Marine Rifle Squad

9.44
a. SeUDiscipIine. An important part of combating guerrillas is selfdiscipline.
Men are proud of the spiritual values, culture, and customs of
their country. If members of the squad ignore or neglect these items, hatred
of Marines and sympathy for guerrillas may result.
b. Security. Marines must be security conscious at all times. Two routine
methods of providing security are safeguarding information and guarding
installations. Loose talk, as well as careless performance of duty,
endangers friendly forces.
c. Need for Intelligence. Successfuloperations against guerrilla forces
depend upon accurate arid timely information. Guerrillas are elusive and
must be located and eliminated. All means of communication are used to
ensure rapid transmission of messages in keeping with security.
9604. Establishing a Patrol Base
To cover the entire area of guerrilla operations, it is usually necessary to establish
temporary patrol bases some distance from the parent bases. Temporary
patrol bases are established by company or smaller units to include the
squad and should not be occupied more than 24 hours except in an extreme
emergency. In all situations, a patrol base is occupied the minimum time
necessary to accomplish the purpose for which it is established.
a. Deception. A patrol base is secretly occupied. Secrecy is maintained
by practicing deception techniques that are carefully planned. Deception
plans should include the following considerations:
• If possible, the march to the base is conducted at night.
• The route selected avoids centers of population.
• If necessary, local inhabitants met by the patrol in remote areas
are detained.
• Inhabitants of areas that cannot be avoided are deceived by marching in
a direction which indicates that the patrol is moving to some other area.
• Scouts operate forward of the main body of the patrol.
• Bases are usually located beyond areas that are patrolled daily.