What are the two types of fighting positions?

Fighting Position. (1) Primary Fighting Position: the best available position from which the assigned sector of fire can be covered. (2) Alternate Fighting Position: primarily used by crew-served weapons if the primary position becomes untenable or unsuited for carrying out that mission.

What is a hasty fighting position?

When there is little time for preparation, build a hasty fighting position. It should be behind whatever cover is available. It should give frontal cover from enemy direct fire but allow firing to the front and the oblique. The term hasty does not mean that there is no digging.

What are fighting positions?

It is a “small pit used for cover, usually for one or two personnel, and so constructed that the occupants can effectively fire from it”. It is known more commonly within United States Army slang as a “fighting position” or as a “ranger grave”.

What FM covers fighting positions?

FM 21-75
2-8 2-1 Page 15 FM 21-75 COVER The cover of your fighting position must be strong enough to protect you from small arms fire, indirect fire fragments, and the blast wave of nuclear explosions. The position should have frontal cover to give protection from small arms fire from the front.

What is a Ranger grave?

A shell scrape, also referred to as a “shallow grave” or “ranger grave”, is a type of military earthwork both long and deep enough to lie flat in.

What is a grenade sump?

Grenade sump – this is a circular grenade sump large enough to accept the largest known grenade. It is dug under and at the lower part of the fire-step riser. Grenades thrown into the fighting hole are exploded in the sump. Fragmentation is restricted to the unoccupied end of the fighting hole.

What is an FPL USMC?

FINAL PROTECTIVE LINE An FPL is a predetermined line along which grazing fire is placed to stop an enemy assault. If an FPL is assigned, the machine gun is sighted along it except when other targets are being engaged.

Why is it called a spider hole?

The term is usually understood to be an allusion to the camouflaged hole constructed by the trapdoor spider. According to United States Marine Corps historian Major Chuck Melson, the term originated in the American Civil War, when it meant a hastily dug foxhole.

Why do soldiers dig holes to sleep in?

This fighting hole or foxhole features several elements that help keep you dry, warm, and out of the wind. It also keeps you out of sight and protected from shrapnel and gunfire.

What is danger space USMC?

Danger Space- When firing over terrain, any space up to 1.8 m above the deck (the height of an average man) is considered danger space; that is, within the effects of the rounds. Plunging Fire- Plunging fire is defined where the danger space is confined to the beaten zone.

How many fire teams are in a Marine rifle squad?

three
In the United States Marine Corps, a rifle squad is usually composed of three fireteams of four Marines each and a squad leader who is typically a sergeant or corporal, Other types of USMC infantry squads include: machinegun (7.62mm), heavy machinegun (12.7 mm (.