OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE OPERATIONS
Offensive operations are the decisive actions of war upon which the ultimate success will be achieved. The offense is the decisive form of war. Offensive operations aim to destroy or defeat an enemy. Their purpose is to impose our will on the enemy and achieve decisive victory. Therefore, bold manoeuvre and offensive actions are key factors to successful offensive operations. While immediate considerations often require defending, decisive results require shifting to the offense as soon as possible.
Offensive Operations seek to seize, retain and exploit the initiative to defeat the enemy decisively. Army forces attack simultaneously throughout the AO to throw enemies off balance, overwhelm their capabilities, disrupt their defences and ensure their defeat or destruction. The offense ends when the force achieves the purpose of the operation, reaches a limit of advance or approaches culmination. Army forces conclude a phase of an offensive by consolidating gains, resuming the attack or preparing for future operations
ADVANCE
There are two types of advance:
- Advance to contact.
- Advance in contact.
Advance to contact
Advance to contact is a type of offensive operation designed to develop the situation and establish or regain contact. A commander conducts this type of offensive operation when the tactical situation is not clear or when the enemy has broken contact. A properly executed advance to contact develops the combat situation and maintains the commander's freedom of action after contact is gained.
The fundamentals of an advance to contact are:
- Focus all efforts on finding the enemy.
- Make initial contact with the smallest force possible, consistent with protecting the force.
- Make initial contact with small, mobile, self-contained forces to avoid decisive engagement of the main body on ground chosen by the enemy.
- Task-organize force and use movement formations to deploy and attack rapidly in any direction.
- Keep forces within supporting distances to facilitate a flexible response.
- Maintain contact regardless of the course of action (COA) adopted once contact is gained.
Advance in contact
The advance in contact is a combat action that may occur when both sides seek to fulfil their mission by offensive action. It will occur during an advance to contact and can easily lead to a quick attack. In offensive, defensive or delaying operations it will often mark a moment of transition in that the outcome may well decide the nature of subsequent operations. This is why an advance in contact is described as a transitional phase. Even when the main part of a force is attacking, defending or delaying, individual elements may find themselves in situations which have the characteristics of an advance in contact. Although forces of divisional size, given room for manoeuvre, may occasionally be involved as a whole in an advance in contact, it is normally more applicable at brigade level and below. An advance in contact may occur in various circumstances
- When a force which is moving, either tactically or in column of route, makes contact with the enemy about whom the friendly force has little or no information. This might happen by chance or when reconnaissance has been ineffective.
- When both sides become aware of the other and decide to attack without delay in an attempt to obtain positional advantage, gain ground of tactical importance, maintain momentum or assert dominance over the enemy.
- An advance in contact may also occur when one force deploys hastily for defence while the other attempts to prevent it from doing so.
Attack
An attack is an offensive operation that destroys or defeats enemy forces, seizes and secures ground or both. When the commander decides to attack or the opportunity to attack occurs during combat operations, the execution of that attack must mass the effects of overwhelming combat power against selected portions of the enemy force with a tempo and intensity that cannot be matched by the enemy. The resulting combat should not be a contest between near equals. The attacker must be determined to seek decision on the ground of his choosing through the deliberate synchronization and employment of his combined arms team. There are two types of attack
- Quick attack
- Deliberate attack
Quick Attack
Commanders direct quick attack to seize opportunities to destroy the enemy or seize the initiative. These opportunities are fleeting. They usually occur during movements to contact and defensive operations. In a quick attack, commanders intentionally trade the advantages of thorough preparation and full synchronization for those of immediate execution. In an advance to contact, commanders launch quick attacks to destroy enemy forces before they concentrate or establish a defence. In the defence, commanders direct quick attacks to destroy an exposed or overextended attacker. On-order and be-prepared missions allow units to respond quickly under uncertain situations.
Once they decide to attack, commanders execute as quickly as possible. While quick attacks maximize the effects of agility and surprise, they incur the risk of losing some synchronization. To minimize this risk, commanders make maximum use of standing operating procedures (SOP) that include standard formations and well-understood and rehearsed battle drills. Supporting arms and services organize and position themselves to react quickly, using prearranged procedures. Habitual relationships among supported and supporting units at all echelons facilitate these actions.
Deliberate attack
In contrast to quick attacks, deliberate attacks are highly synchronized operations characterised by detailed planning and preparation. Deliberate attacks use simultaneous operations throughout the AO, planned fires, shaping operations and forward positioning of resources needed to sustain momentum. Commanders take the time necessary to position forces and develop sufficient intelligence to strike the enemy with bold manoeuvre and accurate, annihilating fires. Because of the time required to plan and prepare deliberate attacks, commanders often begin them from a defensive posture. However, an uncommitted force may conduct a deliberate attack as a sequel to an ongoing offensive operation.
Time spent preparing a deliberate attack may allow the enemy to improve defences, retire or launch a spoiling attack. Therefore, commanders direct deliberate attacks only when the enemy cannot be bypassed or overcome with a quick attack. Commanders maintain pressure on the enemy while they plan and prepare. They aggressively disrupt enemy defensive preparations through aggressive patrolling, feints, limited-objective attacks, harassing indirect fires, air strikes and offensive IO.
Deliberate attacks require extensive planning and coordination, to include positioning reserves and follow-on forces while preparing troops and equipment. Commanders and staff refine plans based on rehearsals and intelligence from reconnaissance and surveillance. Commanders conduct IO to deceive the enemy and prevent him from exercising effective C2. Effective IO masks attack preparations and conceal friendly intentions and capabilities. Commanders direct reconnaissance and surveillance missions to collect information about the enemy and AO. The intelligence system analyses this information to find weaknesses in enemy capabilities, dispositions or plans. Friendly forces exploit enemy weaknesses before and during the attack. Effective Information Management (IM) routes data collected by reconnaissance and surveillance assets to the right place for analysis. IM also facilitates rapid dissemination of intelligence products to forces that need them.