FM 100-5 Operations - Survival Ebooks Military Manuals Survival ...

WWW.SURVIVALEBOOKS.COMOPERATIONSoperations along with the other services, other nationalagencies, and often allied and coalition forces. Bydoing so, the Army’s operational capabilities are enhanced,victory comes quicker, and friendly casualtiesare reduced. The capabilities described below are essentialto success on the battlefield.Space OperationsArmy forces depend on space-based systems injoint and combined operations. Space-based systemsoffer significant political and technical advantages toforce-projection operations, allowing quick access tocertain capabilities without concern for national boundaryrestrictions. Normally, Army units are offset froman AO and rely on space-based systems to gain intelligenceand to track deployment and early employment.Intelligence, early warning, communication,navigation, mapping, environmental monitoring, missilewarning, weather, imagery, and data processingare all enhanced by uninterrupted space operations.Position and navigation satellites enable forcesequipped with passive receivers to know their exactHistorical PerspectiveAt 1630, 2 July 1863, near Little Round top, a rocky hill near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, ColonelJoshua Chamberlain’s 358 remaining soldiers of the 20th Maine Regiment were orderedinto a defensive line. Minutes later, they came under a violent frontal assault by the 47th AlabamaRegiment. While the 20th Maine was repulsing this assault, an officer rushed up to Chamberlainand informed him that another large enemy force was moving to attack their exposedleft flank.Chamberlain immediately ordered a new defensive line at right angles to his existing line,shifting the entire regiment to the left and back, while maintaining continuous fire to the front,masking the movement of his left flank. Minutes later the 20th Maine was assaulted by the 15tAlabama Regiment. During that assault, the 20th Maine fired 20,000 rounds, suffering 30percent dead and wounded. Chamberlain, wounded in the foot by a shell fragment, was bleeding.HIs right thigh was severely bruised where a musket ball had struck his scabbard. The20th Maine miraculously withstood six charges before they ran out of ammunition.Chamberlain, fearing an overwhelming, decrimating rebel attack, realized that by withdrawinghe would be giving up key terrain and the battle too. To the astonishment of his company commanders,he ordered a bayonet charge with the enemy, beginning another fierce charge fromonly 30 yards away. The left half of his regiment began the charge, stunning the confederatesbefore them. As they came abreast of their own right half,Chamberlain raised high his saber and shouted, “Fix bayonets! Charge! Fix bayonets! Charge!Fix bayonets! Charge!” Running downhill like a thundering herd of raging animals, Chamberlainand his men had the clear advantage over the tired rebels. The Alabama men wereshocked and fell back. A company of Chamberlain’s men who had formed a screen line on theleft flank began firing into the panic-stricken confederates who, even though they outnumberedthe 20th Main 3 to 1, did not realize the strength of their numbers.Fearing the worst for his troops, Oates, the commander of the Alabama regiments, ordered abreakout that turned into a rout and the capture of more than 400 of his men. Afterwards,Colonel Chamberlain was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. His actions serve asone of the finest examples of what a combat leader must be able to be and do to exerciseeffective battle command.2-16