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In General

In general, the squad tactics utilized by the Manokan forces, at the infantry level, are loosely based on the marine 3 fireteam group, basic 13 man (now 14 man) squad. The squad organization is organized into groups of 3, with 3 members per fireteam, than a fireteam leader, creating a group of four. Then, there are three groups of four, creating a squad 12, with a squad leader attached, creating a group of 13. Then, for a platoon, there are 3 groups of 13, plus a lieutenant for platoon leader, or 40 individuals. Then, for a company, there are 120 individuals, plus a leader, and for a battalion, 360, etc.

This compromises the basic ground infantry assault rifleman team. Each squad in general, also possess a designated marksmen and a medic. This can be integrated into the squad or be a separate unit; depending on the situation, this may cause the individual to act separately from the unit. As well, there is a platoon sniper team, attached to each platoon, to provide both reconnaissance and protection to the platoon, and to in general watch over the are and provide reconnaissance. Usually, there will be a heavy weapons "platoon" or squad attached to that, which possesses armored vehicles, mortars, machine guns, and other weapons.

The basic advance and attack scenario is to fire at the enemy, and advance under covering fire of your fellow team. The idea is to use firepower, and a swarm of bullets, essentially as cover, to allow another team to move to a more ideal position, or engage the target in a more advantageous manner, not having to worry as much about defense. Generally this is an area that provides cover to oncoming fire, such as to trees, hills, walls, vehicles, at a far enough range to avoid contact with enemies, or other areas, in order to provide a natural, large barrier between you and your enemies. As you advance under cover to a more ideal position to attack the enemy (or they advanced towards you), the ideal way to engage your enemy is with aimed fire or heavier weapons, as you become within range or in a position to provide accurate fire without revealing yourself. If you neutralize your targets or send them into retreat before this, obviously you do not need to engage them in such a manner. Range should be utilized to engage the enemy if it is possible to out range them before a battle begins.

Essentially, the method to advance is leap frog, or bounding overwatch [1]; one unit provides covering fire, while the other advances under fire. This ensures maximum accuracy and focus on the goal at hand, as units can advance without having to fire while moving, which is generally considered very difficult. The third unit, as in the marines, can be positioned as a security element, to provide protection, to provide more accurate fire, to flank the enemy, or perform other roles as necessary. It is also possible to switch between covering fire and accurate fire, or have multiple units providing cover fire, while the next team advances.

This unit can also be positioned to provide more accurate fire, as they transition to advance, and the unit nearest to the enemy provides covering fire. Although, this requires more coordination. It is also possible to have medics or marksmen operating independently of this, providing fire from a desired position or advancing within the unit. Advancing can be towards or away from the enemy.



Individual Fireteams
Fireteam composition varies, but usually it possess a Team Lead, Grenadier, Riflemen (or support unit), and an Automatic riflemen. Depending on the unit, the automatic riflemen can literally be using a rifle, or they may be using a machine gun or similar weapon; their primary purpose is to provide suppressive or covering fire, and multiply the units firepower in scenarios where enemy units are in prime positions to be taken down by machine gun fire. Within each of these groups, heavier units (such as a heavy grenadier or machine gunner, using higher caliber or more powerful weapons), or units with more specific tasks (such as leaders, marksmen, medics, or specialists), may take their place.

Some fireteam compositions are listed here, but more concrete information is expanded upon in actual army and marine fireteam manuals. The wedge, diamond, and various line and L formations are available, given the actual spacing per soldier; fireteams may be spread out in groups of two's, or may cluster in groups of four. Fire and maneuver teams may naturally develop in combat depending on how the fireteam is established.

The third group in the squad can have many functions. While this can be any team (alpha, bravo, or charlie), in general they can be integrated into the advance maneuver, utilized for flanking or reconnaissance, or simply provide security. These groups as a result provide a certain degree of flexibility to a squad, and the capacity for geometric multi-directional strategies. The third fire team in the squad essentially provides not only more firepower, but strategic capabilities even down to the squad level.

General Squad Tactics

Known as "Leap Frog" or bounding overwatch, this technique is the bread and butter of small unit tactics. In these very basic illustrations, it is easily demonstrated how the squad is essentially supposed to advance. One unit provides covering fire, while the other advances under the covering fire. This can be done with as little as two fireteams, or even two soldiers; however, a third team usually exists within the group to provide extra firing support, more firepower, or to provide an alternative function, such as to flank the enemy, ambush them, provide reconnaissance, serve as scouts, or fulfill some other role. In general, it is assumed that the biggest issues to the squad is range; if they want to achieve an objective, they must get to the point of engagement, or if they wish to retreat or get to a better position to fight from, they must move to that location whilst being fired upon by the enemy. In order to effectively defeat their enemies, they must survive; hence the primary objective of tactical maneuvers is to get to a more ideal location in which to engage the enemy, including areas which provide natural barriers to the target's attack, exploiting natural terrain features, which provide ample cover or concealment.

In general, being closer to your target will allow you to provide more accurate fire, utilize heavier weapons (which tend to have a short range), and exploit other advantages often found in close quarters, such as preventing your enemy from running or escaping, possibly getting them to surrender.

However, do not feel obligated to move or take action if in an ideal position. If in an ideal defensive position, it is best to simply remain still or bolster your current position, while keeping low to avoid the enemy. This in mind, engagements that can be resolved at a range without directly putting oneself in the immediate line of fire of the enemy is also preferable. A marksmen or grenadier may eliminate the threat long before covering fire is necessary. In general, it is also easier to fire while standing still; hence, a unit to provide covering fire while the other team advances typically allows for more accurate fire or reload time, although any opportunity to achieve an advantage by firing should be taken. As well, the third unit may provide additional covering fire, or perhaps more accurate fire, as they progress from covering fire to more accurate fire, to provide higher lethality. In a sense, one team advances, while the other team covers both, the covering fire allowing more accurate fire to be made, alternating between each unit. It is also possible to have two teams providing covering fire.

With this in mind, tactical flexibility is key. The capacity to respond to your opponent and engage them how is necessary is more important. This may imply setting up an ambush before a firefight has even started, of which the basic movements, such as pincer movements and flanking, should be utilized. If the situation devolves into a firefight, the same basic situation applies, providing covering fire, advancing under fire, and possibly providing more accurate fire, a flanking team, or some way to provide a strategic or tactical advantage.




More Specific Tactics
Tactical decisions should focus around current situations and terrain, exploiting whatever advantage is available, if any, and always seeking cover or concealment. It is always best to ambush the enemy without their knowledge, or engage them from a range or with a weapon they are not capable of responding to (such as calling in airstrikes) and avoid direct confrontation when available, as this can be costly. If no cover or alternative form of attack is available, the best thing to do is to lie low and keep your head down. Kneeling, or being in the prone position, reduces the visible part of yourself facing your enemy; since bullets are essentially 1 dimensional, that is they travel in a straight line, you are usually safe if they can't see you or shoot through your cover from their point of view, or a 2 dimensional plane. Thus, if you are at the proper angle to your enemy, say laying down, their target virtually decreases by 90%, making you a harder target to hit. With a helmet, you may be capable of stopping the enemy round a few times.

While human intuition and empathy can provide basic measures to feel is a living creature is nearby, usually if an enemy can't see you or hear at really far ranges (range reducing their ability to hear you clearly, as well) it's relatively hard to hit you. Therefore in truly exposed scenarios, smoke screens can be incredibly useful; utilizing smoke rounds of any type, including grenades, mortar rounds, or grenade launcher rounds should provide enough concealment to maintain low visibility. By being close to the grenade yourself, you can typically see through striations in the smoke due to the parallax effect, while at far ranges it will be harder to see through such minute windows. While smoke screens do not provide cover, they do provide concealment, and thus while they do not protect you, they do keep the enemy from exactly locating your position. Of course, shrouding yourself in smoke can cover your own position, although this will be hard to see through yourself. With the right kind of smoke, and with infrared vision, you can usually see through most forms of smoke. Therefore, concealing your position with smoke, possibly produced by smoke grenades, and by utilizing thermal version, you can mask your position, still see your enemy, and virtually provide cover if the enemy doesn't know where to shoot.

For this same reason, stealth is always ideal. Stealth provides better cover than steel, as many inches of steel can be pierced by armor piercing rounds or high explosives, but if the enemy isn't even aware of where of your existence, let alone your position, they cannot possibly hope to engage you. Even if you body armor can take several rounds, it generally only has limited number of uses, and there is always a chance that more powerful weapons (such as a tank, or an even bigger tank in the case of being a tank) can pierce your armor. Thus, getting the first shot, and remaining hidden, whether by sheer speed or stealth, is imperative. Violence of action, that is acting with speed and swiftness to achieve the first shot, is incredibly important to achieve success. You don't want to take unnecessary damage if you can avoid it, and in general it is kill or be killed; by defeating the enemy, you not only achieve your objective, but can live to achieve many more.

With more advanced technology comes improved capabilities. In general, a unit in the squad will utilize an air bursting round, typically a 25mm high explosive grenade. These rounds allow you to ignore cover by shooting around defilade, or hidden enemies; the bullet may fly over their wall, and not him them directly, but by being timed to explode mid air at the right time, the grenade can effectively hit the enemy, by exploding in all directions, rather than requiring to pierce their barrier such as several inches of concrete, which may be too large, and therefore neutralize the enemy without engaging them directly. This allows for the quick engagement of a defilade enemy, allowing you to swiftly move past their cover with a well placed explosive, instead of trying to blow through through their armor or cover, or position yourself for a more ideal vantage point, putting yourself at risk. As well, due to it's area of effect radius, it can be ideal as a counter sniper weapon, since the weapon does not need to directly impact your target to eliminate them.

Flashbangs can also be utilized to disorient your enemy, and temporarily regain momentum. Most enemies have a hard time hitting what they can't see or hear, and the general blinding lights can disorient them enough to gain a quick advantage. These can be propelled out by a grenade launcher, or thrown into a room as a personal hand grenade, in close quarters. This should allow an individual to temporarily disable their enemies, or even incapacitate them, allowing for quick follow up actions to neutralize an incapacitated enemy. Tear gas or other incapacitation agents are theoretically usable as well.

In general, Thermal vision should be used over night vision for a variety of reasons. Thermal vision allows for varying shades and degrees of structure to be rendered on a given target, without having to adjust to different light levels. It can be utilized in even the lowest light conditions, including zero light, of which night vision cannot, and thus has a wider range of applications; it can also be utilized from high to low light levels quickly, without providing a blinding like effect. High light fixtures can still usually be spotted by the high heat generally given off, and most living organisms give off lots of thermal infrared. Thus, living creatures often times stand out against the background, allowing for easy acquisition of such targets; in addition, thermal information allows you to see how hot something is, and even potentially see through some metals and materials where light is ordinarily blocked (I.E. see through walls) allowing for flexibility in what kind of information you can recieve. As well, infrared lasers are typically invisible to the naked eye and are used with range finders to tell the distance to a certain point; thus, lasers that the enemy cannot see can be utilized against them to provide higher accuracy and to calculate range.

Since thermal vision can see through fog, some types of smoke screens, and conditions in which there is no light (as most everything gives off infrared radiation, thus allowing visibility at all times), it can be utilized to see things, or not see things the enemy can see. Thus, blanketing a field in a fog can disrupt the enemies vision, or using flares can disrupt the night vision of an ordinary human's vision, or a technological device, being incredibly bright, and blotting out their vision. A mixture of both can disorient the enemy visually, while barely effecting yourself, thus rendering a sensory advantage against the enemy, even in ordinary light conditions. Thermal vision also provides all these advantages under ordinary conditions, not requiring dark or nighttime conditions to be effective.

A marksmen is integrated into every squad, and a sniper in every platoon, to provide long range engagement capabilities. It is best to take out enemies before they reach you, or at least be aware of their presence before you engage them; if they are neutralized at long range without a fight, they are unable to effect you. Since sufficient range is another method that can limit or even eliminate the possibility of effective return fire by the enemy, possibly even because they don't know where the bullets are coming from (a suppressor can muffle the noise), it is best to exploit this advantage when available. Utilizing long range vision and target acquisition is therefore incredibly important

Also usually present per platoon is a UAV, a mortar team, and a heavy weapons unit. It is best to use this UAV to provide a clear view of your enemies position before advancing. Mortars provide incredibly powerful indirect fire, for thousands of yards, to the platoon, as a relatively small team can provide accurate and powerful fire (several pounds of high explosive) out to several miles. This allows you to engage the enemy with powerful weapons at a range, with indirect fire, without needing to rely upon artillery or air strikes, allowing small scale infantry units to be somewhat self sufficient.