An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 25 While on patrol, it is sometimes necessary for a team or unit to split up for a short period of time in order for them to achieve their mission. this may happen when a small recce party needs to move in to assess the suit- ability of an FRV or an ambush position. It can be quite difficult for the commander on the ground to co-ordinate this movement and even more so at night and on unfamiliar ground. the commander however can utilise the GotWA Drill to ensure all parties are sufficiently briefed prior to departure. the GotWA Drill is a quick reference contingency plan- ning format that can be given prior to an operation during orders or while on the operation itself. It is as follows: g – GOING (Where am I going?) o – OTHERS (Who am I taking with me) t – TIME (Time of my return) W – WHAT (What to do if I do not return) a – ACTIONS ON (Actions On Attack/Lost Comms/ CASEVAC) Example Scenario – An ambush patrol has secured an FRV and has established all round cover. After a 10-minute listen and watch, the patrol commander gathers a recce party and prepares to move forward to site an ambush position. After the recce party have checked their equipment and are ready to move out, the commander issues the GOTWA to the patrol 2IC as follows. g – 'I am going to site and secure the ambush position ap- proximately 250m North of this position.' o – 'I am taking Cpl Murphy, Cpl Smyth, Cpl McDermott, Pte Lynch, Pte Hoey, Pte McCarty and Pte Clarke with me.' t – 'It's 0235 now, I will be back by 0400.' W – If I do not return by then, try establish contact with us over comms. If you can't get us on comms, send a patrol to try re-establish contact with us. If you have not found us by 0530, set up the ambush and carry on with the mission. Once the ambush is complete, move to our 24 RV and wait for us there. If we don't arrive, follow our Emergency Plan of Action (EPA) and withdraw out of the area.' a – 'Action on contact: we will withdraw to the West and try to break contact. If you can, provide fire support. We will RV with you at ERV 1 as discussed earlier. Action on Lost Comms: Wait until 0400 and then send a patrol to try re-establish contact. If you can't find us by 0530, carry on with the mission as we discussed. 'Any questions?' At this point it is a good idea to re- cap on your 'near and far recogni- tion signals' for the patrol and finally conduct a comms check just before you depart.

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