Civil engineer guide to fighting positions, shelters, obstacles

AFH 10-222 Volume 14 1 August 2008 73
4.4. Field Expedient Obstacles. During initial beddown it may be necessary
to use whatever means available to construct obstacles for protection. However,
once material and equipment are more readily available, these measures
should be complemented or replaced with more effective means of protection.
The following paragraphs describe expedient methods that can be used to
construct and employ obstacles when time and materials are limited.
4.4.1. Abatis. During initial beddown, trees can be used to construct an abatis,
one of the oldest forms of barriers (Figure 4.2). The term “abatis” is a
French word meaning “a heap of material thrown.” It is constructed by cutting
down trees, leaving them attached to the stump, and arranging them in a
row with the branches facing towards the direction of the enemy to impede
movement. To ensure the tree remains attached to the stump, cut the butt of
the tree two-thirds through on the opposite side to which it is to fall. The trees
are then forcefully pushed over in the required direction. The branches can be
sharpened, making the barrier a primitive version of barbed wire. To be even
more effective, tree branches can be interlaced with barbed wire if available.
Although this type of expedient barrier may be necessary during the early
stages of a contingency due to severely limited resources, it should not be
used as a permanent barrier for a deployed site unless combined with more
modern forms of obstacles to enhance the level of protection.
Figure 4.2. Abatis.