Marine Rifle Squad

the hasty defense in an orderly fashion. Light enemy opposition on the
objective does not reduce the danger of enemy counterattack. It may
be an indication, since his forces have not suffered heavy casualties in
the fight for the objective, that he will launch a stronger counterattack.
The need to rapidly develop the hasty defense still exists.
(2) Heavy Enemy Opposition. Paragraph 4303c(2) described the difficulty
a squad leader encounters in maintaining control of the squad when
enemy resistance on the objective is heavy. When the squad assault breaks
up into a series of individual combats the squad leader's task of building
a hasty defense is made even more difficult because the squad's
organizational integrity has temporarily broken down. The squad and
fire team leaders are now faced with the task of building a hasty defense
without having the usual control of the unit. In this situation the squad
leader proceeds though the objective, gathering as many members of his
squad as possible and positioning them to cover the assigned defensive
sector. He ensures that his men take maximum advantage of available cover.
If he has only one of his fire teams intact, it may be necessary to assign
this team to cover the entire squad sector. Usually, due to the confusion
of the battle for the objective, there will be individual Marines in the squad
sector who have been separated from their fire teams. These Marines may
be from another squad or even another platoon. If they appear to be strays
and are in the squad sector, the squad leader takes charge of these Marines,
assigns them a sector of fire, and gets them into a covered position. The
squad leader may temporarily assign strays to fire teams already in position
or if necessary, form temporary fire teams. If a Marine is wandering
around looking for his fire team, his fire power will be lost to the unit when
the enemy counterattacks; if he remains exposed, he will most likely become
a casualty. During consolidation, the primary task is building the hasty
defense, not reforming the squad. Unit leaders must make their presence
felt when building the hasty defense to assure each Marine that he is not
alone in resisting the enemy counterattack. When enemy resistance on the
objective is heavy, the fire team leader should remain close to the automatic
rifleman and attempt to get automatic riflemen through the objective
and integrated into the hasty defense as quickly as possible. The fire
power of the automatic rifleman is critical to the hasty defense.
(3) Termination. Hasty defensive positions are maintained until the
reorganization of the unit commences.
4.31