ON PATROL
Billy Basics: Patrolling – Part One
“In Warfare, patrolling is the basis of
success: it not only provides eyes to
the side that excels at it and blinds its
opponents, but through it the soldier
learns to move confidently in the element
in which he works.”
That quote adorns the lectern in the main
classroom of The Pathfinder Platoon, The
Patrols Company in Colchester. It rather neatly
sums it up doesn’t it? Enough said!
Whether you find yourself clearing an area
overlooking Kajaki Lake, as part of a fighting
patrol looking for insurgents in the lawless
Helmand Province in Afghanistan, or taking
the fight to the opposition on a weekend
airsoft event somewhere in the UK – the aims
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March 2012
and principles of patrolling remain the same.
Some would say that patrolling is, and
always will be, the very essence of soldiering.
All the training has bought us to this point:
map reading, fieldcraft, weapons training,
physical fitness, camouflage and concealment.
The heli is turning and burning, mags checked
one last time and stowed, weapons loaded
and made ready, comms check (funny old
thing though, it chooses right now to go
down!), one last map check and confirmation
with the LS. You’ve got the green light. It’s
show time.
The aims of patrolling
We don’t just bimble about in the
countryside hoping for some baddies to
turn up, there’s a reason for everything
we do: planned, co-ordinated, determined,
purposeful action with an outcome. In
much the same way, a rugby match or
American Football game (without the fans,
cheerleaders, beer, sponsorship… Ok ok,
but you’ll get the picture in a minute) are
both a series of set piece movements
that the teams have practised over and
over, in order to outsmart the opposition,
connected by short periods of free play.
We patrol to achieve certain outcomes,
to ensure that victory is ours and not the
enemies’. These are the aims of patrolling.
1: To discover what the enemy are doing.
To obtain information – and knowledge
really is power here – in business as