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PSD Convoy
Taking a page out of the Contractors book
Contents
1.1 Introduction1.2 The X1.3 The Principle1.4 PSD Vehicles and
their Roles1.5 Who goes where?- Contact Behind- Contact
Left/Right1.6 Other things to consider1.7 Conclusion
1.1 IntroductionIve always been fascinated with Private Military
Contractors (as my namesuggests) and there are some tactics and
formations that they use in theireveryday work that you can use as
well. The following is a short article that i haveput together to
allow people to broaden how they use convoys and how they canbetter
their chances as a mobilized force while maintaining order, no one
likes tosee a full on rout as soon as a vehicle is engaged.
Any questions or comments are always welcome; I hope you enjoy
this article. Iapologise in advance for the poor diagrams.
1.2 The X"The X" is a term used by PSD teams regarding the
initial contact area, if you aredriving down a road and you're
attacked the X would be that initial zone, the zonewhich youre
taking the most fire. Getting out of the X is easier said than done
andPSD teams in real life train nonstop for that moment when they
may findthemselves in a situation where they must put that training
into practice to protecttheir principle. The easiest way to attempt
to get out of the X is through driving asfast as you can in a
direction anywhere but where the enemy is, I have seen manyplayers
on vanilla BF2 as well as PR attempt this, but it rarely works.
1.3 Principle
The Principle is the main person or object that you have been
tasked on providingsecurity for, this can be anything from a medic,
a squad leader or even your teamscommander, these three roles and
classes are the most important aspects of anyteam playing Project
Reality and because of this there needs to be a well trainedand
well educated force to protect them.
1.4 PSD Vehicles and their Roles
On to the juicy stuff. There are 4 main types of PSD vehicles,
these work togetherto perform the function of protecting the
principle effectively and minimizing the
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amount of damage that can be dealt in a single ambush by hostile
forces on theconvoy itself.
The first vehicle is the lead vehicle, everyone has seen a
convoy and everyoneknows that the lead vehicle is there to seek out
enemy targets, engage them and
keep enough fire on them to allow the whole convoy to get out of
the X. What manypeople dont know is that the lead vehicle is one of
the least important vehicleswithin the convoy, most ambushes on
convoys happen in the middle or the rear ofthe convoy, the lead
vehicles then have to do a U turn to take out the threat, thistakes
time and hostile forces use this little time they have to put as
much fire asthey can on the target itself. The lead vehicle is also
there to guide the convoy, insome respects that makes it the most
important but personally I dont believethat.
The second vehicle in any convoy should be the Principle
Vehicle. This vehicle canbe anything from an engineer jeep to a
main battle tank, it is important to thepeople protecting it which
means it is valuable to the war effort. The principlevehicles role
is to just go with the flow really, the principle vehicle should
take itsdirections from the lead vehicle or the leader of the
convoy itself, moving where it istold, stopping when its told
etc.
The third vehicle is the Counter Assault Team (CAT) Vehicle or
the ManeuverVehicle is the most important vehicle in the convoy,
usually something fast such asthe FAV or the Humvee its sole
purpose is to put down as much fire on the enemyas possible, moving
into position to absorb any rounds fired at the principle and ifthe
need arises, to engage hostile targets at a closer distance, it is
the only vehiclein the convoy that should be fully laden with
soldiers.
The last vehicle in the convoy is the Rear Vehicle, or Tail End
Charlie. It is one ofthe more important vehicles in the convoy and
is there to both engage hostiletargets and to provide rear cover to
the convoy, absorbing any rounds firedtowards the convoy from the
rear while the CAT vehicle gets into position.
1.5 Who goes where?When putting a convoy together there is no
point putting the principle car at theback, the CAT vehicle at the
front and having the Lead and Rear vehicles halfwaydown the road at
the local Starbucks.
Below is a small diagram of what the convoy should look like as
it moves out.
The red vehicle is the rear vehicle, tucked in behind the CAT
vehicle in green. The
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blue vehicle is the main principle car and is tucked in behind
the purple pointvehicle. The arrow indicates the direction of
travel.
The following diagrams show the movements that the convoy must
make to ensurethe safety of the principal, from contact front,
left, right and behind.
Contact FrontHaving a contact appear in front of the convoy is
one of the hardest things tocounter, especially if exposed to high
caliber fire. You need to be able to thinkquickly and react to the
threat, the most logical thing to do is for the lead vehicle totell
the other vehicles which direction they will be turning, left or
right, then the carsmust be ready to get into the contact left or
right formations as soon as they havecome out of the turn to put
fire down upon the enemy.
Contact Behind
Having a contact behind the convoy is a lot easier to deal with;
the CAT vehiclepeels back (by moving to the right and then slowing
down to come level with therear vehicle) and provides additional
fire support onto the enemy behind.
Contact Right and Contact LeftHaving a Contact Right/Left
requires the CAT
vehicle to move into position as soon as fire starts coming down
on the convoy, itsimperative to ensure the safety of the principle.
The CAT vehicle must move to theright/left of the principle car to
ensure that no fire is brought down upon theprinciple vehicle,
after the CAT vehicle the rear vehicle then moves into the
spacethat the CAT vehicle was taking up. The gunners on the other
three vehicles canswing right/left and put fire down on the enemy
until the whole convoy is off the X.
1.6 Other Things to ConsiderBefore setting out in a convoy you
must always make a mental checklist Do I have drivers and gunners
for each vehicle?Is my principle a commander, in which case ill
have to form an all round defensewhen he/she wants to set down
razor wire and such?
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Is my CAT vehicle driver up to the job?Are we likely to come up
against heavy armour, in which case it may be an idea tolet the CAT
vehicle peel off with a Heavy AT?
1.7 Conclusion
Using a PSD mindset when conducting some battlefield roles can
be veryrewarding. I have tried to use a similar convoy tactic with
my squad in our formerPR server with great effect, and I hope that
you all have a rewarding gamingexperience through using it.
