SITUATION
You are the commander of a platoon that is part of Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/5. The BLT has been in the country of Cortina for one week performing peacekeeping and security missions in support of an international humanitarian relief effort. As a result of years of internal strife and factional fighting, Cortina has experienced a total breakdown of essential services such as medical treatment and food and water distribution. Your platoon consists of 42 Marines (three 13-man squads) plus four Marine Scout/Snipers, two Marine Interrogator/Translators and two Navy Corpsmen.
SPECIAL SITUATION
The following Rules of Engagement (ROE) apply:
1. Necessary and proportional force is authorized to control disturbances and disperse crowds threatening essential civic order.
1. Persons observed committing serious criminal acts will be detained using minimal force necessary up to and including deadly force. Serious criminal acts include homicide, aggravated assault, rape, arson and robbery. If you have exhausted all reasonable graduated response techniques and, in your opinion it appears that there will be a loss of human life, the use of deadly force may be used (as a last resort). Loss of life includes civilian on civilian violence.
2. Deadly force is not authorized to disarm Cortinians, enforce curfews, or stop looting, unless those individuals involved engage in hostile acts or demonstrate hostile intent. The looting or loss of non- sensitive equipment from U.S. sites or convoys are not grounds for the use of deadly force. Burglary and larceny are defined as looting, breaking and entering or stealing. These situations only warrant the use of non-lethal force "unless" the perpetrator is armed and displaying a hostile intent. In any situation, the existence of a perpetrator with a weapon displaying hostile intent is grounds for considering hostile intent. Hostile intent is defined as: pointing a weapon at an individual(s); holding hostages; discharging a weapon; striking an individual(s) with a weapon; and threatening to use the weapon or evidence of recent use of a weapon.
3. The medical ROE allow for U.S. forces to perform first aid for any individual (to prevent loss of life). However, civilian medical services must perform routine medical services for local nationals.
Your platoon is conducting fixed site security at the power station (building number 4). Additionally, you have been ordered to conduct squad size presence patrols throughout Shughart-Gordon. Currently one squad is on patrol and is located near the Village Hotel (building number 23). At 1000 a crowd begins to form, it grows in size until several hundred people are located in the vicinity of the power station, the hospital (building number 21) and the city hall (building number 12). The following sequence of events takes place:
1. A priest approaches your position at the power station and requests assistance. He states that a woman is being raped just down the street. He points south in the direction of the cantina (building number 28).
2. Shots are fired on the crowd from the vicinity of the church (building number 10). There are no casualties observed and the crowd moves south (away from the shots) but does not dissipate.
3. A scuffle breaks out among a number of young children in front of your position at the power station. During the fight, several teenagers enter the power station perimeter by scaling a fence on the east side. They grab two rucksacks that contain a radio and three pairs of night vision devices. They throw the rucksacks over the fence and begin to climb back over.
4. A hand grenade detonates in the crowd and 20 Cortinians and one Marine are wounded and one Cortinian is killed. Two men are observed running south towards the cantina.
5. A bomb is detected on a vehicle that has approached the power station area from the northeast.
REQUIREMENTS
In a time limit of 20 minutes relate the orders that you would issue to your platoon for each event. Remember that these events occurred in the sequence above. Be prepared to provide an explanation of your plan and possible alternatives should the situation either escalate or deescalate with each event.
The MOUT Homepage Hot Links:
Designing TDGs: A Tactical Decision Game Workbook (Marine Corps University)
Peace Operations Training Vignettes With Possible Solutions (CALL)
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