this video will be covering the process of how to occupy and establish a patrol base for cadets in army ritc in preparation for cst first off what is a patrol base and what is he used for a patrol base is a security perimeter for when the platoon is conducting a halt for an extended period of time a patrol base shouldn't be used for more than 24 hours and the same patrol base should never be used twice in cadet land patrol bases are almost exclusively used during the night time so the platoon can sleep but they have additional functions like allowing time for maintenance mission planning and reconsolidation the first step in setting up a patrol base is site selection in my experience of ftx's and cst the site will almost always be selected for you in the really small off chance that it's not the following factors should come into consideration for site selection away from high speed avenues of approach easily defendable for a short period of time offers cover and concealment away from natural line to drift away from built up areas away from suspected enemy positions provides no tactical advantage to the enemy and near source of water you'll find that some of the patrol bases selected at cst might have none of those things well that's okay just keep them in mind additionally make sure to identify an alternative patrol based location in the event that the first location isn't suitable now the process of occupying the patrol base from an orp the pl leaves agawa with the psg and leaves with the leader's recon consisting of the pl rto weasel two ammo bears a team leader two saw gunners and two extra riflemen now similar to the orp you may consider bringing the assistant gunners instead of the ammo bears so they can set up the tripods also prior to leaving make sure to take a radio from either assault one or assault two and give it to one of the extra riflemen the leader's recon will not move directly towards patrol base but rather in a different direction until they form a 90 degree angle with the orp and the tentative patrol base location after reaching the 90 degree angle the leader's recon will in place one of the saw gunners and the extra rifleman with the radio and leave them agowa these two soldiers will function as an observation point to ensure that the platoon isn't followed the rest of the leader's recon will then head straight towards the tentative patrol base location upon reaching the location the leader's recon needs to clear the area before replacing any soldiers this can be done by everyone getting online and moving through or by another method once the location is cleared and the pl likes what they see in the tentative location the pl should call higher to verify communications in the area work and call the psg to let them know that they'll be getting ready to move and occupy the patrol base soon the pl will then identify the 10 o'clock and the 2 o'clock and in place the ammo bears there they will identify the 6 o'clock and then place the saw gunner there leave a gobble with the weasel and move back to the rest of platoon with the remainder of the leader's recon through the op that they set up earlier once the pl arrives back at the rp the platoon will then pick up and move through the op into the patrol base once the platoon arrives assault 1 and assault 2 set up on the 6 o'clock to the 10 and the 6 to the 2 while the security squad sets up on the 10 to the 2. at this time i would strongly recommend calling the op on the radio and bringing them back into the platoon you can have them stay out as long as you want but if you forget about them or they both fall asleep i can guarantee you they are going to become pows that's not a good thing once all squads are in place the patrol base is occupied but not established the po will now need to start on the priorities of work the first is security which will always be the number one priority the pl will require each squad leader to give up two soldiers from assault 1 assault 2 and the security squad to function as r s teams these teams report straight to the pl for instruction the pl will tell these rns teams to go out and recon their side using the t the i or the box method or whatever method designated by their sop these r s teams are recording the terrain using oak and looking for anything that would confirm that the patrol base is or isn't suitable once they return they report straight to back to the pl and report their findings upon their return if the pl is satisfied with their reports the pl can report to hire that the patrol base is established to work efficiently while rns teams are out squads should be working on sector sketches and gun teams and the saw at the apexes are working on range cards additionally the pl should be using this time to develop a withdrawal plan known as a black and gold plan which is the second priority of work the black and gold plan needs to be two different directions 180 degrees from each other and they need to specify a distance to travel in the event of idf or the patrol base is at risk of being overrun the pl calls out either black or gold to trigger a hasty withdrawal following the return of the r s teams this withdrawal plan needs to be disseminated to every member of the platoon the third priority of work is communication this priority is continuous and communication with hire should be maintained through regular reports additionally if the pl established ops outside the patrol base for added security communication with them needs to be regularly maintained the next priority of work is mission preparation planning and now at fdx's and camp the current mission will almost always to be just to get sleep and maintain security for the platoon and the next mission won't be issued yet in the off chance the next mission has been assigned this would be the time to prepare and plan for it the next priority of work is weapons and equipment maintenance if one apex is down due to maintenance then the entire patrol base is at a hundred percent security after the apexes conduct maintenance everyone else should conduct maintenance on their weapons no more than one third of rifles are disassembled at a time squad leaders should ensure that their squads complete maintenance while maintaining proper security additionally if it's night time the weapons should not be disassembled the next priority of work is the water resupply plan this primarily falls on the psg to coordinate a water resupply plan with hire or establish a watering party now i can practically guarantee you that cst and ftx's you will be coordinating a water resupply plan with higher using 5 gallon jugs and not trying to purify local fresh water with iodide tablets the psg is also responsible for sending up supply requests like ammo food medical equipment etc finally everyone's favorite part the mess and rest plane in battle buddy pairs one soldier should be pulling security while the other eats after the time designated by the squad leader the battle buddy pair switches the apexes need to be at 100 security at all times while soldiers are eating their they should be at least three meters back from the line so they don't distract their battle buddy with their delicious creamy spinach mre the same process of battle buddy pears should be used to also take care of hygiene most rest plants i've seen use 25 to 33 security while always having the apex is manned additionally at least one member of the hq element needs to be awake and report the status of the patrol base to higher all right on to the last couple of things for patrol base the first one is stan too now what a stand two you might ask well night vision capabilities can't function when there's too much ambient light and the mark one human eyeball can't really see when there isn't ambient light at nautical twilight which is the hour after sunset and the hour before sunrise both the human eye and night vision capability don't work well now you might wonder does this mean you'll be getting nods at camp well no you won't be getting nods but this is when you'll most likely be attacked so stand two is an expectation and a requirement of a patrol base and the next thing is light and noise discipline when you're at the patrol base there should never be any light visible if you pull out a flashlight you need to be under a poncho or sufficient coverage red light is still visible hundreds of meters away as far as noise goes use common sense and just don't be loud and lastly keep your stuff packed in your rock unless you are actively using it you may have indirect call on your patrol base it does happen and you'll need to take everything with you all right that'll be all for patrol base