Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Rodger's Rangers 28 Rules...

It is interesting to see just how relevant these rules still are 265 years later...

Movement and Formation:

Rule 1: Assemble and march in small squads to avoid detection.
Rule 2: Use a vanguard, flanking parties, and a rear guard on the march.
Rule 3: If the vanguard spots the enemy, the group must instantly form a front line.
Rule 4: March in single file with deep spacing when moving through thick brush.
Rule 5: Keep your scouts half a mile ahead to prevent ambushes.
Rule 6: Halt and secure the surrounding area before crossing ridges.
Rule 7: Change your march route daily to prevent the enemy from learning your path.

Security and Camping:

Rule 8: Send scouts ahead to inspect waterways before using boats or canoes.
Rule 9: Keep a rear guard behind your watercraft to watch the shoreline.
Rule 10: Camp on high ground, form a defensive circle, and light fires only in hidden spots.
Rule 11: Post double sentries around your camp and swap them every two hours.
Rule 12: Wake up before dawn and stay fully armed until sunrise.
Rule 13: If you spot an enemy tracking you, circle back and ambush them on your own trail.

Combat Tactics:

Rule 14: When ambushed in an open area, form a circle and fight defensively.
Rule 15: Retreat in alternating groups, with one squad firing while the other moves back.
Rule 16: If the enemy flees, pursue them aggressively to prevent them from regrouping.
Rule 17: Never fire until the enemy is close enough for a guaranteed hit.
Rule 18: If defeated, scatter into small groups and meet at a pre-designated rendezvous spot.
Rule 19: When attacking a superior force, wait for darkness to execute a surprise assault.

Operational Intel and Readiness:

Rule 20: Keep a reserve force hidden to protect your retreat or exploit an enemy breakthrough.
Rule 21: If you take prisoners, question them separately to verify their information.
Rule 22: Keep your weapons and gunpowder perfectly dry at all times.
Rule 23: Carry enough rations to sustain yourself without needing to hunt or forage.
Rule 24: Dress in dark, utilitarian clothing that blends into the wilderness.
Rule 25: Maintain strict silence on the march; communicate only with hand signals.
Rule 26: Keep a detailed journal of geography, trails, and enemy movements.
Rule 27: Train continuously in marksmanship, swimming, and tracking.
Rule 28: Treat captured enemies humanely to encourage future surrenders.

Too cool!!

When in doubt empty your magazine.

Now add drones to the mix and see which ones are no longer relevant. The rules are changing faster than militaries can adapt.

Ok....now.....each of those rules assumes the enemy is not also following those rules. But, most of that is just common sense and/or sound tactics....

So how would each of those look if the enemy IS following the same rules? For example...Rule 16 says if your enemy flees, pursue them aggressively. But what if the enemy is following Rules 2/13/15, retreating in alternating groups so one group is always firing, using a rear guard, and circling around to ambush....."pursuing aggressively" would be borderline reckless...

FROM THE US ARMY RANGER HANDBOOK:

STANDING ORDERS ROGERS RANGERS
1. Don't forget nothing.
2. Have your musket clean as a whistle, hatchet scoured, sixty rounds powder
and ball, and be ready to march at a minute's warning.
3. When you're on the march, act the way you would if you was sneaking up
on a deer. See the enemy first.
4. Tell the truth about what you see and what you do. There is an army
depending on us for correct information. You can lie all you please when
you tell other folks about the Rangers, but don't never lie to a Ranger or
officer.
5. Don't never take a chance you don't have to.
6. When we're on the march we march single file, far enough apart so one
shot can't go through two men.
7. If we strike swamps, or soft ground, we spread out abreast, so it's hard to
track us.
8. When we march, we keep moving till dark, so as to give the enemy the least
possible chance at us.
9. When we camp, half the party stays awake while the other half sleeps.
10. If we take prisoners, we keep'em separate till we have had time to examine
them, so they can't cook up a story between'em.
11. Don't ever march home the same way. Take a different route so you won't
be ambushed.
12. No matter whether we travel in big parties or little ones, each party has to
keep a scout 20 yards ahead, 20 yards on each flank, and 20 yards in the
rear so the main body can't be surprised and wiped out.
13. Every night you'll be told where to meet if surrounded by a superior force.
14. Don't sit down to eat without posting sentries.
15. Don't sleep beyond dawn. Dawn's when the French and Indians attack.
16. Don't cross a river by a regular ford.
17. If somebody's trailing you, make a circle, come back onto your own tracks,
and ambush the folks that aim to ambush you.
18. Don't stand up when the enemy's coming against you. Kneel down, lie
down, hide behind a tree.
19. Let the enemy come till he's almost close enough to touch, then let him
have it and jump out and finish him up with your hatchet

Murphy's Laws of Combat
1. Friendly fire – isn’t.
2. Recoilless rifles – aren’t.
3. Suppressive fires – won’t.
4. You are not Superman; Marines and fighter pilots take note.
5. A sucking chest wound is Nature’s way of telling you to slow down.
6. If it’s stupid but it works, it isn’t stupid.
7. Try to look unimportant; the enemy may be low on ammo and won’t want to waste a bullet on you.
8. If at first you don’t succeed, call in an air strike.
9. If you are forward of your position, your artillery will fall short.
10. Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than yourself.
11. Never go to bed with anyone crazier than yourself.
12. Never forget that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.
13. If your attack is going really well, it’s an ambush.
14. The enemy diversion you’re ignoring is their main attack.
15. The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions: a. When they’re ready. b. When you’re not.
16. No OPLAN ever survives initial contact.
17. There is no such thing as a perfect plan.
18. Five second fuses always burn in three seconds.
19. There is no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole.
20. A retreating enemy is probably just falling back and regrouping.
21. The important things are always simple; the simple are always hard.
22. The easy way is always mined.
23. Teamwork is essential; it gives the enemy other people to shoot at.
24. Don’t look conspicuous; it draws fire. For this reason, it is not at all uncommon for aircraft carriers to be known as bomb magnets.
25. Never draw fire; it irritates everyone around you.
26. If you are short of everything but the enemy, you are in the combat zone.
27. When you have secured the area, make sure the enemy knows it too.
28. Incoming fire has the right of way.
29. No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection.
30. No inspection-ready unit has ever passed combat.
31. If the enemy is within range, so are you.
32. The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.
33. Things that must be shipped together as a set, aren’t.
34. Things that must work together, can’t be carried to the field that way.
35. Radios will fail as soon as you need fire support.
36. Radar tends to fail at night and in bad weather, and especially during both.
37. Anything you do can get you killed, including nothing.
38. Make it too tough for the enemy to get in, and you won’t be able to get out.
39. Tracers work both ways.
40. If you take more than your fair share of objectives, you will get more than your fair share of objectives to take.
41. When both sides are convinced they’re about to lose, they’re both right.
42. Professional soldiers are predictable; the world is full of dangerous amateurs.
43. Military Intelligence is a contradiction.
44. Fortify your front; you’ll get your rear shot up.
45. Weather ain’t neutral.
46. If you can’t remember, the Claymore is pointed toward you.
47. Air defense motto: shoot ’em down; sort ’em out on the ground.
48. ‘Flies high, it dies; low and slow, it’ll go’.
49. The Cavalry doesn’t always come to the rescue.
50. Napalm is an area support weapon.
51. Mines are equal-opportunity weapons.
52. B-52s are the ultimate close support weapon.
53. Sniper’s motto: reach out and touch someone.
54. Killing for peace is like screwing for virginity.
55. The one item you need is always in short supply.
56. Interchangeable parts aren’t.
57. It’s not the one with your name on it; it’s the one addressed “to whom it may concern” you’ve got to think about.
58. When in doubt, empty your magazine.
59. The side with the simplest uniforms wins.
60. Combat will occur on the ground between two adjoining maps.
61. If the Platoon Sergeant can see you, so can the enemy.
62. Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can sleep.
63. The most dangerous thing in the world is a Second Lieutenant with a map and a compass.
64. Exceptions prove the rule and destroy the battle plan.
65. Everything always works in your HQ, everything always fails in the Colonel’s HQ.
66. The enemy never watches until you make a mistake.
67. One enemy soldier is never enough, but two is entirely too many.
68. A clean (and dry) set of BDUs is a magnet for mud and rain.
69. The worse the weather, the more you are required to be out in it.
70. Whenever you have plenty of ammo, you never miss. Whenever you are low on ammo, you can’t hit the broad side of a barn.
71. The more a weapon costs, the farther you will have to send it away to be repaired.
72. The complexity of a weapon is inversely proportional to the IQ of the weapon’s operator.
73. Field experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
74. No matter which way you have to march, it’s always uphill.
75. If enough data is collected, a board of inquiry can prove anything.
76. For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism. (in boot camp)
77. Air strikes always overshoot the target, and artillery always falls short.
78. When reviewing the radio frequencies that you just wrote down, the most important ones are always illegible.
79. Those who hesitate under fire usually do not end up KIA or WIA.
80. The tough part about being an officer is that the troops don’t know what they want, but they know for certain what they don’t want.
81. To steal information from a person is called plagiarism. To steal information from the enemy is called gathering intelligence.
82. The weapon that usually jams when you need it the most is the M60.
83. The perfect officer for the job will transfer in the day after that billet is filled by someone else.
84. When you have sufficient supplies & ammo, the enemy takes 2 weeks to attack. When you are low on supplies & ammo the enemy decides to attack that night.
85. The newest and least experienced soldier will usually win the Medal of Honor.
86. A Purple Heart just proves that you’re smart enough to think of a plan, stupid enough to try it, and lucky enough to survive.
87. Murphy was a grunt.
88. Beer Math –> 2 beers times 37 men equals 49 cases.
89. Body count Math –> 3 guerrillas plus 1 probable plus 2 pigs equals 37 enemies killed in action.
90. The bursting radius of a hand grenade is always one foot greater than your jumping range.
91. All-weather close air support doesn’t work in bad weather.
92. The combat worth of a unit is inversely proportional to the smartness of its outfit and appearance.
93. The crucial round is a dud.
94. Every command which can be misunderstood, will be.
95. There is no such place as a convenient foxhole.
96. Don’t ever be the first, don’t ever be the last, and don’t ever volunteer to do anything.
97. If your positions are firmly set and you are prepared to take the enemy assault on, he will bypass you.
98. If your ambush is properly set, the enemy won’t walk into it.
99. If your flank march is going well, the enemy expects you to outflank him.
100. The density of fire increases proportionally to the curiousness of the target.
101. Odd objects attract fire – never lurk behind one.
102. The more stupid the leader is, the more important missions he is ordered to carry out.
103. The self-importance of a superior is inversely proportional to his position in the hierarchy (as is his deviousness and mischievousness).
104. There is always a way, and it usually doesn’t work.
105. Success occurs when no one is looking, failure occurs when the General is watching.
106. The enemy never monitors your radio frequency until you broadcast on an unsecured channel.
107. Whenever you drop your equipment in a fire-fight, your ammo and grenades always fall the farthest away, and your canteen always lands at your feet.
108. As soon as you are served hot chow in the field, it rains.
109. Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.
110. The seriousness of a wound (in a fire-fight) is inversely proportional to the distance to any form of cover.
111. Walking point = sniper bait.
112. Your bivouac for the night is the spot where you got tired of marching that day.
113. If only one solution can be found for a field problem, then it is usually a stupid solution.
114. Radios function perfectly until you need fire support.
115. What gets you promoted from one rank gets you killed in the next rank.
116. Odd objects attract fire. You are odd.
117. Your mortar barrage will put exactly one round on the intended target. That round will be a dud.
118. Mine fields are not neutral.
119. The weight of your equipment is proportional to the time you have been carrying it.
120. Things that must be together to work can never be shipped together.
121. If you need an officer in a hurry take a nap.
122. The effective killing radius is greater than the average soldier can throw it.
123. Professionals are predictable, it’s the amateurs that are dangerous.
124. No matter which way you have to march, it’s always uphill.
125. The worse the weather, the more you are required to be out in it.
126. The quartermaster has only two sizes, too large and too small. (or “on order”)
127. The only time suppressive fire works is when it is used on abandoned positions.
129. Don’t ever be the first, don’t ever be the last, and don’t ever volunteer to do anything.
130. If at first, you don’t succeed, then bomb disposal probably isn’t for you.
131. Any ship can be a minesweeper . . . . once.
132. Whenever you lose contact with the enemy, look behind you.
133. If you find yourself in front of your platoon they know something you don’t.
134. The seriousness of a wound (in a firefight) is inversely proportional to the distance to any form of cover.
135. The more stupid the leader is, the more important missions he is ordered to carry out.
137. When the enemy is closing, the artillery will always be too long.
138. Smart bombs have bad days too.
139. If you have a personality conflict with your superior: he has the personality, and you have the conflict.
140. If you enter the CO’s Presence with an idea, you will leave his Presence with the CO’s idea

Or as we used to say in the USMC...

"One shot. One kill"

You gotta save some ammo for the next bastard that wants to die for his country.

Back in the early 1700's that just the thing. No other army was doing that. That's why it was so revolutionary at the time. They were fighting the French and the Indians. So perhaps the Indians knew some of that stuff.

It is interesting to read the history of the Battle of Cowpens and how Patriot General Daniel Morgan lured the aggressive British bastard Tarleton into such a trap. Morgan knew Tarleton was an aggressive commander and lured him into a trap and kicked the living shit out of his crack British troops. Overconfidence can get you into big trouble.