The 8 core Infantry platoon/squad battle drills are standardized, rapid-response actions used to combat enemy engagement with minimal orders. They focus on immediate, practiced actions to deal with threats like direct fire, ambushes, and bunker, building, or trench clearing.
The 8 Army Battle Drills (Platoon/Squad):
Conduct Platoon Attack (Battle Drill 1): Executing a deliberate attack on an enemy position.
React to Contact (Battle Drill 2): Immediately returning fire, taking cover, and maneuvering when engaged by enemy fire.
Break Contact (Battle Drill 3):
Executing a rapid withdrawal from an engagement with a superior force.
React to Ambush (Battle Drill 4): Suppressing the enemy and maneuvering to break the ambush if trapped.
Knock Out Bunkers (Battle Drill 5): Using fire and maneuver to destroy a bunker position.
Enter and Clear a Building/Room (Battle Drill 6): Systematically clearing a building to neutralize threats.
Enter/Clear a Trench (Battle Drill 7): Clearing trenches to secure a foothold.
Conduct Initial Breach of a Mined Wire Obstacle (Battle Drill 8): Bypassing or destroying obstacles to move troops forward.
These drills are designed to be trained through a “talk-through, walk-through, run-through” method to achieve proficienc
Army Battle Drills are standard, collective actions rapidly executed by a platoon or smaller unit without applying a deliberate decision-making process
. In basic infantry training, these drills provide the “bare essentials” for fire and maneuver in commonly encountered situations.
The 8 Infantry Battle Drills
The standard “8 Battle Drills” taught to infantry units are:
Battle Drill 1: React to Direct Fire Contact
Triggered when a unit receives fire from enemy individual or crew-served weapons. Soldiers immediately return fire, seek cover, and report the “3-Ds”: Distance, Direction, and Description of the enemy.
Battle Drill 2: Conduct a Platoon Assault
The “bread and butter” of seizing an objective, where one element provides suppressive fire while another maneuvers to destroy the enemy or seize terrain.
Battle Drill 3: Break Contact
Executed when a squad or platoon is under fire and must disengage. One element provides suppressive fire while the rest of the unit moves away by bounds, often using smoke to mask movement.
Battle Drill 4: React to Ambush
A high-intensity response to an enemy initiating fire from a concealed position with casualty-producing devices.
Near Ambush: (Within hand-grenade range) Soldiers in the kill zone immediately return fire, throw grenades, and assault through the ambush.
Far Ambush: (Beyond hand-grenade range) Soldiers return fire, seek cover, and either break contact or conduct a maneuver to suppress the enemy.
Battle Drill 5: Knock Out a Bunker
A specialized maneuver where a squad identifies an enemy bunker, suppresses it with a base-of-fire element, and then maneuvers an assault team to its blind side to destroy it with grenades.
Battle Drill 6: Enter and Clear a Room
The standard procedure for urban operations or clearing a building. It involves a four-Soldier clearing team entering a room almost simultaneously to eliminate immediate threats and dominate the space.
Battle Drill 7: Enter/Clear a Trench
A collective action used to secure a foothold in an enemy trench system.
Battle Drill 8: Breach a Mined Wire Obstacle
Used to break through physical barriers like fences or concertina wire that may be protected by mines. It involves suppressing the area and using tools like Bangalore torpedoes to create a gap for the unit to pass through.
Characteristics of Battle Drills
Instinctive Response: They are trained until they become second nature, requiring minimal orders from leaders.
Standardization: These actions are standard throughout the Army to ensure any Soldier can integrate into a unit and perform the drill.
Sequential Action: They follow a specific order of tasks—such as suppressing, maneuvering, and then consolidating—that is critical to success and preserving life.