Joint Doctrine for Amphibious Operations - Historic Naval Ships ...

Amphibious Operations Against Coastal Defensesinformation on supporting and advance forceoperations.d. Local air and maritime superiority in theoperational area is required in order for theMCM forces to commence operations.Supporting operations may also be conductedfor offensive MCM and to wear down land forces.e. Offensive MCM. If ROE permit, MCMis best accomplished by destruction of minesprior to their deployment. Proactive MCMinclude attacks on production and storagefacilities, transportation assets, and forcesused to plant mines. A key consideration inany potential littoral conflict is theestablishment of ROE that allow for early,aggressive, and proactive MCM operations.f. MCM Forces. The time required forMCM operations will usually require MCMforces to commence operations prior to thearrival of the amphibious force and,potentially, the advance force. MCM forcesare extremely vulnerable and will requireconstant protection from hostile forces.Due to the limited assets available for anMCM operation, the CATF will need toprioritize the MCM effort in the operationalarea. There should also be an awareness thatMCM operations have the potential tocompromise the OPSEC of the impendingamphibious operation. Appropriateconsideration or measures should beimplemented to minimize the operationalimpact. Two primary MCM techniques aremine hunting and mine sweeping.• Mine Hunting. Mine hunting is a timeconsumingoperation. During minehunting, the MCM platform uses itsavailable assets to locate, classify, andmark all mine-like contacts. Generally,surface or airborne platforms markpossible mine contacts and thenexplosive ordnance disposal MCM unitspositively identify, dispose of, or removethem for further exploitation.• Mine Sweeping. Mine sweeping isperformed at slightly faster speeds thanhunting, which allows for a larger areaof coverage. Surface or airborneplatforms accomplish sweeping againsteither bottom influence or moored mines.Advance force assets will operate insupport of breaching operations inaccordance with Chapter XIII,“Supporting, Advance Force, andPreassault Operations.”4. Integrated MineCountermeasures andAmphibious BreachingOperationsa. The responsibility for breachingcoastal mine barriers may be phased. TheMCM commander, who is usually subordinateto the CATF upon the arrival of theamphibious force in the operational area, isresponsible for the breach of the outer minebarriers up to the SZ. The CATF is responsiblefor the breach of any mines and obstacles fromthe SZ to the high water mark. The CLF isresponsible for the breach of any mines andobstacles from the high water mark inland.MCM and amphibious breachingoperations must be synchronized. Lanerequirements of the landing force and mineor obstacle construction will dictate size andcomposition of the amphibious breach force.b. Fundamentals. Suppression,obscuration, security, and reduction arefundamentals that must be applied toamphibious breaching operations to ensuresuccess.• Suppression. Effective suppression isthe mission-critical task during anybreaching operation. Suppressionprotects forces reducing andmaneuvering through the obstacle andfixes the enemy in position. Suppressivefires include the full range of lethal andIX-3