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The Scenario: Operation RIVER GATE

This is the tactical situation you will use for the entire course. Read it carefully — every task refers back to it.

1. The Ground

Known to exist — location not established

Key — ground and control measures

Ref	Feature	Why it matters
A	Kordan River	Cannot be crossed by vehicles anywhere except the bridge.
B	The bridge	The mission. It must be taken usable.
G	Restricted fire area (RFA) around the bridge	The commander forbids cratering munitions inside it. Only the one-way attack UAS may strike here.

Key — enemy elements

Ref	Element	Where it sits
1	Ammunition supply point	Well to the rear, 6 km behind the river.
2	ATGM section	Dug in on the high ground, looking straight down onto the crossing.
3	Field kitchen	Furthest back of all, with the rear-area trains.
4	Engineer obstacle team	On the bridge itself.
5	Battalion command post	Deep, hidden inside the treeline. It must transmit to control the defense.
6	Logistics trucks	Move along the road at night between the supply point and the fighting positions.
7	Reconnaissance squad	The only enemy element on our side of the river, behind our own forward line.
8	120 mm mortar platoon	Deepest of the fighting elements, but still close enough to range the bridge.
9	Infantry platoon	In prepared positions beyond the bridge, on the ground our assault must cross after the crossing.

2. Our Mission and the Commander's Guidance

You are a member of the Fire Support Coordination Cell of the 77th Combined Arms Brigade.

Mission: on order, the 77th Combined Arms Brigade seizes the Kordan River bridge in order to allow follow-on forces to reinforce the assault.

3. Intelligence Brief (S-2)

IPOE is complete. The enemy will defend the southern side of the river. We assess he is likely to take the following action.

What we have located

Reconnaissance flights have detected an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) team on the southern side of the river. This team will likely fire on vehicles as they cross the bridge or attempt to remove the obstacles. He displaces these positions every 48 hours, so this location will not stay good for long.

An infantry platoon is held in reserve in dispersed positions south of the bridge. It is unlikely to engage us at the crossing given our artillery superiority, and will more likely attempt to delay friendly forces after we cross.

What we assess he will do

The enemy will likely deploy his engineer team to destroy or block the bridge. We assess this will occur within the next 24 hours. Nothing is there yet. Once the team begins, about one hour of work is enough to make the bridge unusable.

The enemy will use his mortar platoon to fire on friendly forces as we concentrate at the bridge. The engineer team, the ATGM team, or a reconnaissance team may call for this fire. The bridge is a known location, so we can expect his weapons are already laid on it — he may not use an observer at all.

If his own mortars are silenced or prove ineffective, his command post is how he requests fires from a higher echelon of enemy command.

What we know exists but have not found

The elements below have no location. They are on the list because the enemy needs them, not because we can see them. Finding them is the work of Phase 2.

His sustainment is an ammunition supply point assessed roughly 6 km in depth holding mortar and ATGM stocks, logistics trucks that move forward at night, and a field kitchen with the rear-area trains. The S-2 further assesses that the enemy fighting positions already hold three days of ammunition forward, drawn before we attack.

Enemy element	Location	What the S-2 knows after IPOE
Engineer team	Assessed	Not yet committed. Assessed to deploy to the bridge within 24 hours. About one hour of work will make the bridge unusable. They do not relocate once they begin.
ATGM team	Found	Detected by reconnaissance flights, south of the river and covering the crossing. Displaces every 48 hours. Can also observe and call for fire.
120 mm mortar platoon	Not found	In depth, ranging the bridge. Fires are pre-planned on the crossing. Displaces immediately after every fire mission.
Battalion command post	Not found	Assessed about 4 km in depth. Controls the defense by radio and is the link to higher headquarters for additional fires. Relocates every 24 hours.
Reconnaissance squad	Not found	Small dismounted teams on our side of the river. Report our movement and can adjust mortar fire. They move continuously.
Infantry platoon	Found	Dispersed positions south of the bridge, held in reserve. More likely to delay us after the crossing than to fight for it.
Ammunition supply point (ASP)	Not found	Mortar and ATGM stocks, assessed roughly 6 km in depth. The source of every round his mortars fire.
Logistics trucks	Not found	Move supplies forward at night between the ASP and the fighting positions.
Field kitchen	Not found	Feeds the battalion. With the trains area, well to the rear.

These nine elements are what the S-2 judges important to the enemy commander. Deciding which of them are worth our ammunition is the work of Phase 1.

4. Assets Available to You

The brigade has three ways to deliver fires and four ways to find targets.

Asset	Type	What it can do
M109A2 155 mm self-propelled howitzer battalion	Delivery	Long range — reaches every target in the enemy area. Its shells crater, so it may not be used near the bridge.
Mortar battery (120 mm)	Delivery	Short range, fast response. Best against targets close to our forward line.
One-way attack UAS (OWA-UAS)	Sensor / Delivery	A small drone that searches for a target, then flies into it. Small, very precise warhead: it destroys what it hits and little else. The only asset that may strike on or beside the bridge. Used once.
Long-range ISR UAS	Sensor	Flies deep for many hours with a powerful camera. Can watch one place continuously and report at once. Shared — must be tasked in advance.
Small UAS (sUAS)	Sensor	A short-range camera drone. Confirms exact locations near the front and observes results. Short flight time.
Electronic signals indication (ESI)	Sensor	Detects radio, wifi and satellite emissions and estimates where they come from. Good against a command post, which must transmit. Gives an area, not a point.
Scout observation posts (OPs)	Sensor	Soldiers in hidden positions. Very reliable, but see only what is in front of them.

Note the difference between the two aircraft: the long-range ISR UAS looks deep and stays a long time; the sUAS looks close and stays a short time. The OWA-UAS does both — look and strike — but only once.

Task: Confirm you understand the mission