CQB

[Disclaimer: this is very much a work in progress and will eventually be rolled into the gameplay guide, these are real world tactics so take everything you read here with a pinch of salt, it gets pretty /k/ in here. I highly recommend reading the last section, as in my opinion it is the part that ties all of this together for practical application]

The Basics of CQB Pastebin: A repository of knowledge to teach you, the basement dwelling autist to imitate an operator in video games.


CONTENTS: (Ctrl+F to skip to a section)

Part 1: Five Rules of Room Clearing, a basic overview of room clearing operations

Part 2: CLOSE QUARTER BATTLE, a more in depth look at room clearing that breaks the actions down further to provide more specific examples and explains a few tricky situations. EG. split level stairs.

Part 3: URBAN COMBAT SKILLS, a fucking massive army training manual that has some useful core ideas

Part 4: Shattering Conventional CQB Dogma - a critique on the above techniques that I feel is extremely relevant when trying to apply the aforementioned techniques to Siege


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Part 1: Five Rules of Room Clearing - [http://www.hendonpub.com/tactical_response/articles/2015/0102/five_rules_of_room_clearing]

The principle is kept simple by design and is built upon five principles to be followed every time a room is entered. Called the Five Rules of Room Clearing, these are, in order: 1) through the door, 2) clear your near corner, 3) run your wall, 4) collapse your sector, and 5) communicate.

This simple technique can be employed with just two officers. Accordingly, this technique should be trained and practiced with just two operators in an effort to ingrain the importance of following the Five Rules as well as preparing for ‘the worst case-scenario’, two officers facing an immediate threat such as an active shooter scenario.



Rule #1 – Through the door

The doorway is called the ‘Fatal Funnel’ for good reason. It’s the channel by which we need to pass but is also the likely focal point of any potential adversary lying in wait. Whenever officers line up at the room they are preparing to enter, they should not spend too much time waiting to go in nor should they telegraph their presence with needless talking or even carelessly exposing the tip of a rifle across an open doorway.

Upon getting a signal (usually a non-verbal signal such as a triceps or shoulder squeeze), the number one officer should immediately enter the room by either crossing over the threshold to the opposite wall or button-hooking into the room along the same wall. At this point, the number two officer should be heads up and immediately enter the room in the opposite direction of travel as his teammate.

In order to keep this tactic as simple as possible and as easy to remember in a high-stress situation, part of this Rule is that the number officer is NEVER wrong with whatever direction he decides to enter the room. There is no need to remember fancy footwork or which way to go in any given situation, if the number one man gets a squeeze, he enters the room. It is as simple as that.

Whatever direction the first officer entered the room, it is incumbent on the number two officer to go in the opposite direction. If there is a third officer, he would go opposite the man in front of him and so on until all officers are through the door and into the room (More on three- and four-man room entries later.)

As the officers find themselves ‘stacked’ at the doorway, the number one officer should be keeping his eyes forward, both at the door to be entered and further down the hall if necessary. The number two man should be ready to enter immediately with his teammate whenever he gives the signal to enter the room.



Rule #2 – Clear your near corner

As the first two officers enter the room, it is imperative to place a set of eyes and the muzzle of a weapon in each area of the room that may contain an adversary as quickly as possible. This needs to be methodical and it begins with each officer clearing the nearest corner he faces immediately upon entering the room.

Each of these tactics lends itself to the other. In order for this tactic to work effectively, the number two officer needs to enter directly behind the number one officer. Dynamically entering the room as a two-person team, and addressing their respective near corners, not only protects the officer facing the potential threat hidden in a corner, but also protects his partner’s back.

If a near threat is present upon entering the room, meaning someone just a few feet away, deal with this threat immediately before clearing the near corner. That means either a minimum of one round if armed or a well-placed arm check if unarmed. Do not get sucked into firefight or into addressing a potential threat deep in the room and ignoring the near corner. This point can usually be well illustrated during force-on-force scenario training.

Also, avoid watching the near corner for too long. It should only take a fraction of a second to recognize the near corner is clear. Once the near corner is cleared, then each officer needs to immediately progress into Rule 3 and Rule 4.



Rule #3 – Run your wall

This rule emphasizes why it is imperative to train shooting while moving. Static range training is unrealistic and only develops potentially bad habits of standing still during a gunfight. Once both officers have cleared their near corners, they will continue moving along the wall in their direction of travel along their respective wall only stopping once they reach their near corner or to a point of domination where the officers can still maintain visual communication with one another and have the best field of view of the contents of the room.

It is important to move along or ‘run’ only one wall. Do not change the direction of travel when a corner is reached. This tactic relies on each officer moving along the first wall only. While not actually running, the officers are moving at a speed where they can move while accurately engaging any targets.

It is harder to be hit as a moving target and it is imperative to take in as much of the room as possible as you enter. By moving or ‘running’ along the wall, the officer is able to keep moving while visually taking in the contents of the room. In order to effectively overwhelm and dominate the room, it’s important each operator accomplishes Rule 3 concurrently while conducting Rule 4.



Rule #4 – Collapse your sector

Rule 3 and Rule 4 are being performed simultaneously, which once again emphasizes the importance of practicing shooting-while-moving drills. While moving along their respective wall and with their eyes and a ready weapon, the officers will each scan the room toward one another stopping at a few feet from their teammate’s muzzle.

By collapsing to a few feet from their partner’s muzzle, the officers ensure three things: 1) an overlapping fan of ballistic attention to any armed adversaries; 2) two sets of eyes on any danger areas (furniture or any other obstacle potentially concealing an adversary); and 3) identifying any other tactical problems (such as additional doorways within the room), as well as preventing flagging each other with the muzzle of their weapons.

Remember, of course, do not let your muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.  Recognize there are at least two officers in the room. This leads to Rule 5.



Rule #5 – Communicate

Whether or not the officers have encountered any hostilities, it is important to communicate with each other before moving on to another room or back into the hallway. A momentary ‘eyes on’ one another and a thumbs-up is usually enough to accomplish this. This is also the time any reloads or ammo and equipment consolidation should be done. Officers need to assure they are battle-ready before proceeding on to the rest of the structure.

Consider three-, four- or even more person room entries using this tactic. The first thing to keep in mind is nothing really changes except for Rule 2. If the third and fourth officers enter the room and clear their near corner, they have just covered their teammates with their muzzle. Instead, as they enter the room and go opposite the officer in front of them, they will clear to the center of the room first, and then clear both left and right, each time stopping a few feet off the nearest teammate’s muzzle.

There are some key points to consider as you practice the Five Rules of Room Clearing. Do not overpenetrate into the room. This should be considered during Rule 3. Always maintain a half an arm’s distance from the wall. Remember, always train for the worst-case scenario, a low-light or even total darkness scenario.

Teammates should know where one another are based on common knowledge of the tactic. If a teammate steps away from his wall into the center of the room without first communicating his intent, he could potentially cut off his partner’s field of fire or worse yet, potentially create a disastrous fratricide.

Remember to communicate any movement outside of the tactic. Rule 5 is built in for teammates to communicate with each other. This is the time to call out danger areas or any intent to move deeper into the room for a search.



Exit the room

On the subject of communication, have an established SOP on a method of communicating both into and out of a room. Whether it’s a triceps squeeze, shoulder squeeze or muzzle dip, teammates should always communicate into a room to ensure the second officer is right behind the first officer as well as communicating out of the room so no one officer gets left in a room alone.

Maintain a 360-degree security. The CQB environment is spherical. Threats can be found above and below you, for instance: in ceilings, closets, attics and crawl spaces. Do not cross, pass, or turn your back on danger areas that could conceal a threat.

Unless another officer or officers were kept in the hall as forward facing or front security, it will be necessary to retake the hallway before proceeding to additional rooms. If the numbers allow it, try keeping someone in the hall (two if possible) maintaining forward facing security. If at all possible, try keeping an officer somewhere in the structure as rear security.

This tactic works just as well for center-fed rooms as well as corner-fed rooms. Keep the tactic simple and remember the number one officer is never wrong. Number two simply goes to the opposite direction of travel.

Remember, in order for this tactic to work it needs to be practiced. It’s simple and battle tested, but unless everyone is on board and knows what they are doing, then it’s as useless as arming an officer without any live-fire range training. Practice, practice, practice. Following and practicing these simple rules will give police officers a baseline of knowledge to fall back on whenever they find themselves faced with the common task of building entries.

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Part 2: CLOSE QUARTER BATTLE - [http://www.cqb-team.com/tactical_trainer.php]

Battles that occur in close quarters, such as within a room or hallway, must be planned and executed with care. Use room clearing techniques when the tactical situation calls for "room to room clearing" with enemy combatants and non-combatants. Units must train, practice, and rehearse the techniques until each team member operates smoothly. Each operator must understand the principles of room clearing, such as surprise, speed, and controlled violence of action.
Surprise
Surprise is the key to a successful assault in close quarters. The entry team clearing the room must achieve the element of surprise, if only for seconds, by deceiving, distracting, or startling the enemy. Sometimes stun grenades are used to achieve the surprise. Surprise is when your entry is not compromised.
Speed
Speed provides a measure of security to the entry team and allows the operators to use the first few vital seconds of surprise to their maximum advantage. Speed is moving only as fast as you can shoot accurately. .
Violence of Action
Violence of action eliminates or neutralizes the enemy while giving the least chance of inflicting friendly casualties. Violence of action is not limited to the application of firepower only. It involves an operator's mind-set of complete domination. Each of the principles concerning precision room clearing has a synergistic relationship to the others. If you don't combine speed and surprise you can't have violence of action.
BASIC

Most missions will require using a combination of stealth and dynamic techniques. Stealth is a slow and quiet approach to the area to be cleared.
When all are in place and not compromised, you switch to dynamic techniques with speed, surprise, and violence of action. Room clearing is generally accomplished using a four man team. Entry does not always require four operators. If a specific room is too small or there are less than four operators, the room may be cleared with less. However, never clear a room with less than two operators and one to provide backup. Choose the entry technique based on the mission, layout of the room and the team's ability.
The terms "point of domination" refers to the two corners of the room assigned to the number ❶ & ❷ operators. These points allow the team to gain control of the objective. Each team member is assigned a different, but interlocking field of fire / AOR (Area of Responsibility). This ensures mutual supporting fire. CQB is dynamic in nature. When completed with precision, it overwhelms the enemy and allows the team to move on to the next objective very quickly. When a room is cleared, the exiting procedure for leaving the room varies depending on the location of the entry point

Read systems and no read systems

Two different types of entry are read systems and no read systems. In no read systems the direction to move in the room is predetermined. In read systems you have to watch the operator in front of you and then go to the opposite direction.

Predetermined
Some teams use the technique of predesignating which way each man will move after entering a room. For example, First man always goes left. The second always goes right, or vice versa.

The path of least resistance
When using a doorway as the point of entry, the path of least resistance is determined initially based on the way the door opens. If the door opens inward the operator plans to move away from the hinges. If the door opens outward, the operator plans to move toward the hinged side. Upon entering, the size of the room, enemy situation, and furniture or other obstacles that hinder or channel movement become factors that influence operator ❶'s direction of movement. The point of using this technique is to get the first man into the room as quickly as possible to allow him to clear the "fatal funnel" rapidly, allowing the rest of the team to make a smooth entry rather than bogged down at the fatal funnel.
Immediate threat
Another method is to allow operator ❶ to pick his direction based on immediate threat. His partner then takes the opposite side of the room. This can only be done once the assault has been initiated.
Buttonhook
Operator ❶ always makes a turn around the doorframe, clearing a large portion of the room while entering. Operator ❷ then moves across the doorway and clears the hard corner. If Operator ❶ sees a threat when he enters he will move to it and Operator ❷ will take the opposite AOR of the room.
The Stack up
Once the approach to the room or building has been completed, the team stacks in a single file to ease the flow into the room, parallel to the outside wall. Muzzle discipline and awareness is vital. Operator ❶ provides security on the entry point. This point is usually a door. Operator ❷ provides security to the front of the team. Operators ❸ & ❹ cover opposite threat areas in the stack, and if none exist the weapon is placed is in ready position. Operators should get as close as possible to the operator in front of him. A support element should cover the rear of the entry team.
When the situation allows, it is important to ensure that each team member is prepared to enter the entry point to the room before the assault. This is achieved while in the stack position.
When operator ❹ is ready, he squeezes the shoulder of operator ❸ with the non-firing hand. This action continues up the line. When the signal reaches operator ❶, he knows that the rest of the team are ready to follow him into the room. If the team decides to use a flash grenade. Operator ❷ shows the grenade to operator ❶ instead of squeezing the shoulder. (The grenade is shown to the front man, by holding it up in front of his eyes, while he continues to provide cover).
If someone inside opens the door before this sequence is completed, the team will immediately enter the room.
If the team uses the technique of predesignating, the operators  stack tight with the weapon oriented in the direction he will move when he enters the room. If he is to clear to the left, his weapon will be on the left side of the operator in front of him. This ensures rapid target acquisition without sweeping his weapon across the body of the man in front.
BREACHING

Part of room clearing is the ability to quickly gain access to the rooms needing clearing. Breaching techniques vary based on the type of construction encountered and the types of munitions available to the breaching element. Techniques range from simple mechanical breaching to complex, specialized demolitions. A closed door is considered locked in all cases when a breacher is present, assuming the breacher has the means available to defeat the lock. Once the other team members are stacked, the breacher moves to the door and breaches it on the signal of operator ❶. The breacher then steps back in order to clear the path for the team. If no breaching equipment is available, a quick attempt to open the door, from the side may be made. If the door is locked, it is kicked open. However, this should be the last choice for defeating a locked door. Kicking generally requires more than one attempt. After the first attempt, the breacher's chances of drawing fire through the door are significantly increased.

Read more of this in BREACHING.
ROOM ENTRY

The entire team enters the room as quickly and smoothly as possible and clears the doorway immediately. If possible the team moves from a covered or concealed position already in their entry order. Ideally, the team arrives at and passes through the entry point without having to stop.
The door is the focal point of anyone in the room. It is known as the fatal funnel , because it focuses attention at the precise point where the individual team members are the most vulnerable. Moving into the room quickly reduces the chance anyone will be hit by enemy fire directed at the doorway. The team may choose to create a diversion (use a stun-hand grenade) to momentarily distract the defender while it enters and achieves domination of the room.
On the signal to go, the clearing team moves through the door quickly and takes up positions inside the room that allow it to completely dominate the room and eliminate the threat. Team members stop movement only after they have cleared the door and reached their designated point of domination. Each member of the team must know his sector of fire (AOR) and how his sector overlaps and links with the sectors of the other team members. Team members do not move to the point of domination and then engage their targets. They engage targets as they move to their designated point. However, engagements must not slow movement to their points of domination. Team members may shoot within a range of as little as 1 to 2 inches. They engage the most immediate enemy threats first. Examples of immediate threats are enemy personnel who are:

● Armed and prepared to return fire immediately.
● Blocking movement to the position of domination.
● Within arm's reach of a clearing team member.
● Within 3 to 5 feet of the breach point.

[Video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klbaL8N_VQ0#t=225

CLEAR A CONNECTED ROOM

Open door:
If the door to the connected room is open, and a threat is identified in the room, it may be engaged from the cleared room. The team stacks in preparation for entry into the next room. When the team leader declares the first room clear, the team will automatically stack on the entrance to the next room. If the team is spread out in the room, crossing the doorway would not only place a team member in the fatal funnel unnecessarily, it could also mask the cover fire of other team members. Therefore it might be necessary to stack up on both sides of the door.

Closed door:
Standard room clearing SOP.
CLEAR A FLOOR

When clearing a single floor complex, the principles discussed in room clearing and connecting room clearing are used. The only added features are the hallways and an additional teams and faseline.
CLEAR A STAIRWAY

When multilevel structures are encountered, stairs become an added obstacle that will require manoeuvring. One of the most dangerous situations that a team is likely to encounter is a stairway with a turn between floors. Besides a blind spot at the turn, these stairways often have a loft that overlooks the bottom portion of the stairway. If the team is ascending, the operator ❶ (as always) provides security to his direct front. Operator ❷ secures the top row of stairs. Operator 3 secures the loft area. If a loft area does not exist, Operator ❸ secures the top of the second row of stairs. If the team is descending, each operator has the same area of responsibility, except that the bottom of the stairway is secured, as opposed to the top.
Stairs with split level landings that have a space allowing a view through to the top from below should be cleared as follows:
Operator ❶ stands on the first level looking up covering the space between the stairs as operator ❷ takes point and clears ahead of the train to the next landing, where he stops and takes an upward cover position. The train moves up the stairs past operator ❶ who falls in at the rear. He is now the last man. He will take the position walking backwards covering the rear. Once the train reaches operators ❷'s position, the operator in front of the train takes over the point and moves to the next landing while operator ❷ now covers the space above the moving train. During movement, the train always moves close to the wall, under the staircase, out of sight and enemy fire. The operators covering the movement must stand in view so that they can see through the spaces to the top and bottom of the stairs.
Internal stairs with no gap between them are normally cleared using a one man clearance. An operator will clear ahead of the train.

External stairs are primarily are located on a main superstructure. The best method for clearing stairs is with a four man clearance team. The standard operating procedure is as follows: Left, right, forward, and back. Operator ❶ always clears left, operator ❷ always clears right. Operator ❸ in the stack clears forward. Operator ❹ clears back. This way 360 degrees of security is maintained.
COMMUNICATION

When entering a room, communication is required between the team members in order to clear it quickly and move to the next objective. When either scanning the room or providing security for possible threats, the team members cannot shift their attention around the room to assess the current situation. To solve this problem, the team leader calls for a status after he determines that no immediate threat exists. This status or situation report consists of each clearing operator's current condition and any possible threat in his sector. Operator ❶ states his situation to the rest of the team, then operator ❷ follows with his report and so on. The team leader absorbs all this information and then gives directions based on the information. The conversation should be at a level that each team member may hear, but no louder. If operator ❶ fails to sound off, operator ❷ states his status. If operator ❶ is down, the team will know it. If operator ❶ fails to sound off due to a mental lapse, he may give a SITREP once the other team members have given theirs.

Read more of this in SIGNALS found on the menu on the top of this page.
SECURE UNKNOWNS

The clearing team secures and identifies all personnel found in a room or building that is being cleared. Until identified, they approach non-combatants in the same manner as combatants.

Read more of this in HAND 2 HAND found on the menu on the top of this page
GENERAL RULES
No matter what the room configuration, there are a few rules that should always be followed. These rules include the following:

● It does not matter if the person in front of you goes the wrong way when entering the room. Just go the opposite way of the operator in front of you and it will work out.

● Enter the room as quickly and smoothly as possible and do not waste movements. Remember smooth is fast. The faster each team member picks up their initial point of aim, the more difficult it becomes for the defender. Even a prepared defender can be caught off guard.

● Clear, do not stop, the fatal funnel. Operator ❸ & ❹ are especially prone to stopping in the funnel.

● Ensure that the doorway is completely cleared before assuming a final position in the room.

●Stay focused. Never stop scanning your sector for targets unless:
a) You identify a threat in your sector. This threat could be an open door leading to an uncleared room, a person in the room other than one of the team members, an obstacle that cannot be cleared visually from your position, or anything else that you may determine as a threat. If such a threat exists, provide security for the team by covering it with your weapon.

b) You are ordered by the team leader to perform another task.

● Ensure that if you fall down while entering the room, you stay down and do not move. Do not get up until a team member places his hands on you and lifts you up. If a team member arbitrarily gets up, he may become an impairment to the rest of the team's movements. Another possibility is that you would rise into the path of a team member's bullet.

● Rehearse communication. As stated above, speed and momentum will make or break this type of action. Poor communication techniques will slow your building clearing to a crawl.

● Ensure that each team member knows the procedures for each position. After the first room is cleared in a multi room objective, a team member may find that he is in a different position in the stack than when the assault started.

●The team leader should always attempt to avoid being operator ❶ when entering a room. This can normally be accomplished, but in some situations it will be unavoidable.

● Ensure that you never enter a room alone. Two operators are the minimum, for a room-clearing team. If two operators are entering a room (either due to the size of the room or attrition), they should assume the operator ❶ and operator ❷ positions.

● Ensure that you never flag a fellow team member. Flagging is defined as pointing your weapon at or sweeping your weapon across another team member. Muzzle awareness, at all times, is imperative.

Short Reminder:
● Move tactically and silently while securing the corridors to the room to be cleared. Carry only the minimum amount of equipment.
●Arrive undetected at the entry to the room in the correct order of entrance and be prepared to enter on a single command.
● Enter quickly and dominate the room. Move immediately to positions that allow complete control of the room and provide unobstructed fields of fire.
● Eliminate the enemy in the room by fast, accurate fire.
● Gain and maintain immediate control of the situation and all personnel in the room.
● Confirm whether enemy casualties are wounded or dead. Disarm and segregate the wounded. Search all enemy casualties. Handcuff everyone.
● Perform a cursory search of the room. Determine if a detailed search is required.
● Evacuate all wounded and any friendly dead.
● Mark the room as cleared using a simple, clearly identifiable marking according to the unit SOP.
● Maintain security and be prepared to react to more enemy contact at any moment. Do not neglect rear security.

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Part 3: URBAN COMBAT SKILLS
I won't include this one in full as it's fucking massive and has lots and lots of pictures and diagrams. It is 100% worth reading if you're interested in this shit, and covers a lot of basics about urban combat from which a lot of the core concepts can be used. For the most part however it's a very general overview of all aspects of urban combat and thusly most of it is useless to you and your MLG skills.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-06-11/ch3.htm


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Part 4: Shattering Conventional CQB Dogma - http://www.maxvelocitytactical.com/2014/01/shattering-conventional-cqb-dogma/
[Note: This is more of an critique on the above methods and won't make much sense if you're not familiar with them, however it is this article that I feel is the most important for actually applying any the above knowledge to Siege]

I came across the following video on YouTube. I found it very interesting. It is discussing the ‘fatal funnel fallacy’ and I find it very refreshing that some are starting to question the ‘conventional wisdom’ of CQB. I have written about this often in the past and have often criticized what I term ‘SWAT Style’ CQB tactics.

Nathan Wager, who made the video, talks about the faults and assumptions of this ‘American Style of Clearing’, a sentiment that I feel is very much on the nail. He talks about the fallacy of the fatal funnel and the definitions of it, and how this leads to dangerous  assumptions when designing room clearing techniques. You see this all the time. Actual operators or their fanboys will learn ‘the speak’ and can reiterate it to anyone challenging it, but they don’t really know. You see these stylistic room clearing drills.

If I have any issue with the video, it is this: from my point of view, all the CQB techniques he is discussing are already, for want of a better term,  ‘down the rabbit hole’. In that sense, he has also gone down that rabbit hole to argue about specifics of why  things are wrong, when I will just step back and look at the bigger picture. But I give him credit for doing so and he makes a good argument. This is how I would summarize my thoughts:

1) The ‘SWAT Style” room clearing drills are for low threat situations or ones where you are ‘clearing’ and not really expecting a serious threat, such as  barricaded enemy. SWAT do not go into a high threat situation. If you go dynamically against a real threat without maximum shock and violence you are cruising for a bruising.

2) Top Tier dynamic entry units will do similar drills in high threat environments, but they get away with such techniques by using shock to actually dynamically gain entry, such as use of explosive breaching and/or flashbangs to create shock, to seize and maintain the initiative when entering. Speed, aggresion and surprise.

3) The original meaning of the ‘fatal funnel’ was a warning to ensure that you did not pause or remain in doorways or windows. It was to prevent silhouetting yourself there. Of course, when readying to prevent a room entry, the ‘bad guy’ will naturally set up to shoot towards natural entry points. So, rather than over-defining the ‘fatal funnel’, as the video says, it is more about enemy lines of fire, corners, and avoiding silhouetting yourself there. Don’t try and define the ‘funnel ‘ geographically and over complicate it, creating a whole bunch of stylized drills based on over-complicated assumptions about the fatal funnel.

4) In a similar way, if you go through a door and are confronted by an enemy in the middle of the room, shoot him! You see so many of these drills where the guy switches away from the center of the room to the near corners when there is a target right there. You need to engage the threats that you can see and let your team coming behind clear other areas.  Yes, blah blah, you need to clear the room, but you don’t ignore real threats to do so. This is another problem of the ‘over stylize-ation’ of these drills. If you are wondering how you do all this with bad guys in the room and you are funneling through the door, then welcome to the essential problem with these drills unless you have pre-shocked the room!

5) If you up the intensity of these operations to MOUT (FISH – Fighting In Someones House), then you will find violence is the answer. If you have to enter rooms, you need a grenade or similar violence first to gain the initiative by shocking the enemy. Avoid doors, use windows. Avoid windows, create an explosive breach through the wall or roof. Use grenades, rockets, anything that is violence. Otherwise, as you go in the room the enemy can shoot you. Simple, right? I would rather knock down a wall with a bulldozer or truck than do these drills when there are known bad guys in there. Entering a room through an explosive or vehicle breach in the wake of debris and plaster dust is going to be a way of avoiding death.

6) If you don’t have to go in there, burn it down or destroy it from standoff. Bang a thermobaric in there, that will take care of it, so long as you escalated through your rules or engagement to give anyone a chance to come out. If you do have to go in there, then if you expect a high threat, such as barricaded enemy, then you will need to change your tactics. You will be better off doing a technique such as ‘combat clearing’ which is a slower technique where you approach a dangerous room, get the door open, and then use a technique based off the ‘pie the corner’ technique to get visibility onto sectors of the room and identify the threat or lack of. Once you identify the barricaded enemy, then you can make a plan to take care of it. A grenade into a room may cause temporary shock to an enemy, but if he is barricaded he will pop back up and be able to engage you from cover as you swarm into the room.

7) Don’t get me wrong, if you are doing classic MOUT, you will have to clear through a building and will have to use room entry and clearance techniques, similar to the SWAT techniques shown, but using whatever you can to grenade or alternatively breach rooms to maintain shock and surprise as you go in. But there is a reason why MOUT is a highly casualty intensive operation of war. SWAT are not engaged in the same thing. If you end up sending two, three or four men into a room to clear it in a MOUT operation, with furniture and bad guys, you can run basic drills but you have to play it as it comes. Go left, go right, but shoot what you can see as you enter, with your buddies coming behind taking care of the corners etc. You can run drills, but at the end of the day it’s a fight, and cannot be over-sequenced or stylized. Don’t go at it like an unthinking robot or a set sports play!
[Videos - worth a watch]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX9oHBLL1FM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1lCUHeyWH4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyvw3Qu8k3A