Previous: Section III: Obstacle Employment
H-128. A mine is an explosive device employed to kill, destroy, or incapacitate enemy personnel and equipment. Mines can be employed in quantities within a specific area to form a minefield, or they can be used individually to reinforce nonexplosive obstacles. Equipment targets include ground vehicles, boats, and aircraft. Land mines fall into the following two general categories:
- (U) Persistent
- (U) Non-Persistent
H-129. Within each of these categories, the mines and munitions can be more clearly defined as antitank or antipersonnel. Mines are one of the most effective tank killers on the battlefield. The type of minefield that a platoon or squad most commonly emplaces is the hasty protective. It is important to distinguish the difference between the types of minefield and means of emplacement. Volcano, MOPMS, standard-pattern, and row mining are not types of minefields; they are just some of the means used to emplace tactical, situational, nuisance, and protective minefields. They also may be the method of emplacement that is replicated by a phony minefield.
U.S. forces are not authorized to employ persistent mines, except in Korea. Some countries employ AHDs on antipersonnel mines, but U.S. forces are not authorized to employ AHDs on antipersonnel mines, except in Korea.
H-130. The United States will—
- Not use APL outside the Korean Peninsula.
- Not assist, encourage, or induce anyone outside the Korean Peninsula to engage in activity prohibited by the Ottawa Convention; and undertake to destroy APL stockpiles not required for the defense of the Republic of Korea.
H-131. Land-based mines and munitions are hand-emplaced, remote-delivered, airdelivered, or ground-delivered. (See table H-5.) ATP 3-34.20 provides detailed instructions on the installation and removal of U.S. mines and firing devices.
Next: H-132: Scatterable Mines
Go Back To: U.S. Army FM 3-21.8: The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad