Fieldcraft

Finally, I wanted to cover a few items of fieldcraft. In general, fieldcraft comes through experience. It is often said that people learn one of two ways, Pain and Repetition. I am hoping that this gives you a few things to think about so you can perhaps learn through repetition when you hear these again or read them again, and not be forced to learn through pain. Regardless, I guarantee that you will learn one way or another.

Returning Fire under Ruck

We all know that when we are under fire, we need to immediately return fire and find cover. Rucks reduce our ability to do this. When we are fighting for our lives (and we have packed appropriately), we need to jettison our ruck and take the fight to the enemy. This means, as soon as possible, activate the quick release on your shoulder strap, or remove a shoulder strap and drop your ruck. You can return to collect your ruck when the enemy is dead or detained and the area is secured. Thankfully, you have layered your equipment, so you have more than enough equipment on your person and kit to sustain a long fire-fight.

Short and Long Halt Posture

• Short Halt: When moving in a tactical manner and a short halt is called, take a knee and face out. Rucks remain on your back, your attention is outside of the formation into the vast unknown. At some point, a leader may direct you to take your ruck off, this transitions us to a long halt posture.

• Long Halt: When directed to take your ruck off (in buddy pairs, one pulling security, one taking their ruck off and moving to the prone position), lengthen the shoulder strap on your firing side and remove it. Slowly, lean forward and place the ruck down in front of your location, then tip the top of the ruck toward you so that the frame is down. If you have done this correctly, and depending what is in your ruck, you now have some concealment with a little bit of cover that you can improve upon if you remain in this location. When it’s time to move again, taking turns as a buddy team, rotate your ruck up so that the frame is facing you. Place your non-firing side shoulder in the appropriate shoulder strap, place your back against the frame, your firing side shoulder into the appropriate strap and stand up. Cinch your firing side shoulder down and you are ready to pull security on a knee so your buddy can get ready to move.

• Under no circumstances should you ever find yourself in the prone with a ruck on your back.

Moving Sale

When you move under ruck, you should not have all of your items on display as if you are having a moving sale.

• Do not pack items on the outside of your ruck, they will catch on everything imaginable.

• Do not pack long items sideways across your ruck (eg., SKEDCO and AT-4). These items should be secured vertically on the side of your ruck. Bespoke fastec straps are a great way to secure these items to the side of your ruck–experiment before field problems when you have access to more resources to manufacture solutions.

Yard Sale

Similar to a moving sale, do not host a static yard sale. I see this most often in patrol bases when Cadets need to get something that is in the bottom of their ruck. Unless there are specific reasons for it, only one item should be out of your ruck at a time and it should never be while pulling security. Move off the line, pull the item out that you need, and repack your ruck immediately. Patrol bases are tactical security positions that you may need to leave at a moment’s notice.

Waterproofing

If you want an item to remain dry in your ruck, place it in a waterproof bag. anything and everything outside of a waterproof bag will not only get wet, but will become exponentially heavier. Prior to packing your ruck, make sure your waterproof bags do not have holes in the rubber lining. I often use two bags (one inside the other, rubber side touching) to ensure a good seal. There is nothing worse than getting to a patrol base after a long movement and reaching in your ruck to find a wet uniform or sleeping bag.

Hydration

Carrying water is a necessity. When rucking, you can plan to burn through a quart to a quart and a half per hour. This equates to about three hours per 100oz camelback. Canteens are great when it comes time for a tactical resupply; however, it is hard to beat how easy it is to drink from a camelback. Keep in mind that water is heavy, when carried in/on a ruck, it should be located high, close to your back, and along your centerline. This means that 2 quarts are best carried inside your ruck (unless you will need to access it repeatedly during a long movement). If you have more than one 2 quart and are compelled to carry them outside your ruck, then distribute the weight–one on each side. Camelbacks are best carried across the top of your ruck (under the top flap).

Standardization

If you haven’t figured it out yet, standardization is the enemy of adjustment and modularity. Many times our SOPs dictate how we will wear equipment and what equipment we carry. This has merit in that it provides commonality, interchangeability, and allows everyone to have a common operating picture. It would be much more difficult for a 1SG and XO to have to determine who does not have a warm sleeping bag, than it would be to either know one way or another. Standardization facilitates planning and resupply operations.

That being said, I would encourage leaders to think about the second and third order effects of some standardization processes. The more standardization an organization has, the more efficient it runs, however, it loses effectiveness and re-activity (think bureaucracy). When it comes to kit, individuals should have input, but it is a leader’s responsibility to check their subordinates to ensure safety, interoperability, and the unit is able to accomplish its mission. You should never assume everyone has what they need to conduct operations. If leaders do not conduct equipment checks, then the team, squad, or platoon does not have it!

Final Thoughts

I really hope that this read-ahead will be helpful and something that you can continuously go back and reference. Over time, I will continue to build this out to make it clearer and more useful. If you have any feedback, please send me a message on how to make this a better reference for you.