by Jon E. Lewis
6 You need a secure landing point that will enable the raiding force to disembark safely and without making any noise.
7 The reconnaissance team will have been given a time and a date for bringing in the raiding troops and by this time all their work must be complete. They should know the lie of the land like the back of their hands and in particular which routes afford the best cover. Having checked the state of the sea and sent their met report back they will then stand by at the landing area to receive the raiding troops.
Swimmer delivery vehicle
The furthest reasonable distance the swimming team should have to cover is 1,500 metres. If the submarine cannot approach this close to the target area then swimmer delivery vehicles should be used to reduce fatigue.
On the way in
In anything but a flat calm it will be impossible to see the shore for most of the journey in, except when you get up onto the crest of a wave. Even then you probably won’t have time to get a fix on your objective. You have to navigate by compass and that’s satisfactory as long as you know where you are.
Unfortunately, the seas and oceans never stand still. Except for a very short period at high and low tides (called “slack water”), they are constantly in motion – and not just straight in to the beach and out again either. On top of that there are coastal currents with which to contend, and though they may run in the same direction all the time they certainly don’t always run at the same speed.
These factors are much worse in some parts of the world than in others. The Mediterranean, for example, has no tides to speak of, while the Bay of Fundy and the Bristol Channel have up to 15 metres between low and high water. And around the Channel Islands there are four tides a day instead of two!
It’s impossible to compensate for all this, and the commander of the mother ship will have calculated the transfer point to take account of all the known factors. Even so, the landing party will have to work hard to keep on course and will be grateful for all the help they can get.
Choosing a landing place
The ideal site for a seaborne landing has very similar features of a good airborne drop zone; it’s easy to identify from a distance; is free of obstacles; has good and secure access and evacuation routes for both the transportation group and the reception committee and is largely free from enemy activity. The main differences lie in the sea and under it.
Any reasonably competent observer can evaluate an inland drop zone just be looking around carefully. To do the same for a seaborne landing requires a certain amount of training in the science of hydrography. Tides and currents are more difficult to deal with than underwater obstacles – at least these don’t move around all the time!
Navigation at sea or even on inland waterways is much more difficult than on land, chiefly because it’s difficult to know exactly where you are at all times. Modern small radar equipment can solve this problem but leaves you exposed if the enemy detects the radar emissions.
A better solution is offered by satellite navigation (satnav) hardware, which will tell you where you are to within 100 metres anywhere on the earth’s surface. Because it’s completely passive (it transmits nothing itself but only receives) you don’t risk giving away your position when you use it.
Find the beach
If there’s no reception committee on the beach, the landing party will navigate for themselves, using the compass, sun or star sights and shoreline observation and will be rather lucky to hit the beach at precisely the right place except under the easiest possible conditions.
If there is a beach party it can help with visible light, well shielded and only allowed to shine out to sea; infra red beacons, which the boat party can pick up using special goggles; underwater sound; and radio.
The surf zone doesn’t stretch very far out from the shore. When the landing party are close to its outer limit they stop and maintain position. Scout swimmers get into the water, approach the beach and check it out. When they are sure there’s no enemy activity they signal the rest of the party to come in.
There are no exceptions to this procedure. Even though there may be a reception committee waiting with established perimeter security and reconnaissance patrols, the landing party still performs its own reconnaissance.
The raid goes ashore
The transit to the area may take some time and distance will depend entirely on fuel consumption. The troops must also be prepared for a wet and bumpy ride and must wear adequate clothing.
At a certain distance from the objective the boats slow their engines to cut down on noise. At this point their greatest ally will be wind and the crash of the sea, which will disguise any noise they make. From there they move slowly up to a rendezvous point, within a visible distance of their landing site. It is important to note that good radar can pick up and identify small boats and you should remember this when planning the route.
Once at this RV point the troops wait for a pre-arranged signal from the reconnaissance team ashore to notify them that all is clear to move in. It may be that something has occurred ashore and therefore no signal will be given, in which case the boats will return.
Having received the signal, the boats move in with engines cut and the troops paddling. This depends on the weather conditions, but it is essential that from here on as little sound as possible is made. One man in each boat has a gun trained on the shore as a precaution. Once in, everyone disembarks as quickly and quietly as possible and moves to a given area to await the next stage. Meanwhile the boats wait in the most concealed area, along with a guard force, their bows pointing back out to sea.
The raiding force commander and his team leaders are then given a final brief by the recce team commander. This gives everyone an opportunity to confirm any last minute details and to make any changes. Once everyone is satisfied, the team leaders carry out a briefing for their teams and then at a given time, they move off.
It may be necessary at this stage for teams to split and approach the target from different angles. In this case each team is led by one member of the recce force, who takes them up to a starting line. Quite often the recce team acts as a fire support group giving whatever help they can when required.
RIVER RAIDING
Infiltration is by no means the only type of amphibious operation. There are lots of important military targets underwater, in the water or close alongside and all of these are vulnerable to attack from combat divers either operating submerged or approaching secretly, landing and approaching the target from an unexpected – and therefore poorly guarded direction.
Breathing apparatus
Underwater operations like this generally require the diver to stay submerged for some considerable time, and that means breathing apparatus. There are two types of SCUBA: open circuit where the bottles are filled with compressed air and the outbreath is vented into the water, and the closed circuit system where the diver breathes the same air over and over again, each breath being “topped up” with pure oxygen carried in the tanks and exhaled carbon dioxide absorbed by a special chemical.
Closed circuit SCUBA is particularly difficult and dangerous to use and even preparing the equipment is risky in itself – pure oxygen is highly explosive in the right circumstances. The advantage is that it doesn’t leave a stream of tell-tale bubbles to give away the diver’s position.
Even with the danger of being spotted, open circuit SCUBA can sometimes be used, but the surface of the water must be broken and turbulent to minimize the risk. The advantage is in its ease of use and much greater safety.
As well as laying demolition charges, the combat diver may be called upon to reconnoitre minefields and other underwater obstacles, check out harbours, docks and dams, establish and recover underwater caches of equipment and find essential equipment that has had to be abandoned in an emergency.
Because it’s bulky and difficult to conceal, equipment for underwater missions will have to be air dropped to established undercover Special Forces teams as they need
it.
Small boat operations
In many countries rivers and inland waterways take the place of roads as the prime communications routes, and Special Forces with their comprehensive training are very well equipped to make good use of them.
River craft and small inflatables are better suited to transportation than for use as fighting vehicles, though you must always be prepared for ambushes, for example, which will force you to fight from the boat. This possibility will influence the team leader’s decision when it comes to choosing between boats or travelling overland.
The one great advantage to travelling by boat is the speed. It’s quite in order to estimate average speeds of 35 to 30 miles per hour (55/60 km/hr) in areas where the waterways are widely used and kept free of debris and other obstructions
Inflatable boats
Inflatables, which ride on top of the water, are much more manoeuvrable than displacement craft, which may draw anything up to two-thirds of a metre. They are also very light in weight, and so can be carried for short distances if necessary.
Purpose built inflatable assault boats do have their disadvantages however. There’s no disguising them; their outboard engines make an awful lot of noise, and they are very easily damaged by waterlogged trees and other debris floating on or close to the surface.
When he decides whether or not to use boats in a particular operation, the team leader has to think of the operation as a whole, and choose the ways and means most likely to get the job done successfully and in the shortest possible time.
The rule of thumb must be: use boats when they offer a quicker way of getting from place to place; abandon them and set off across country when that looks like the better solution. The same applies to using divers; hit the enemy where he’s weakest, from the direction he’ll least expect.
This training in small boats and underwater operations is just one more example of the flexibility of the Special Forces soldier, ready to go anywhere and do anything at a moment’s notice.
RAIDS AND AMBUSHES
Special Forces units operate deep in the heart of enemy-occupied territory, undertaking both active and passive missions. A typical passive operation involves moving into position in the utmost secrecy, setting up a concealed and secure observation post, and then passing information about enemy troop strengths and movements back to HQ.
It may be months before the observers can be extracted or even re-supplied, so their training has to make them self sufficient, allowing them to operate in the most hostile environments where one false move, day or night, could give the whole thing away.
Active operations such as raids and ambushes call for a different sort of courage. Daring instead of patience, decisiveness instead of caution. This section on Special Forces Operational Techniques looks at the way active clandestine operations are planned and executed, and takes FM 31–20, the US Army’s field manual for Special Forces, as its source.
A Special Forces raid is a surprise attack on enemy force or installation. It breaks down into four parts:
1 Clandestine insertion
2 Brief, violent combat
3 Rapid disengagement
4 Swift, deceptive withdrawal
Raids may be mounted to destroy enemy equipment and installations such as command posts, communications centres and supply dumps; to capture enemy supplies and personnel; or simply to kill and wound as many of the enemy as possible. They may be used to rescue friendly forces or partisans too, and can also serve to distract attention away from their operations.
ORGANISING THE RAID
The purpose of the mission, the type of target and the enemy situation will all have a bearing on the size of the raiding party. But whatever its size it will always have two basic elements – an assault group and a security group.
The assault group conducts the operations itself. They are the troops who go in and demolish installations, rescue the prisoners, steal the plans and code books or whatever the objective may be. As well as out-and-out fighting men, the group may include demolition experts, electronics technicians, and whatever specialist may be needed – pilot, for example, if the object of the operation were to steal a specific enemy aircraft.
The security group is there to protect them, to secure the area and stop enemy reinforcements from becoming involved in the action, to stop any would-be escapers and to cover the withdrawal of the assault group.
Special Forces units have a well-deserved reputation for aggressiveness. Not one man amongst them will want to be idling away his time, and so they are always on the look-out for potential targets. Before operation planning can begin, each one is assessed for importance, accessibility and recoverability, taking into account distance and terrain and the strength of raiding party required.
FIVE POINTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL AMBUSH
1 Set the ambush in a site you can move into and out of unobserved.
2 Use a night ambush if the mission can be accomplished by a short intensive burst of fire.
3 Use a daytime ambush if a follow-up is required.
4 Choose a site where the terrain forces the enemy to bunch up.
5 Bear in mind that you may need a secondary ambush if enemy reinforcements can reach the scene quickly.
Local repercussions
Another important factor is the likely effect on friendly natives and others as a result of the raid. There are countless examples of tens of local people being executed for every one occupying soldier killed. Planning for this possibility always forms part of the back up organisation to the raid, and psychological operations experts (psyops) will also be ready to exploit any successes to the full.
Keep it simple
Although it should be accurate down to the last detail, the plan must be essentially simple. If success depends on a large number of factors coming together at the right time, any one of them going wrong will probably blow the entire operation.
Time – of day and of year – is a crucial factor in the plan. When the operation is straightforward and the physical layout of the target is well known, it’s probably better to operate during the hours of darkness. Where intelligence is less complete, go for dawn or dusk.
Launching a raid
1 Whatever the mission and whatever the size of the raiding party, the principles of a guerilla-style raid are the same. The actual assault team must be protected by security elements who will prevent enemy interference with the operation.
2 As the explosive specialist lays charges underneath a railway, for example, on the spot security is provided by a small team of Special Forces soldiers. This team will take out any sentries on the objective, breach or demolish obstacles and provide close protection for the main mission.
3 After the target has been destroyed the security groups provide cover on the flanks for the assault team to retreat. If the enemy follow the raiders, one security group should try to draw them away from the main assault force.
WITHDRAWAL
Dusk is the best time for withdrawal; it gives you the advantage of the last minutes of daylight to exit the immediate area of the operation and darkness to slow the enemy down during any follow up. But in any event, choose the time very carefully, to give yourself the greatest possible advantage.
Withdrawal after a large raid can be conducted with the party split up into small groups. This denies the enemy a large target for an air or ground strike but an alert and aggressive enemy may be able to mop up the force one unit at a time.
In some circumstances it is safer for the entire party to stay together and operate as a fighting column, but it will all depend on the situation of enemy forces, the terrain and the distances to be covered. An overt withdrawal, with no attempt at secrecy will require a great deal of external support. There’s very little chance that the extraction force, it their is one, will escape enemy attention.
Intelligence
It may seem obvious, but it’s impossible to over-stress the value of accurate intelligence. There are three main so
urces.
1 Local agents
2 Reconnaissance
3 Satellite and high level flights
Local knowledge is of the utmost importance. Whenever possible friendly locals should be recruited to act as guides, and may even be employed in the raiding party itself if security considerations permit.
In the movement towards the objective, take every precaution so as not to alert hostile troops to your presence. Avoid contact, but make sure that the enemy suffers one hundred percent casualties if the worst does happen.
Test your weapons
Where conditions allow, conduct a weapons and equipment test before the assault phase, replacing any pieces of kit that may be faulty. Personal belongings should be “sanitized” at the same time, even down to removing clothing labels if necessary.
Size of raiding party
Well defended objectives sometimes demand large raiding parties perhaps in battalion strength or greater. Surprise is just as important as in a smaller raid, but will be much more difficult to achieve. A large raiding party will usually split into small groups and move towards the objective over a number of different routes. That way, even if some components are detected the enemy may still be in the dark as to the real target.
Control and co-ordination of a large raiding party is more difficult, too, especially with regard to timing. Only a high degree of training and excellent standards of equipment operation can make it easier.
Raiding a shore installation
The first priority when mounting a raid on the enemy coast is to carry out a thorough recce of the target area; it is unusual for you to have enough information available without sending in a reconnaissance team. They will be looking for the following.
1 The exact location, size and structure of the target.
2 Any fortifications, minefields, searchlights and wandering guard patrols, checking their routines.
3 The nature of the surrounding terrain
4 The best route from the sea to the target
