Operations in built-up areas
REF 6TP/TRG/004OBUA principles and phases, marking the Alpha, breaching, the five-step method, house clearing terminology, and sensitive site exploitation.
01OBUA PRINCIPLES
01Security
02Fire and manoeuvre
03Communication
04Cover and concealment
05Speed
06Momentum
07Violence of action
02OBUA PHASES
01Isolate
The objective, or Alpha.
02Suppress
The enemy.
03Advance
The assault element.
04Assault
The building.
05Clear
The building.
06Consolidate
And re-org.
MARKING THE ALPHA
03BUILDING ASPECT COLOURS
Each side of the building has a colour. Front white, back black, left green, right red, as seen from the front.
04BUILDING NUMBER CODES
Each window or door has a code: floor, then position. For example, 1-3 is the ground floor, third from the left: the door.
THREAT, BREACH AND TAGS
05BUILDING THREAT LEVELS
| RED | ||
| AMBER | ||
| GREEN |
06BREACH TYPES
01Stealth
02Subdued
03Dynamic
From the quietest entry to the most forceful.
07BUILDING MARKING TAGS
| RED | Entry not clear. | |
| GREEN | Entry or building clear. | |
| YELLOW | CCP, CASEVAC or medic required. | |
| BLUE | Booby trap or obstruction. Engineer needed. |
Tagging is the responsibility of the last man out.
CLEARING
08THE FIVE-STEP METHOD
01Clear the doorway
02Clear the immediate area
03Clear your corner
04Sweep your arc
And move to a dominant position.
05Assess, communicate and exploit
09HOUSE CLEARING TERMINOLOGY
| "Alpha" | The target building. |
| "Stack on me" / "With me" | Move to the call sign requesting the 'stack'. |
| "Three in stack" | Move to support the caller. |
| "Dems up" | Demolitions call sign moves to the front of the stack. |
| "Frag out" / "Flash out" | Deploying a fragmentation grenade or flashbang into the room. |
| "Breach, breach, breach" | Enter the Alpha. |
| "Roll one" | Number 1 in the stack is moving. |
| "Hold" | The call sign is holding. |
| "Support one" | Number 1 in the stack requires support. |
| "Flow" | Call for an individual or team to move past the call sign. |
| "Small room" | Stops more call signs entering the room. |
| "Clear" | The room is clear. |
| "I have the mark" | A call sign has secured the HVT or HVI. |
| "Coming in" / "Blue, blue, blue" | When entering an occupied friendly building. |
| "Coming out" | When leaving a cleared room. |
| "Last man" | The last call sign to leave a room or building. Responsible for tagging. |
SENSITIVE SITE EXPLOITATION
10SSE PHASES
01Secure the site
Ensure the safety of personnel and operations. Consolidate, secure, search.
02Document the site
Create a visual record, using photography to capture evidence and conditions.
03Search the site
Systematically locate and identify materials, documents, media, weapons and other intelligence.
04Prioritise exfiltration
Know what is critical information for analysis.
05Exploit materials
This is an HQ function. Extracting and analysing actionable intelligence, to support future operations.
ABBREVIATIONS
CASEVACCasualty evacuation
CCPCasualty collection point
DemsDemolitions
HVIHigh-value individual
HVTHigh-value target
OBUAOperations in built-up areas
Re-orgReorganisation
SSESensitive site exploitation