Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad - Sakai

• Review events leading to the activity (what was supposed to happen).
• Give a brief statement of the specific activity.
• Summarize key events. Encourage participation.
• Have junior leaders restate portions of their part of the activity.
Fundamentals of Tactics
1-177. The art of an AAR is in obtaining mutual trust so people will speak freely. Problem solving should
be practical and Soldiers should not be preoccupied with status, territory, or second guessing "what the
leader will think." There is a fine line between keeping the meeting from falling into chaos where little is
accomplished, to people treating each other in a formal and polite manner that masks issues (especially
with the leader).
1-178. The AAR facilitator should—
• Remain unbiased throughout the review.
• Ask open-ended questions to draw out comments from all.
• Do not allow personal attacks.
• Focus on learning and continuous improvement.
• Strive to allow others to offer solutions rather than offering them yourself.
• Find solutions and recommendations to make the unit better.
1-179. To avoid turning an AAR into a critique or lecture—
• Ask why certain actions were taken.
• Ask how Soldiers reacted to certain situations.
• Ask when actions were initiated.
• Ask leading and thought-provoking questions.
• Exchange "war stories" (lessons learned).
• Ask Soldiers to provide their own point of view on what happened.
• Relate events to subsequent results.
• Explore alternative courses of actions that might have been more effective.
• Handle complaints positively.
• When the discussion turns to errors made, emphasize the positive and point out the difficulties
of making tough decisions.
• Summarize.
• Allow junior leaders to discuss the events with their Soldiers in private.
• Follow up on needed actions.
SECTION VII — COMBAT POWER
1-180. Combat power is the ability of a unit to fight. To generate combat power, Army forces at all levels
conduct operations. An operation is a military action or carrying out of a mission (FM 1-02). Leaders at the
operational level of war develop operations in response to receiving strategic guidance. These operations
consist of numerous component operations, tasks, and actions. Within these operations, leaders at the
operational level assign their subordinate’s missions. These subordinates, in turn, develop operations to
accomplish their mission. They then assign the mission to subordinates as part of their overall operations.
This chain of events continues until the Infantry platoon and squad receives its mission. Leaders at all
levels use many tools to develop and conduct operations. Two of the most important tools are—
• The four critical functions.
• Full spectrum operations doctrine.
FOUR CRITICAL FUNCTIONS
1-181. Most combat actions follow the sequence of find, fix, finish, and follow-through. First, the unit
must find the enemy and make contact. Second, they fix the enemy with direct and indirect fires. Third, the
28 March 2007 FM 3-21.8 1-35