The first mission for Team ICS at the Lion Claws Tactical Challenge was to overrun an enemy airport and extract a High Value Target (HVT). This mission had a time limit of 20 minutes to complete. This was the largest area of operations (AO) for the 3 missions. There were 14 aircraft on the enemy airfield and a few structures. For intelligence, we received a map of the AO, a picture of the HVT, and an estimated enemy strength of 9. We were also told that the HVT may or may not be friendly, and that they would be using "Black Book Rules". Black book is a form of play that allowed the HVT to become injured if shot in non lethal places (legs and arms).
A picture of the AO for Team ICS's First Mission (Competition Lane # 2)
We put together a basic strategy for the mission - we would divide our 6 man team into 2 main elements - a main assault force and a blocking force. The main assault force's role was to flush all of the enemy towards the extraction point while the blocking force was to contain them in the area. I'm the type of guy who loves strategy games and thinking through complex problems - the hardest thing for me to do is to keep something complex simple - thankfully I have some great team members who keep me in check. This strategy was simple, everyone understood the objective, and that's what we focused on.
A map of our general strategy - Red Arrow is the Main Assault Force, the Blue Arrow is the Blocking Force
I've played at Lion Claws Events for over 10 years and one of my favorite sayings is from Col. Paul Longgrear. He used to always say "The main thing, is to keep the main thing, the main thing." Simply put, focus on the objective, nothing else matters.
J.D. and Troy from Team ICS at the Lion Claws Tactical Challenge 2015 using the ICS HOG
For this mission, it didn't matter how many targets we eliminated, all that mattered was getting the HVT out. Anything outside of this scope would be a waste of time and cost us the mission and ultimately the competition. On a side note, we were the only team to successfully complete this mission, with the 2nd and 3rd place teams coming very close - had we not completed this mission, we would not have taken 1st place at the Challenge.
A group shot of Team ICS just before the beginning of Mission 1
The main assault force moved south along the western edge of the field while the blocking force moved towards the east side of the field and then south. The main assault force spotted targets in 2 structures in the southwest corner of the AO. As we were approaching, we saw some of the targets move away from the structures and towards the aircraft. We set up to assault and clear out the buildings. Meanwhile the blocking force moved to the southeast corner of the AO and began engaging targets. They took out 3 targets in the initial push.
The main assault team began it's push into the airplanes from the structures. On the push we encountered enemy fire from multiple aircraft and the main assault force was eliminated and had to go back to regen. As the main assault force was coming back from regen - Jeff from the blocking force disabled the HVT without realizing it.
This map shows the actual location of the HVT
The main assault force was now back in the fight engaging multiple targets. As they pushed a phase line against the aircraft, they eliminated 4 enemy targets.
While the main assault force was moving, the blocking force successfully identified the HVT. After he was successfully identified, the entire team moved towards the extraction area and completed the mission with a time of 16 minutes and 47 seconds.
Hind site is always 20/20 - when I look at this mission, I feel that the overall strategy worked, and I would try it again if faced with a similar situation. Tactically, there is plenty to improve upon.
Let me know what you think - what did we do well, and what can we improve on?