FM 5-102 COUNTERMOBILITY

1 FM 5-102 COUNTERMOBILITY DISTRIBUTION RESTRICTION. This publication contains technical or operational information that is for official Government use only. Distribution is limited to US Government agencies. Requests from outside the US Government for release of this publication under the Freedom of Information Act or the Foreign Military Sales Program must be made to HQ, TRADOC, Fort Monroe, VA 23651-5000. MARCH 1985 HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY Field ManualNo. 5-102FM 5-102 HeadquartersDepartment of the ArmyWashington, DC, 14 March 1985 COUNTERMOBILITY The foundation for engineer doctrine in the AirLandBattle is built with combined mobility, COUNTERMOBILITY ,and survivability efforts. This manual provides the basicframework of fielded and developmental countermobilitymethods, planning, and execution. Its purpose is to integratecountermobility into the overall AirLand Battle support is divided into mine warfare andobstacle development, each with an ultimate goal of delaying,stopping, or channelizing the enemy.

2 Mine warfare expands toinclude mine categories, methods and systems of delivery,employment, reporting, recording, and marking. Obstacledevelopment demonstrates innovative techniques and con-ventional improvements in planning and emplacing obstaclesother than effort is not secluded; rather, it balances withthe other major battlefield missions of mobility and survivability,as well as general engineering and topography. The overallteamwork and planning process are both evident and essentialwith each facet of IMPLEMENTATIONThe provisions of this publication are the subject of the followinginternational Standardization Agreements: STANAG 2017,Orders to the Demolition Guard Commanders and DemolitionFiring Party Commander (Non-Nuclear); STANAG 2036, LandMinefield Laying, Recording, Reporting and Marking Procedures;STANAG 2096, Reporting Engineer Information in the Field;STANAG 2123, Non-Nuclear Demolition Target Folder; andSTANAG 2889, Marking of Hazardous Areas and Routes 5-102 USER INFORMATIONU sers of this manual are encouraged to submit recommendedchanges to improve the manual.

3 Comments should identify thearea in which the change is recommended. Reasons should beprovided for each comment to allow complete should be prepared using DA Form 2028 (Recom-mended Changes to Publications and Blank Forms) and for-warded directly to the Commandant, US Army Engineer School,Fort Belvoir, VA used in this publication, he, him, and his are used to represent the 5-102 TABLE OF CONTENTSiii14 March 1985 FM 5-102ivChapter 1 COUNTERMOBILITYON THE BATTLEFIELDThis chapter focuses upon a modern battlefield against anenemy using Soviet style tactics and organizations. Itdiscusses the modern battlefield, emphasizes threatoperational concepts, particularly threat engineers and theircapability to provide countermine and counterobstacle support tothe offense, and covers the importance of friendly countermobilityactivities to deny the threat freedom of BATTLEFIELDTHREAT ENGINEERSCOUNTERMOBILITY REQUIREMENTSSUMMARY221415 COUNTERMOBILITY ON THE BATTLEFIELD 1FM 5-102 THE BATTLEFIELDThe most dangerous threat to United States (US) national interests will most likely in-volve highly trained enemy forces usingSoviet style tactics, organizations, andequipment.

4 The actual battle will be intense,fast, and deadly. United States forces musttherefore be prepared and trained to fight ona future battlefield where Highly mobile forces will use combatsystems delivering firepower of unprec-edented volume, speed, accuracy, range,and will be crowded with aerialcombat, surveillance, transport, recon-naissance, and target acquisition systems will be the targetof indirect fire and sophisticated electronicwarfare operations, making command andcontrol difficult to achieve and mine systems will severelyaffect ground mobility due to rapid andremote delivery of nuclear, biological, andchemical (NBC) weapons will create anewexperience and add new dimensions to theenvironmental success on the battlefield willdepend on mobility and countermobilityefforts, not only near the forward line of owntroops (FLOT), but also in rear commanders will need to con-centrate forces at the decisive time and place,make maximum use of unit versatility,exercise movement and maneuver, impedethe opposing force s movement andmaneuver, and preclude enemy reinforcementof committed units and their ENGINEERSE ngineers play a vital role in the success ofthreat army combined arms operations.

5 Inthe threat view, the greater the increase inmobile warfare, the greater the need forpassable terrain. Therefore, stated in simpleterms, the mission of the threat combatengineers is to keep the offense engineers are organized, equipped,and trained to accomplish this mission underfire and in all environments including tank and motorized rifle units downthrough the regimental level have organicengineer elements. In combat, these elementsform special engineer combat groups-eitherunder control of parent command or attachedto subordinate commands to perform directsupport missions. Engineer elements are alsocombined with other branch elements inoperational groupings to perform specifictasks. At higher echelons (Front or Com-bined Arms Army), considerable engineerreserves are maintained either for con-centrated use as needed, or for attachment tosubordinate formations. This reserve allowsrapid switching of engineer effort from onearea to another, affording maximum tacticaland operational flexibility.

6 Furthermore, it isnot unusual for the senior formationcommander to strip a unit of its engineerelement when that element is required for aconcentrated effort elsewhere on the emphasizes that commanders at alllevels must strive for maximum flexibility inusing engineer assets, inasmuch as engineertasks are not isolated but are part of theoverall tactical engineer units at any level are of two2 COUNTERMOBILITY ON THE BATTLEFIELDFM 5-102general types: engineer special/technicalunits or general purpose engineer units perform the followingtasks:Engineer and route fortification river construction and/or breaching and purpose engineers may perform anyor several of the above tasks, but usually to alesser degree than their special/technicalcounterparts. In either case, the threatenvisions that most if not all of these tasksare conducted under fire or well in advance ofmain assault repair of pipelines and topographicsurveying are not the responsibility of threatengineer units.

7 In addition, many simple andgeneral engineer tasks are not carried out byengineer soldiers, but by soldiers of othercombat arms. For example, all threat combatsoldiers are expected to be proficient at mineclearance. The operation of tank-mountedmine plows and rollers is a responsibility ofarmored forces, although engineer advice isavailable in deciding whether to employ organization of threat engineer units isthe result of careful study and is designed toaccomplish specific objectives. These ob-jectives are:Conducting engineer tasks necessary tosupport the tactical employment of othercombat arms, especially the movement oftank and motorized rifle additional engineer assets tosubordinate elements and maintaining asignificant engineer and expanding engineer tasksin the offense by follow-on engineerelements of increased cohesion to the defense andsecurity in the offense by employing mines,obstacles, field fortifications, and structure of engineer units is constant atthe regimental and divisional levels, but notat higher levels of command.

8 The engineerunits assigned to a Front or Combined ArmsArmy will vary with the level of importanceof the major command in the overalloperational or strategic plan. Generally, aFront engineer reserve is likely to be twice aslarge as that of a Combined Arms OFTHREAT ENGINEER EMPLOYMENTT hreat military principles are observed inorder of precedence. To a certain extent,threat military principles appear as re-phrasing of Western principles of , applying these principles is peculiarto threat military theory, and threat units areconfigured and equipped to attain them. Theseeight military principles, in order of priority,are:1 Mobility and high rates of Concentration of main efforts and creationCOUNTERMOBILITY ON THE BATTLEFIELD 3FM 5-102of superiority in forces and means over theenemy at the decisive time and Surprise and Combat activeness (constant combat andpressure).5 Preservation of the combat effectivenessof friendly Conformity to the Action upon the enemy to the entire depthsof his employment and deep into his principles are basic to a threat officer sapproach to any combat problem, and willhave a profound effect on any decision example, achievement of high speed inthe execution of combat missions is the firstprinciple, and will therefore take precedenceover the need to avoid casualties and preservethe combat effectiveness of friendly other words, saving time is more impor-tant than saving lives, since fewer liveswould be lost if the threat commander isallowed to exercise battlefield initiative anddictate the terms of combat.

9 While adheringto these principles, the role of combatengineers is to assist other elements of combatarms to follow them more closely, therebyattaining greater combat threat has certain principles peculiar tocombat engineers. These principles arebinding upon the engineer commander andstate that combat engineer operations must Correspond to the impending battle con-cept and support the commander s completed in time to allow thecompletion of tactical activities necessaryin implementing the concealed to deprive the enemy ofintelligence directly to the effect of the mainattack in the offense or the main sector inthe capable of rapid maneuver to adapt tochanging battlefield the enemy regarding the directionor location of the main ENGINEERSUPPORT OF THE OFFENSEIn the offense, the chief function of engineersis to assist in maintaining high rates ofmovement, which is the premier tacticalprinciple of threat military doctrine.

10 Em-phasis is placed on clearing and maintainingroutes for the advance of combined armsunits, to include breaching or removing minesand obstacles, crossing water obstacles, andassisting in flank protection or protectionagainst counterattack. Engineer recon-naissance, independently or in collaborationwith other reconnaissance means, plays asignificant role in facilitating and protection during halts ortemporary assumption of the defense are alsobasic engineer attention is given to supportinglogistic operations in rear areas. The practicaleffect of these engineer requirements is tocreate certain key functions which must besatisfied by engineer troops. These functionsinclude:Engineer and countermine and dry gap COUNTERMOBILITY ON THE BATTLEFIELDFM 5-102 Engineer reconnaissanceThe goal of engineer reconnaissance is toprovide a comprehensive report on thepassability of march routes. Engineer re-connaissance is conducted by engineerelements attached to combined arms orreconnaissance units, or by engineer officersacting as part of the commander s re-connaissance party which checks the validityof plans made from intelligence withoutactual prior inspection of the elements performing this recon-naissance must determine The degree of passability of the location and nature of obstacles to beovercome and the engineer assets requiredto overcome condition of all crossing sites, wet location and quantity of materialwhich can be used to improve the nature of the terrain and location ofareas with natural the conduct of engineer reconnaissance,the most commonly employed formation isthe Soviet engineer reconnaissance patrol,Inzhenerny Razvedyvatel ny Dozer (IRD).