1966 US Army Vietnam War ARMOR ... - Survival Books

WWW.SURVIVALEBOOKS.COMINITIAL DELAY 18. Blocking Positions (Initial and Supple-POSITION (IDP)mentary)a. Purpose. Initial and supplementary blockingpositions are locations from which units\ DELAY POSITION1 JAC Kplan to conduct fixing force or security missions.Forces occupying these blocking positionsdo not necessarily hold their position butwill fight offensive and delaying action to accomplishthe mission. Supplementary blockingDELAY POSITION positions are occupied when initial blocking po-JILL sitions become untenable or when occupation isordered by the next higher commander to supportthe overall scheme of defense.Example T. Delay positions.b. Characteristics. Initial and supplementaryblocking positions are located on terrainproviding the best available observation and(2) Contribute to security of the force fields of fire into enemy avenues of approach.while en route. c. Assignment. Any commander charged(3) Avoid passage through friendly forces with a fixing force or security mission may asifpossible.sign initial and supplementary blocking posic.Assignment. The next higher commander tions.assigns routes of withdrawal.d. Control. Units assigned initial and supplementaryblocking positions occupy them asd. Control. To prevent interference with directed by the higher commander. For easeother units, units must adhere to the pre- of reference and identification, each supplescribedroutes of withdrawal and observe mentary blocking position is numbered. Inpriorities if established. operations where multiple supplementarye. Overlay Technique. Drawn on the route blocking positions are designated, the comandlabeled "Route of withdrawal" and a let- mander will normally assign "be prepared"ter, number, code word, or unit designation. missions to his subordinates for preparationand occupation of each position.e. Overlay Technique. The area of the initialzuLublocking position is inclosed by a line with aROUTEDU oF break where the size symbol of the occupying: WITHV~ unit is placed. If desired, the military symbolof the occupying unit may be entered in thecenter of the inclosed area. The configurationof the line is dictated by the terrain withclosed end towards the avenue of appproach tobe blocked. Supplementary positions are depictedin the same manner except the symbolsExample U. Routes of withdrawal.are drawn with broken lines.327