CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
DEFEND AGAINST INDIRECT FIRE
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
ACTIVE DEFENSE
Indirect Fire
 Direct counterbattery fire if direction and
distance to enemy position can be determined
 Direct fire against enemy forward observer
 Coordinate air strike against enemy position
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
PASSIVE DEFENSE
Indirect Fire
 Halt only if artillery concentration is ahead of convoy
 Locate alternate route around impact area
 Increase speed and obtain maximum interval
 Prepare for ambush
 If ambush follows, defend as in any other ambush
 Clear the area as soon as possible
The best passive defense against indirect fire is
an open column formation
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
BREAK CONTACT
Commander’s Actions
 Determine status
 Designate floating or fixed rally point(s)
 Give order to break contact
 Give order to proceed to rally point(s)
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
BREAK CONTACT
General Procedures
 Gun trucks provide covering fire support
 Deploy obscuration measures
 Litter teams recover wounded and KIA
 Maintain position, provide suppression fire,
assist aid and litter teams
 Destroy and abandon disabled vehicles
 Vehicles displace
 Use alternating displacement if vehicles on
both sides of kill zone
 Separated vehicles move to closest rally point
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
BREAK CONTACT
Intent is to quickly move out of contact when the convoy cannot
gain fire superiority.
Enemy Position
To forward rally point
5
4
3
1
2
6
7
 Convoy CDR orders withdrawal and designates rally point
 Clear kill zone first
• Priority to wounded
• Link-up with leadership for accountability
 Clear vehicles closest to kill zone and rear displace next
 Gun trucks suppress/cover convoy as vehicles displace
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
ELO F
REACT TO IMPROVISED
EXPLOSIVE DEVICES (IED)
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
DEFINITION
Those devices placed or fabricated in an improvised manner
incorporating destructive, lethal, noxious, pyrotechnic, or
incendiary chemicals, designed to destroy, disfigure, distract,
or harass. They may incorporate military stores, but are
Normally devised from non-military components.
IEDs may have an NBC capability.
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
 Maintain situational awareness and a vigilant
security posture
 Attempt to detect IEDs before they can do damage
 Scan the road and surrounding area
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
IED CHARACTERISTICS
 Command detonated, victim actuated,
or timed
 May incorporate military ordinance, but
normally devised from non-military components
 Can be daisy chained
 Can be disguised as virtually anything
 Can be easily concealed
 Can be dropped from overpasses
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
IED CHARACTERISTICS
(Continued)
 May be carried by children
 May be left in the open to channel convoy
traffic into ambush or other hazard
 Can be vehicle borne
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
IED COMPONENTS
Mortar rounds, battery and cable, liquid in a bottle
(possible petrol), and a spool of wire
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
IED fashioned from a mortar round plus a secondary
munition. Note the tip of the fuse.
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
Bucket fashioned into an improvised shape charge.
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
IED in a trash bag.
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
Post-blast photos of an IED concealed in a concrete curb.
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
IED firing point
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
IED with pole marker
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
AVOIDING IEDS
 Maintain designated convoy speed
 Follow tracks of preceding vehicles
 Stay on the hardstand
 Travel in lane best suited for rapid travel
 Travel down middle of the road if possible
 Present an unpredictable target
 Scan the road before halting
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
AVOIDING IEDs
(Continued)
 Avoid abandoned or disabled vehicles on the road
 Avoid animal-drawn carts
 Watch for signs of tampering
 Watch for fresh concrete work
 Watch for foreign objects at center median turnarounds
 Watch for markings warning civilians of IEDs
 Prevent civilian vehicles from infiltrating the convoy
 Drive in nonstandard patterns to avoid predictability
If it looks or seems suspicious, treat it as a
“Possible IED”
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
OBSERVE LOCAL POPULATION
 Sudden activity within crowds as convoy approaches
 Civilians dispersing or disappearing
 Absence of women and children normally present
 Dramatic changes in population from one block to next
 No activity where there are normally large crowds
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
OBSERVE LOCAL POPULATION
(Continued)
 Suspicious movement in upper floor windows
 People and vehicles on overpasses
 People inside traffic circles
 Signals as convoy approaches
 Vehicles following convoy and pulling to side of road
 Civilians with video cameras
 Presence of a media crew
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
REACT TO A SUSPECTED IED
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
METHODS OF DEFENSE
Always assume that there is at least one secondary device.
 Wear helmet, body armor, eye and hearing protection
 Do not approach a known or suspected IED
 Throw smoke grenade from your vehicle to warn
follow-on drivers
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
METHODS OF DEFENSE
(CONTINUED)
 If within 100 meters, increase speed and clear the area
 Stop no closer than 300 meters short of a suspected IED
 Do not transmit on radios or cell phones
 Look for potential enemy vantage/observation points
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
THE FIVE C’S
 CONFIRM and report
 CLEAR the area (minimum 300 meters)
 CORDON off and secure the area
 CONTROL entry and exit
 CHECK for secondary devices
IED
SCAN
300 m
GUN TRUCK
300 m
SCAN
TASK VEHICLE
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CONVOY SURVIVABILITY
ALTERNATIVE TPP FOR
LOGISTICAL CONVOYS
 Large convoys (often 50 or more vehicles)
 Faced with unique problems due to size
 Highly vulnerable to attack
 Alternate method: move to the far side of the
road, accelerate, and keep moving
 Forward UXO report
 Check unit SOP
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