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Breacher

Introduction

Leading SME: Ape

Breachers are certified as experts in close-quarters battle (CQB) and are qualified to utilize breaching charges, four-man stacks, door wedges and flashbangs in room clearing and MOUT scenarios. They are expected to employ these proper tactics in sweeping and securing buildings during operations.

This guide will describe the basics of a four-man close quarters battle (CQB) stack, as well as the proper procedure for entering and clearing an interior structure within a four man element. Discussed will be the roles of the breach team, required equipment, proper communications, ingress and egress, as well as tactical and environmental considerations.

Roles & Responsibilities

The roles of a breach team can be separated into four key responsibilities; this includes the Pointman, the Slackman, the Breacher and the Assaultman. Each of these four men have a different but nonetheless important part to play in a successful breach scenario.

Pointman: The man at the front of the stack. Regardless of who the team leader is (though the pointman will usually be the team leader,) the pointman is always the one in charge of the breach. He will be responsible for opening the door, entering first, and calling the breach.

Slackman: The slackman is the man at the rear slot in the breach stack. He is responsible for covering the rear of the team and providing stack security to ensure the team is not flanked. He will be the last man to enter the room, but the first man to initiate a ready-call (discussed later.)

Breacher: the breacher has one of the most important jobs in the stack; upon preparing to enter, he will be the man responsible for setting and detonating a breaching charge, or tossing a flashbang or fragmentation grenade into the structure once the pointman opens the door. The breacher is always the third man, but will reposition to the door during the ready-call.

Assaultman: the assaultman is the second man in the stack and second to enter the room, however he is often the man in the most danger. He will be the first man onto his side of the room and is typically the man who is most likely to be hit by reactionary fire when entering.

Stacking Up & Ready-Calls

When setting up to clear a building or structure, your Team Leader (TL) will call “stack up” or “set up to breach.” You may not necessarily have a kit currently ideal for breaching; if this is the case, fall into whatever position in the stack is most ideal to your current loadout. For example, a man carrying a SAW or LMG is more ideally a slackman; someone with a shotgun, the assault.

The pointman will be the first man in the stack facing the door, followed by the assaultman, then the breacher, then the slackman. Only the pointman will be facing the door – the assaultman behind him will be facing 45 degrees to the front-right, while the breacher will be facing 90 degrees outward and the slackman will be facing 180 degrees to the rear of the stack.

Once all men are set in their positions, the slackman will initiate a ready-call, done by shoulder tapping the man ahead of him. The third man will then tap the second, who will in turn tap the first. This is all done non-vocally, to maintain the element of surprise when initiating the clear.

When the breacher is tapped, he will tap the assaultman to confirm ready status, and then proceed to a position between and beside the assaultman and pointman. This will be referred to as his “throw position,” and is maintained only temporarily until the flash or frag is tossed. As soon as the detonation is heard, the breach is commenced and all elements will begin the clear.

The pointman will call his direction of travel upon entering – “going left/right.” As the assaultman clears the frame, he will always go to the opposite side of the room; if the pointman breaks left, the assaultman will break right, and vice-versa. This continues for the entire stack, meaning that the pointman and breacher will be together, as will the slackman and assaultman.

It is critically important that every man call his direction of travel, as well as any doors or stairs encountered upon entering the room. This can be communicated by a simple callout of “door left,” or “stairs right,” as well as a confirmation of “covering door” or “covering stairs.” As a clear scenario moves fast, clear, concise and quick communication is essential to success.

Breaching, Clearing And Holding A Room

Once the team has entered the room, the first man on either side (pointman and assaultman) will move past the first corners on their respective sides and hold at the second corners. These corners are referred to as points of domination. Each member of the team should hold in a separate corner and cover a 45-degree angle facing outwards from this point of domination

If there is another door or a stairway present in the initial room, the team will immediately proceed to these points after the initial room is clear; note that violence of action is essential after the initial breach, so full stacks are not typically used. Simply proceed through the door or up the stairs at least with a single buddy, calling your direction of travel and any doors or stairs.

Finally, once the building has been cleared and all rooms have been secured, you will proceed under your Team Leader’s orders to egress from the building and proceed back outside.

Egress & Site Security

When egressing from a building, it is important to take note of other friendly forces in the area who may be advancing up to or past the building you are currently occupying. It is also important to remember that you are still in a combat area and will likely be exiting into a Linear Danger Area or other open ground where security is paramount and threats may be present.

Teams will egress in the same order that they ingress to the building, led by the pointman and followed in the rear by the slackman. The first two men will exit to one direction called by the pointman (left/right) followed by the last two men who will exit to the opposite side. Upon egress, the pointman will call “# PACs exiting” or “# PACs coming out” to notify friendlies of the egress and avoid friendly fire incidents.

Equipment Usage & Closing Considerations

Breaching Charges can be used to open locked doors as well as to knock down or open holes in light walls. They are placed with ACE Interact > Explosives > Breaching Charge and placed with a mouse click, and then detonated on a timer or with a clacker. They have a directional blast that will damage or stun targets approximately 30 feet to the front and back, and five to ten feet on either side. These can be used on buildings to stun the occupants behind the door.

Door Wedges are applied by facing a door and using ACE Interact > Deploy Door Wedge. They will lock a door in place so that it cannot be opened from either side. Retrieving a door wedge takes approximately 30 seconds. Door wedges can be used on target buildings prior to a breach to ensure that occupants cannot escape from rear or side doors, or can be used in conjunction with a breaching charge to lock a door before blowing it open. However, their primary use is to secure a building or room by denying entry from the outside.

When forming an initial stack, be aware of environmental hazards such as outward-facing windows. If stacking up on a wall with exterior windows, teams may crouch to a position below the window or stack on either side of it to avoid its fatal funnel from enemies inside.

Ensure that you are communicating constantly with your team; no room should be breached alone, and in the case of very small rooms e.g. closets or bathrooms, a pointman may call “short room” to prevent his buddy or team from filing in to a small space behind him.

If anyone is hit during the breach, do not stop – ensure that all rooms are cleared with more than one person, but maintain violence of action and tend to the injured man after the entire structure is confirmed cleared. At no point should you halt a breach and clear in progress.

Good luck, and check your corners!

Certification Grade

Operators going for a certification grade will undergo six quick breaching scenarios on a single residential house. These will consist of one simulated breach, one breach with dummy targets, and one live-fire exercise in each role of a four-man stack. This will be followed by a short FTX consisting of a ten-building sweep.

Operators should;

Use silent communication in all stacks when initially entering a building. (+1 point)
Pull security on their appropriate angle when stacked up outside a building. (+1 point)
Perform their assigned role effectively, including using grenades or a breach charge. (+2 points)
Utilize equipment, e.g. door wedges and grenades in an effective manner. (+1 point each.)
Maintain buddy teams on all interior breaches. (+1 point per room.)
Call out all stairways and doors as they are seen. (+1 point per callout.)
Enter to the correct side during a breach and hold the appropriate point of domination. (+1 point.)
Exit the building with proper protocols to avoid friendly fire. (+1 point per building.)

Extra points may be awarded by instructors for other actions, e.g. ducking beneath windows. A grade of eight or better must be maintained on all breach scenarios, with a total of 100 required to pass during the FTX.

Any operator that fails to clear their appropriate corner more than twice, fails to cover their appropriate sector more than twice, causes any friendly fire incidents, fails to exit a building properly more than twice, or fails to call out more than two doors in a building, will FAIL.

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