FM-3-81 Maneuver Enhancement Brigade Download
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09 November 2021 FM 3-81 E-1 Appendix E Base Camp and Base Cluster Security and Defense Support areas are subject to both conventional and unconventional threats. These threats will attempt to disrupt support area operations by attacking sustainment operations and command and control nodes, disabling AMD systems, and seizing key terrain. Every unit in the support area is responsible for its own defense. The establishment of base camps and base clusters throughout the support area builds on the concept of integrating mutual support into a viable defense. BASE CAMP AND BASE CLUSTER OVERVIEW E-1. A base camp is an evolving military facility that supports the military operations of a deployed unit and provides the necessary support and services for sustained operations (ATP 3-37.10). Establishing base camps is a complex task that balances mission, protection, sustainment, and construction requirements. This task is further complicated by changes in missions; fluctuating troop levels; threat factors; and the complexity, lethality, and speed of military operations. Added to this are time and resource constraints, theater entry conditions, mission duration, access to resources, competing requirements, and environmental considerations. E-2. The use of base camps for sustainment and related activities are unavoidable during the conduct of large-scale combat operations. Commanders must be able to establish base camps and enable access for onward movement and sustainment of forces. Base camps, due to their size and immobility, are difficult to conceal and are generally considered high-value targets for enemy attacks due to the concentration of friendly forces and materiel. Securing and protecting base camps and infrastructure is essential to the force ability to compete and win. Base camps are highly contested and difficult to sustain forward on the battlefield. All activities forward on the battlefield, including LOCs, critical infrastructure, and hasty base camps or AAs, must be resilient and mobile. E-3. The base camp is the focal point for base defense planning and is responsible for defending itself against Level I threats. The base camp engages Level II and Level III threats and delays them until reinforcing military police or a TCF arrives to assist in defeating the threat. Each base establishes a BDOC to plan, coordinate, and supervise base camp defense operations. E-4. Base camps are nonpermanent by design and are geographically small, defendable areas with defined perimeters and established access controls. Base camps should be situated and designed to take advantage of natural and man-made terrain features. The area may vary from high ground with good observation and fields of fire to highly congested areas, obscuring observation and limiting fields of fire. E-5. Lethality and the speed of operations may require the establishment of AAs, hasty base camps, and base clusters using physical terrain features and dispersion to support the protection of forces. The designated base camp commander assigns areas to tenant units and requires them to tie in fires and observation with adjacent units. The BDOC is normally located near the center of the base camp. Unit locations in the base camp are assigned areas based on their future mission, their combat power, and the presence of enemy avenues of approach within their AO. The base camp commander ensures that observation posts are established at key points around the entire perimeter along the most likely enemy avenues of approach. When possible, hasty base camps should provide— Concealment from air and ground observation. Adequate entrances, exits, and internal routes.