Small Ground Team Tactics

[Spaceman3750]

I'm wondering how the GTL's here handle smaller teams in ground search operations. The book methods state that wedge and line searches should look something like this (save for variances such as "I like the comm/medic/whoever guy near me" - the book may even say that but I would rather have them searching than with me):

WEDGE: (N-Navigator, S-Searcher, W-Wanderer, TL-Team Leader)
            N
      S          S
  S     W  TL       S

LINE: (B-Base, S-Searcher, TL-Team Leader)

B     S     S     S     S     B
               TL

However, with the team I'm working with right now, we don't have enough members for that. I have 4 GTMs and 1 GTL. As the GTL, is it advisable for me to fill in for a searcher role while controlling the team? If I've worked with the team previously in this configuration, how negatively may it impact the team's POD? I'm not sure how to do it any other way in a wedge without sacrificing that point man (I don't like being in front of the team) and the configuration below is missing a wanderer. In the line search, is it really worth it for me to be in the line or should I just come to terms with a smaller search pattern and remain in the rear?

WEDGE:
            N
       S        S
   S                TL

LINE:

B     S     S     TL     B

EDIT: I just went into the task guide and their wedge looks nothing like mine (apparently either NESA is teaching it differently or I hit my head really hard that day and don't remember it). That said, I like mine better.

EDIT 2: The wedge search shown is depicted in the reference text (though the reference text also shows 11+ man teams; huge and unwieldy by my standards). I knew I didn't make it up and I knew NESA didn't either, I feel better now.

[lordmonar]

Depends of the terrain, the team and the search object.

Bottom line...use what works...even if it is not in the book.

[Duke Dillio]

^ +1

I've never fielded a ground team with 7 or 8 members on it in training or on an actual search.  On a good day, you are lucky to get 5 where I would normally see four for an actual.  You can get the same POD but your line runs will double meaning that you will be turning around more than if you had an 8 member team.

[Major Lord]

On the shuttle crash, I conducted a line search with approximately 30 personnel, consisting of CAP Cadets, a few really tired S/M's, and about 15 Juvenile detainees released on furlough from juvenile hall in Nevada. IN the Utah/Nevada border area, we ran straight line searches across a scree and small boulder covered mountain using a GPS to keep the end point on the elevation contour. We were backed up by a Horse ( I called the horse CAPHORSE 1, and the rider was angry, because he had a call sign, but I told him the horse was entitled to a call sign of his own!)
We had lots of finds, which we would tag and flag, and record the GPS points on the evidence bag. Thank god, we just found shuttle debris, and no human remains. That was my first and only time as a ground team leader running a GT that large. At the altitude and temperatures we were working in ( Around 36 F and 5000 feet) with the ankle busting sloped terrain, multiple passes with a smaller team would have turned the operation into a multiple- day operation. I was proud of the Nevada Cadets ( most of whom were given the "crash" ES rating...) as they were all in good shape and handled the exertion well. The Juvenile detainees started out talking tough ( and were strangely, very interested in our female cadets) but their glue huffing, dope smoking ways left them gasping for air and wishing for confinement indoors. I guess they got a field demonstration in what it actually means to be tough!

Major Lord

[Eclipse]

I would not be in favor of the team leader working the line - he's there to lead the team, watch the spacing and coherency and keep
people from walking off cliffs.

If the TL is also searching, his attention is divided, which means he may well miss something either on the ground or from a leader perspective.

[Spaceman3750]

I would not be in favor of the team leader working the line - he's there to lead the team, watch the spacing and coherency and keep
people from walking off cliffs.

If the TL is also searching, his attention is divided, which means he may well miss something either on the ground or from a leader perspective.

That's exactly what I'm concerned about. Any suggestions on how I can modify my search patterns to be the most effective without me having to be in the line? Line is easy, wedge not so much.

I'm not so much concerned about "what's in the book" (that was just the starting point for the post), my primary concern is what solution will make the team most effective with our limited numbers.

[lordmonar]

If you are talking about just a five person team....I don't see the advantage of a wedge vs a line anyway.

Wedges are good for tight terrain.....with a large team....with only four people in the line or wedge it does not really matter what formation you are using.

Pesonally I don't really teach the wedge formation for searches.  It is a little too hard to control if you have inexeperinced members and the formation is really a combat patrol formation designed to reduce the chances of detection by any counter patrols.

Also a note on your diagram....there is only one base.  He establishs the direction of travel and everyone guides off of him.  The opposite guy's only job (besides searching) is to drop his temporary markers.

[Eclipse]

That's exactly what I'm concerned about. Any suggestions on how I can modify my search patterns to be the most effective without me having to be in the line? Line is easy, wedge not so much.

More passes with a smaller search area would be my first suggestion.

[coudano]

That's exactly what I'm concerned about. Any suggestions on how I can modify my search patterns to be the most effective without me having to be in the line? Line is easy, wedge not so much.

More passes with a smaller search area would be my first suggestion.

Maybe,
the more times you go over an area, the more likely you can be to disrupt/destroy evidence in some cases.
The right answer really is "it depends"

[Spaceman3750]

So if, for example, I'm doing a route search of a high probability trail or path, I would do a line search on one side of the trail then double back and do the other. That makes sense, and it also makes a bigger team sound awfully appealing .

I'm still pretty green as a GTL, so I really appreciate the input you guys have provided. Any other input you have is welcome .

[lordmonar]

That's exactly what I'm concerned about. Any suggestions on how I can modify my search patterns to be the most effective without me having to be in the line? Line is easy, wedge not so much.

More passes with a smaller search area would be my first suggestion.

Maybe,
the more times you go over an area, the more likely you can be to disrupt/destroy evidence in some cases.
The right answer really is "it depends"

That is aways a hazard with ground searches.  Anytime a team has passed through a search are they can distroy any missed clues, add their own false clues, etc.

But like you said....bottom line...use what works.  There is no easy answer because each seach is unique.
What is your search target?  Shuttle wrechage, ejection seat, drop tank, downed aircraft, lost vehicle, missing person?
What is the terrain like?  Open farm land, flat, hilly, desert, gullies, wooded, swampy?
How big is your team?  4+1, 10+1, 70+7? (GTM+GTL)
How experinced is your team?
How big is the search area?
How much time do you have?
What PoD do you want to acheive?

Like I said before....use what works best for you and your situation.  Don't worry about the book.

[lordmonar]

So if, for example, I'm doing a route search of a high probability trail or path, I would do a line search on one side of the trail then double back and do the other. That makes sense, and it also makes a bigger team sound awfully appealing .

I'm still pretty green as a GTL, so I really appreciate the input you guys have provided. Any other input you have is welcome .

That is one option.  Don't get too tied up with the concept of line searches.  They are not effeciant for doing large area seaches.
A simple walk up and down the trail may be all you need to do for a quick high probablity route search. 

When I was as NESA they were conducting line seaches thought the woods looking for a lost hiker and we were so bogged down with the concept of a "line" search we had people crawling and climing though some really thick sticker bushes.

Also remember that there is an upper limit on how many people you can effectively control.  The more people in your team the slower you are going to be able to search.

[ol'fido]

Back in the late 90s,  we took an IEMA Ground Search Course at the Chanute AFB. The IEMA instructor basically said that unless your doing a search(such as the above mentioned search for shuttle debris) in wide open terrain your best bet was to break it down into small teams of 5-7 for span of control.The teams we used during the course(in moderately wooded terrain) were 6 people.

B   S   S   S   B

          L

For 5 person team:

B   S   S   B

        L

If you have more than 5-7 people say twelve in any kind of terrain other than open fields break em down into two smaller teams. It also depends on how you "rain danced" your probable target to get your proper spacing.

I never thought much of the big wedge and line formations in the NESA manuals or task guides.

A good IC and or GBD will not assign a 5-7 person team a area that cannot be covered in about 4 hours not including the trip to and from the start point with a high POD.

My .02. YMMV.

[lordmonar]

We recently ran a SAREX/GTM training in the open desert near Las Vegas.

Open terrain, low scrub, some bolders, about 3/4 mile Line of sight.

We ran the line with about 20 trainees in it......it took them about 60 minutes to find the search target (a lost hiker behind a large boulder) about 500 m from the start line.

You got to remember things like stopping the line for each clue/suspected clue.  The TL has to trott over to verify the clue.  It has to be marked, plotted and reported....all that takes time....and a large search line eats up even more.