character of the cover-the
formation best suited to the needs of
the case will be determined by the
leader. But at all events, the fOrma-
ton must be so regulated as to insure
so nearly as possible, the escape of one
man if the patrol is Jumped" by a
superior force.
Generally speaking, it will consist
OF main body with advance, rear and
flank guards, though each of the guards
be represented only by a single man
1t can be seen, however, that this
would be an easy formation for a pa
troll as small as a squad to assume
since, beside the guards, it would al
low for a main body of the corpora
and three men.
With a small patrOl-as small, in
deed, as four or five men-the distance
between the men may not be more thar
from % to so yards. With a larger pa
troll, they may be as great as 100 yards
The reason for this variation is botI
that a smaller force must, in the ma
ture of things, remain closer together
and that the guards at 100 yards would
have far more difficulty in keeping il
sight two or three men than a largel
force.