6-1. A breach is a tactical mission task in which a unit breaks through or establishes a passage through an enemy obstacle (FM 3-90). As a tactical mission task, a breach is an action by a friendly force conducted to allow maneuver despite the presence of obstacles. During maneuver, the commander attempts to bypass and avoid obstacles and enemy defensive positions to the maximum extent possible to maintain tempo and momentum. Breaching enemy defenses and obstacle systems is normally the last choice to prevent loss of personnel, time, and/or equipment. A breach is a synchronized operation under the control of the maneuver commander in contact with the obstacle or enemy defense. The breach begins when friendly forces detect an obstacle and begin to apply the breaching fundamentals and ends when battle handover has occurred between follow-on forces and a unit conducting the breach. See appendix E, Battle Drill–Breach a Mined Wire Obstacle for information on the tactical mission task-breach.
Note. A tactical mission task is the specific activity a unit performs while executing a tactical operation or form of maneuver (FM 3-90). A breach as defined as a tactical mission task is an action by a friendly force.
6-2. A breach is a synchronized combined arms activity under the control of the maneuver commander conducted to allow maneuver through an obstacle (ATP 3-90.4). The breaching tenets (intelligence, breaching fundamentals, breaching organization, mass, synchronization) apply when conducting a breach, whether it is a hasty or deliberate operation. Breaching activities include the reduction—the creation of lanes through a minefield or obstacle to enable passage of the attacking ground force (JP 3-15)—of minefields, other explosive hazards, and other obstacles. Breaching at battalion and above (and to a lesser degree at company level) require significant combat engineering support to accomplish. (See ATP 3-21.10 and ATP 3-90.4 for additional information.)
Breaching Fundamentals
6-3. Suppress, obscure, secure, reduce, and assault are the breaching fundamentals applied to ensure success when breaching against a defending enemy. These obstacle reduction fundamentals will always apply, but they may vary based on the mission variables of METT-TC (I) mission, enemy, terrain and weather, troops and support available, time available, civil considerations, and informational considerations.
Suppress
6-4. Suppression is a tactical task used to employ direct or indirect fires on enemy personnel, weapons, or equipment to prevent or degrade enemy fires and observation of friendly forces. During breaching operations, the initial purpose of suppression is to enable the approach of the breaching force to the obstacle. Then it is to protect, for example, the platoon and/or squad reducing and maneuvering through an obstacle. Suppression is a mission-critical task performed during breaching operations. Achieving suppression is usually the required condition that triggers subsequent breaching actions. Fire control measures ensure all fires are synchronized with other actions supporting the platoon’s breach of the obstacle. Although suppressing the enemy overwatching the obstacle is the mission of the support force, the breach force should always plan to provide additional (local) suppression against an enemy the supporting force cannot suppress. Effective suppression serves to isolate enemy forces in the breach area—a defined area where a breach occurs (ATP 3-90.4). The breach area includes the point of breach, reduction area, far side objective, and point of penetration. (See figure 6-1.)
Figure 6-1. Breach area
Obscure
6-5. Obscuration must be employed to protect forces conducting obstacle reduction and passage of assault forces. Obscuration hampers enemy observation and target acquisition by concealing friendly activities and movement. Obscuration smoke deployed on or near the enemy’s position minimizes its vision. Screening obscurants employed between the reduction area—a number of adjacent points of breach that are under the control of the breaching commander (ATP 3-90.4)—and the enemy conceals movement and reduction activities. It also degrades enemy ground and aerial observations. Obscuration must be planned carefully to provide maximum degradation of enemy observation and fires, but it must not degrade friendly fires and control significantly.
Secure
6-6. Friendly forces secure reduction areas to prevent the enemy from interfering with obstacle reduction and the passage of the assault force through lanes created during the reduction. Security must be effective against outposts and fighting positions near the obstacle and against overwatching units as necessary. The far side of the obstacle must be secured by fires or be occupied before attempting efforts to reduce the obstacle. The attacking unit’s higher headquarters is responsible for isolating the breach area by fixing adjacent units, attacking enemy reserves in-depth, and providing counterfire support.
6-7. Identifying the extent of the enemy’s defenses is critical before selecting the appropriate technique to secure the point of breach—the location at an obstacle where the creation of a lane is being attempted (ATP 3-90.4). If the enemy controls the point of breach and cannot be suppressed adequately, the force must secure the point of breach before it can reduce the obstacle.
6-8. The breach force must be resourced with enough maneuver assets to provide local security against the enemy forces the supporting force cannot engage sufficiently. Elements within the breach force securing the reduction area also may be used to suppress the enemy once reduction is complete. The breach force also may need to assault to the far side of the breach and provide local security so the assault element can seize its initial objective.
Reduce
6-9. Breaching forces reduce an obstacle to create and mark lanes through, over, or around that obstacle to allow the attacking force to accomplish its mission. The number and width of lanes created varies with the enemy situation, the assault force’s size, composition, and scheme of maneuver. The lanes must allow the assault force to pass through the obstacle rapidly. The breach force will reduce, proof (if required), mark, and report lane locations and lane-marking method (if changed from the predetermined method) to higher command headquarters. Follow-on units will reduce or clear the obstacle when required. Reduction cannot be accomplished until suppression and obscuration are in place, the obstacle has been identified, and the point of breach is secure.
Assault
6-10. The assault force’s primary mission is to seize terrain on the far side of the obstacle to prevent the enemy from placing or observing direct and indirect fires on the reduction area. If planned, the battle handover with follow-on forces occurs.
Breaching Organization
6-11. The platoon leader, when tasked, organizes the platoon to accomplish breaching fundamentals quickly and effectively. This generally requires the leader to organize as either one or part of the support, breach, or assault force with the necessary assets to accomplish its role.
Support Force
6-12. The support force’s primary responsibility is to eliminate the enemy’s ability to place direct or indirect fire on friendly forces in the reduction area. The support force must—
- Isolate the reduction area with fires and establish a support by fire position to destroy, fix, or suppress the enemy. Depending on METT-TC (I), this may be the weapons squad or the entire platoon.
- Mass-control direct and indirect fires to suppress the enemy and to neutralize weapons able to bring fires on the breach force.
- Control obscuring smoke to prevent enemy-observed direct and indirect fires.
Breach Force
6-13. The breach force assists in the passage of the assault force by detecting, creating, proofing (if necessary), marking and reporting lanes. The breach force is a combined-arms force. It may include engineers, reduction assets, and enough maneuver forces to provide additional suppression and local security. The entire Infantry platoon or squad may be part of the breach force. The breach force may apply portions of the following breaching fundamentals as it reduces an obstacle.
Suppress
6-14. The breach force must be allocated enough maneuver forces to provide additional suppression against various threats, including:
- Enemy direct-fire systems that cannot be observed and suppressed by the support force due to the terrain or the masking of the support force’s fires by the breach force as it moves forward to reduce the obstacle.
- Counterattacking and/or repositioning forces that cannot be engaged by the support force.
Obscure
6-15. When required, the breach force employs smoke pots, vehicle mounted smoke, handheld smoke, or indirect fire obscurants. These type obscurants provide for self-defense and cover lanes as the assault force passes through them. As the breach force starts their breach, they generally assume control of obscuration fires from the support force as they are in a better condition to assess its effects.
Secure
6-16. The breach force secures itself from threat forces providing close in protection of the obstacle. The breach force also secures the lanes through the tactical obstacles once they are created to allow safe passage of the assault force.
Reduce
6-17. The breach force performs its primary mission by reducing the obstacle. To support the development of a plan to reduce the obstacle, the composition of the obstacle system must be an information requirement. If the obstacles are formidable, Infantry platoons and squads will be augmented with engineers to conduct reduction. Without engineers and special equipment such as Bangalore torpedoes and line charges, minefields must be probed.
Assault Force
6-18. The breach force assaults through the point of breach to the far side of an obstacle and seizes the foothold. The assault force’s primary mission is to destroy the enemy and seize terrain on the far side of the obstacle to prevent the enemy from placing direct fires on the created lanes. The assault force may be tasked to assist the support force with suppression while the breach force reduces the obstacle.
6-19. The assault force must be sufficient in size to seize the point of penetration—the location, identified on the ground, where the commanders concentrate their efforts to seize a foothold on the far side objective (ATP 3-90.4). Combat power is allocated to the assault force to achieve a minimum 3:1 ratio on the point of penetration. The breach and assault assets may maneuver as a single force when conducting breaching operations as an independent company team conducting an attack.
6-20. If the obstacle is defended by a small enemy force, assault and breach forces’ missions may be combined. This simplifies command and control and provides more immediate combat power for security and suppression.
6-21. Fire control measures are essential because support and breach forces may be firing on the enemy when the assault force is committed. Suppression of overwatching enemy positions must continue, and other enemy forces must remain fixed by fires until the enemy has been destroyed. The assault force must assume control for direct fires on the assault objective as support and breach force fires are ceased or shifted. Table 6-1 illustrates the relationship between the breaching organization and breaching fundamentals.
Table 6-1. Relationship between breaching organization and breaching fundamentals
Detailed Reverse Planning
6-22. The platoon leader along with the platoon sergeant and squad leaders develop the breaching plan using the reverse planning sequence in figure 6-2 on page 6-8, when planning for a protective obstacle breach. The platoon leader can plan to breach wire, minefields, trenches, and craters. The following considerations must be made:
- Reverse planning begins with actions on the objective.
- Actions on the objective begin from the designated point of penetration.
- The planned point of penetration determines the point of breach.
- The size and composition of support, breach, and assault forces are based on the results of reverse planning.
- Actions on the objective drive the size and composition of the assault force.
- The ability of the enemy to interfere with the reduction of the obstacle determines the size and composition of the security element in the breach force.
- The ability of the enemy to mass fires on the point of breach determines the amount of suppression and size and composition of the support force.
Figure 6-2. Reverse planning
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