Publications/Handouts from "The Basic School"

United States Naval Academy Leatherneck program
A list of useful handouts from The Basic School, which trains all newly commissioned United States Marine Corps officers.

Regular readers should know that opswarfare has an inclination to discussions on urban warfare, specifically defensive operations. Below is an extract from B0386 - Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) [PDF].

1. The cover and concealment available, coupled with restrictions to normal observation and line of sight in urban terrain require special attentiveness to all-around defense and mutual support to counter enemy observation and infiltration.
2. Movement is generally restricted to the streets, roads, and alleys. Therefore, defending infantry seek to barricade these and all other avenues of approach to deny an attacking enemy freedom of movement and to canalize the enemy into established kill zones or engagement areas. At the same time, the defender must plan to improve his own ability to move within the built up area and even within certain buildings.
3. Surveillance of the flanks and rear is intensified, and the defense must be flexible enough to permit defense in any direction to prevent encirclement. Three dimensional security - above, below, and adjacent to the defensive position - is imperative.