Marine Rifle Squad

who starts the count. The last man sends up the count by tapping the
man in front of him and saying "one" in a low voice. This man taps the
man in front of him and says, "two". This continues until the count
reaches the patrol leader. The men behind the patrol leader, plus the
patrol leader, and the men he knows to be ahead of him, should equal
the total of the patrol.
(2) After enemy contact or after dispersal and reassembly at a rally point,
the patrol leader or senior man obtains a count by the quickest method
available. Time and the situation permitting, he should go from man
to man himself. This also gives him the opportunity to check on the condition
of the men.
(3) The patrol leader may give guidance in his patrol order to send up
the count automatically at various times or after certain events/occurrences
during the patrol.
8304. Navigation
One or more men in the patrol are assigned as navigators. Their function
is to assist the patrol leader in maintaining direction by use of the compass.
The patrol leader also assigns men as pacers to keep track of the distance
from point to point. He should assign at least two pacers and use the average
of their counts for an approximation of the distance traveled. The pacers
are separated so they will not influence each other's count.
The route is divided into legs, with each leg starting at a recognizable point
on the ground. The pacers begin their counts from zero at the beginning of
each leg. It may be convenient to use the distance from checkpoint to checkpoint
as a leg. Periodically, the patrol will call for a pace count. The count
from both pacers is sent up in the same manner as the personnel count. All
patrol members must understand that the count of both pacers must be sent
forward, and the counts will be different.
8305. Security
The patrol leader organizes the formation to provide security while on the
move, during halts, at danger areas, and upon reaching checkpoints and rally
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