The Five Paragraph Order

1. The Five Paragraph Order OCS 4012

2. Purpose of the Order • “Remember gentlemen, an order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood. An order should contain everything that a commander cannot do himself, but nothing else.”--Count Helmut Von-Moltke • At OCS, you will use a version of the five-paragraph operations order format specially adapted for use by companies, platoons, and squads.

3. Five Paragraph Order • Form of operations order structured for small unit leader. • Consists of Orientation and five paragraphs: Situation, Mission, the plan and method of Execution, Administration and Logistics, and Command and Signal information. • O-SMEAC

4. ORIENTATION • Purpose of Orientation is to simply orient subordinates prior to the issuing of the order. Be brief. • At OCS, Orientation includes: • Present Location (PL)-eight digit grid • Direction of Attack (DOA)-cardinal direction • Location of Objective (OBJ)-eight digit grid

5. 1. SITUATION • Containsinformation on overall status and disposition of both friendly and enemy forces. • Info that is deemed essential to subordinate leader’s understanding of situation. • Contains three subparagraphs: a) Enemy Forces; b) Friendly Forces; c) Attachments and Detachments.

6. a) Enemy Forces • SALUTE: Obtained directly from higher commander’s order. Size of the enemy force, their Activity, last known Location, Unit type/designation, Time enemy was last observed, and Equipment they possess. (T-SUALE). • Include politics of situation. The more info your Marines have, the more confident they will be in assault. Fill in the blanks for them.

7. a) Enemy Forces, cont. 2. DRAW-D: Highlights what courses of action the enemy is capable of executing. Stands for Defend, Reinforce, Attack, Withdraw, and Delay. No requirement for all info, only what is likely. • EMPCOA--Enemy’s Most Probable Course Of Action; Determines entire plan/tactics. Created by commander (You!). Example…

8. b) Friendly Forces • From higher commander’s order. Info limited to what subordinates need to know for mission accomplishment. • HAS: • Higher: mission of next highest order. (taken from higher commander’s MISSION statement) • Adjacent: mission/location of surrounding units. (taken from TASKS of commander’s order. Importance?) The other SQUADS!!!! • Supporting: Nonorganic units providing fire support or combat service support. For SULE II, state “none”.

9. c) Attachments and Detachments • Non-organic units (a unit excluded from basic rifle platoon) attached (+) and/or organic units detached (-) from unit. Includes unit and time effective. Importance? • SULE II, simply state “none”

10. 2. MISSION • Clear, concise statement of what unit is to accomplish. “Five W’s”--Who (unit), What (task), When (time), Where (grid), and Why (purpose). • Mission statement is heart of order, always stated in full. Taken from TASK section of higher commander’s order.

11. MISSION, cont. • Purpose (Why) is predominate to Task (What), or the action to be taken, and always follows “in order to”. • If unit designated as Main Effort, must state so. Commander ensures success of main effort with preponderance of support. ME is unit’s bid for success.

12. 3. EXECUTION • “How to” information, including Commander’s Intent, Concept of the Operation, Tasks to subordinate leaders, and Coordinating instructions.

13. a) Commander’s Intent • Expands on purpose of mission, so that in absence of orders, mission can be accomplished. • Requires three specific items: 1) Purpose of operation, 2) enemy’s critical weakness, 3) plan for exploiting critical vulnerability. • Focus on enemy’s Critical Vulnerability. Provides window to enemy’s center of gravity. • Not required at OCS

14. b) Concept of Operations • Scheme of Maneuver: broad “paintbrush” conceptions w/o identifying specific units. Begin at present location (PL) and brief unit’s actions through completion of mission. Includes form of maneuver for each leg between control measures, and basic plan for consolidation/ reorganization (180/360). • Fire Support Plan: Complements SoM above. For SULE II, state “none”.

15. Scheme of Maneuver“Cookie Cutter Answer” • We will conduct a frontal attack. We will leave the AA in a squad column, F/T wedge. Upon reaching the Atk position we will transition into a Squad wedge, F/T wedge and cross the LOD. At the assault position, we will get into a squad online, F/T skirmishers right to assault the obj. Each fire team will assault a different 1/3 of the obj. After assaulting 10-20 M through the objective we will form a hasty 180. Once the threat of a counter attack has passed, we will consolidate into a 360

16. c) Tasks • Includes specific missions to be accomplished by each subordinate element of unit listed in separate numbered subparagraph. • Task statements are your subordinate unit’s mission statements, and should be written as such. • Includes “5 W’s”; designate Main Effort.

17. d) Coordinating Instructions • Information that pertains to all. • Includes: • Time of Attack (ToA): Designated time to cross the Line of Departure (LoD) • Base Unit : Main effort (Fighter-Leader Concept) Ex 1st F/T will be the ME, they will be located in the middle of the formation, 2ndfiretam will be support, they will be located in the rear of the formation • Order of Movement (OoM): Formations through each control measure and each fireteam’s location in them. • Assembly Area--Attack Position • Attack Position--Assault Position • Assault Position--Objective

18. d) Coord Inst, continued 4. Security Assignments during movements and halts, assigning 180/360 sectors of responsibility. Assign sectors of fire via the clock method for each fire team. 5. Tactical Control Measures (TCM): For SULE II list 8 digit grid information and terrain feature for each control measure, including Line of Departure. This information is taken directly from higher Commander’s TCM.

19. d) Coord. Inst., continued 6. Route to Objective (RTE): direction (azimuth in degrees magnetic), distance, and key terrain features for each of the three legs between control measures. Provides Marines with idea of what to expect along the way to the objective, and how they will recognize control measures.

20. 4. ADMINISTRATION and LOGISTICS • Contains info for subordinate units to coordinate resupply, recovery of equipment, and evacuation of wounded and prisoners. • Addresses the “Four B’s”--Beans, Bullets, Bandages, and Bad Guys. • Divided into two subparagraphs.

21. Administrationb) Logistics • Bandages: MEDEVAC plan for wounded, including location of corpsman. • Bad Guys: Enemy Prisoners of War (EPWs) handling procedures and evac plan. • Beans: chow and water • Bullets: type of ammunition and quantity

22. 5. COMMAND and SIGNAL • Two subparagraphs, SIGNAL comes before COMMAND! • Signal: Specifies prearranged signals, passwords/countersigns, radio call signs/frequencies/procedures, Emergency signals, pyrotechnics, and restrictions on communications. • Cookie Cutter answer!!!! • SULE II: Use hand and arm signals until enemy contact, then switch to verbal commands. No Pyro or radio.

23. COMMAND/SIGNAL, cont. • Command: includes your location, location of higher commander and key leaders, and succession of command. • SULE II, Platoon Commmander, Platoon Sergeant, yourself (squad leader), and succeeding fireteam leaders.

24. Issuing the Order • Remember audience. • Speak in clear and confident voice at conversational speed, or slightly faster. If you appear confident and knowledgeable of the situation, you will inspire subordinates to follow your leadership. • Begin with “Hold all question until the end.” Conclude with“The time is now…, are there any questions?”