Army Chemical Review presents professional information about Chemical Corps functions related to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, smoke, flame, and civil support operations.
Issue link: https://chemical.epubxp.com/i/533676
Army Chemical Review
8
Conducting Reconnaissance
and Analysis
A reconnaissance of the terrain and the local weather
forecast at TA 401 before the combined arms breaching
rehearsal indicated that stationary haze would not be pos-
sible. The terrain, which is composed of multiple rolling hills
with a lot of mounds and valleys, splits the wind, which was
found to be multidirectional during the reconnaissance; and
the weather was unfavorable. With changing winds, the
team needed to be mobile to cover as much area as possible.
Two of the three vehicles available to support the combined
arms breaching rehearsal would provide primary smoke into
the wind, and the third would be placed on standby in an
alternate location—to be used when the winds changed di-
rection. Smoke control points would be used to continually
monitor wind changes, and vehicles would be called to shift
as necessary.
The leveraging of stakeholder capabilities across the
Army through a combined arms breaching operation such as
that demonstrated at TA 401 allows for the balanced tech-
nical and tactical execution of a mission while minimizing
operational vulnerabilities. The incorporation of obscuration
in the breaching exercise provided the maneuver force with
protection from an enemy attack by limiting the reconnais-
sance and surveillance capabilities of the enemy. In addi-
tion, obscurants covered enemy terrain, instilling a sense
of uncertainty, confusion, and isolation in the enemy. This
type of situation, which makes use of simultaneous offense,
supports unifed land operations by exploiting the initiative
to gain and maintain an advantage during sustained land
operations.
The combined arms breaching re-
hearsal served as a CBRN capabili-
ties refresher for CBRN offcers and
NCOs. However, in summing up the
operations, the commander of the 84th
Chemical Battalion stated, "All units
involved walked away with a better un-
derstanding of combined arms opera-
tions. My battalion was able to bring
obscuration capabilities to the opera-
tion that many maneuver commanders
had not seen before or had forgotten
the value of."
Questions about the relevance of
smoke and comments about how it can
be replaced by munitions often arise.
But those who don't see a future in ob-
scuration need only take a look at cur-
rent research to become aware of the
revitalization of obscuration on small
platforms such as drones; manpacks; and unmanned, radio-
controlled vehicles. Just as the Edgewood Chemical Biologi-
cal Center Improved Visual Obscuration Program aims to
improve the state of the art in obscuration technology for
the warfghter by advancing equipment such as the Light
Vehicle Obscuration Smoke System for military police, the
Chemical Corps should look toward a future without tradi-
tional obscuration/smoke methods and outdated equipment.
Research and development efforts are underway to build
better capabilities.
Endnote:
1
Obscuration haze is obscuration placed over friendly areas
to restrict adversary observation with fre, but not dense enough
to disrupt friendly operations within the screen. An obscura-
tion haze is a concentration of visual obscuration that would
allow the identifcation of a small, tactical vehicle from 50 to 150
meters away from the observer. (Army Techniques Publication
3-11.50, Battlefeld Obscuration, 15 May 2014.)
"ECBC Engineers Lead Army in Improving Obscuration
Capabilities for the Warfghter," Edgewood Chemical Bio-
logical Center, 28 April 2014,