Building Assault

By Jason Chief Garner This is a very brief explanation of how to conduct building assaults. This will in no way make you an expert as many courses are taught on these subjects with hours of training required. It will give you a better understanding of how these operations are conducted and will open up greater discussion in future practical training. Building assaults are broken down into four stages of understanding. First, a team must understand how to properly identify the sides and floors of a building to be able to effectively communicate and coordinate attacks. 1. 2. 3. 4. Sides Floors Assault Room Entry

The sides of a building are labeled in a clockwise fashion utilizing an alphabetic system. Typically, side A is the front that would contain the front door. However, it may often prove difficult in the tactical environment to determine where the front door to a building is. In these cases, the team leader may identify what side of a building is A. This is typically the side direction the team is assaulting from. Corners are given a double-letter identifier. For example, corner AB would be the corner in the lower left.

Floors of a building are identified by using a number system. The bottom floor is always the number 1 and the roof is always labeled as roof. Windows and doors are assigned numbers as well, starting with left to right. For example on the diagram, opening 1-2 would be the primary doorway on side A. Another example, if the team leader identified that he had a shooter on Side A, 2-4. Then the shooter would be in the top right window of this particular diagram.

In this example, the team leader has identified that the team will make entry on Side A, 1-2the primary doorway. The first two members of the assault team will position themselves to cover Side B and Side A to protect the entry team. Blue Circles Friendly Troops.

The team stacks up along Side A with a minimum of a four man entry team and prepares for entry. When the #1 man in the stack gives the signal to make entry then the team will move together smoothly, but with a dynamic entry called running the rabbit. Remembersmooth is fast.

Cutting the Pie This is a method where an individual can clear most of a room while using the most cover and concealment from outside of the doorway. The troop will position himself adjacent to the doorway and slowly rotate themselves to see as much of the room as possible without making entry. It is best to demonstrate this maneuver in real time.

Room Entry Running the Rabbit. This is an entry maneuver that was developed by the US Army and is being utilized in urban environments in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a system that is extremely simplistic, but effective at assaulting rooms with potential hostile threats. #1 Enters the room along the nearest perpendicular wall and moves to the corner of BC #2 Enters the room behind #1 and moves to the corner of AD #3 Enters the room behind #2 and moves to the corner in the center of the room, which is CD #4 Enters the room behind #3 and secures the doorway that was used for entry. Team numbers must adhere to strict discipline and move to their designated assignment points regardless of the threats in the room. If this is done properly then the room will be overwhelmed quickly with minimal, if any, casualties to friendly forces. Dynamic entry meansspeed, surprise, violence of action.

As stated before This is a very brief explanation of how to conduct building assaults. This will in no way make you an expert as many courses are taught on these subjects with hours of training required. I hope you now have a better understanding of how building assaults are conducted.