Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1917-09-27
SElFHELPS for the
NEW SOLDIER
TIL PATROL A D

The leader OF . patrol. usually a cor.
poral II II consists II a 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
'ntelligently TO his commanding officer.
Endurance, courage and good Judgment
are requisites Of the patrol leader.
His judgment will be called constant
ly into play. in order TO read indica-
lions and pass upon the significance of
the information at hand. He should he
capable of seeing Il connection between
apparently irrelevant facts and formu-
!ating his reports accordingly.
Before setting ont, however. the "a
troll leader should be given such infor.
nation OF the enemy and country ms
may he Of value to him--the general
location Of his wv forces, and par
~ticularly those with whom he may come
In contact. From this it viii 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 q map Of the country he
Is to traverse--in many eases the route
specitied-and he should have a com
pass, n watch, n pencil and Il notebook.
When practicable, he should take with
IN field message blanks. He carries,
:: course, his arms and ammunition.
When the patrol leader assemblies
he men detailed for the patrol, he
makes sure of several things: That
their arms and ammunition are in /:
suitable condition for duty; that none
has any papers or maps which would
be of value to the enemy IL captured
thar their Announcements do not glisten
or rattle MS 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
nre to be used and dcsIgnatas 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 coyer~-thc
formation best suited to the needs of
the case will be determined BY the
leader. But at all events. the forIna-
ton must be 81 regulated as to insure,
so nearly AS possible, the escape of one
man If the patrol is Jumped by q
superior force.
Generally speaking, it will consist
of n main body with advance. rear and
Hank guards, though each of the guards
be represented only by a single man.
1t can be seen. however, that this
would be mn easy formation for q pa
troll as small as n squad to assume.
since, beside the guards. 1t would al.
low for a main body of the corpora!
and three men.
With Il small patrol--ns small, in
deed, as four or five men--the distance
between b men may not he more thaa
from 25 to so yards. With Il larger pa
troll, they may be as great as 100 yards.
The reason for this variation is both
that n 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 in
sight two or three men than a larger
force.