Convoy ops: The faster things move, the quicker the decisions

[thedrifter]

Convoy ops: The faster things move, the quicker the decisions

8/12/2009 By Lance Cpl. Lucas G. Lowe , Marine Corps Base Quantico
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. —

Student lieutenants with Charlie Company, the senior student company on deck at the The Basic School, conducted convoy operations training Monday at TBS.

“[Convoy] training is an evolution of complexity and motorized operations,” said 1st Lt. Nick M. Ranhala, a warfighting instructor with TBS.

The convoy ops field exercise is designed to give lieutenants a chance to lead convoys averaging 12 vehicles carrying 50 Marines altogether. It is conducted during daylight hours as well as at night. The latter is typically more difficult for student lieutenants to negotiate, because several elements are added to the formula at night, which can make the night course exponentially harder.

“Convoys at night are probably the most complex thing young lieutenants will encounter [at TBS],” said Ranhala.

TBS prepares all officers for the role of convoy leader, because the likelihood that they will have to command a convoy is relatively high.

“Everybody will have some part of a convoy if they deploy,” said Ranhala.

Many young lieutenants will be expected to possess the skills necessary to conduct a convoy in the operating forces.

“For a lot of them, this will be the only training they’ll get before doing the real thing,” said Ranhala.

Students have had about four months in training at the time they begin studying convoy operations, which is covered prior to the Military Operations in Urban Terrain portion of the six-month course.

The fundamentals of basic foot patrols still apply to convoy operations.

“But now there’s the added complexity of vehicles,” pointed out Ranhala. “And the faster things move, the less time they have to make a decision.”

Students began receiving classes on all the aspects of convoy ops about a week prior to the field exercise.

“At this point in training we’ve been given enough information to exercise decision making ability,” said student 2nd Lt. Cameron R. Taylor.

Decentralization of the chain of command is one of the fundamentals of leading a convoy.

“We do a lot of IA [initial action] drills,” said Robertson. When commanders delegate tasks, it gives them time to think about where the friction point is in the chain of command and fix it.

“They give us all the tools we need, we just have to have to apply what we’ve learned,” said student 2nd Lt. Douglas T. Grey III.

The solid training students received before putting the skills they learned to the test in the field in the field gave the young officers confidence.

Correspondent: lucas.lowe@usmc.mil

Ellie