The Team Stack:

1. The movement involved in conducting a team stack is very important. It is at this time that the team is most vulnerable to compromise. As a result, there must be complete silence and all-around security as the team members form the stack.

2. The first shooter in the stack will have his weapon at the alert.

3. The second shooter in the stack quietly moves up behind the first shooter to a point where they are touching but not pushing each other. The second shooter will have his primary weapon hinged in his shoulder. The weapon will be pointed at the deck outboard of his strong side foot and he will mirror the stance of the first shooter. His head and eyes are up and he has his weak hand on the shoulder of the first man. Contact with the weak hand is maintained until the ready signal is acknowledged. The second shooter is looking over the shoulder of the first shooter to ensure that nobody compromises the stack. The key to the stack is to get tight and use proper timing to move through the entry point as one.

4. The third, fourth shooter, etc., will stack in the same manner as the second shooter.

NOTE:
A. If the first shooter in the stack is in a right handed shooting position, then the rest of the stack will mirror him and be in a right handed shooting position.

B. In a stack, the Team Leader should be in a position to best to control the team. The Assistant Team Leader should be in the rear of the stack.

Passing Of The Ready Signal:

Once the last man arrives in the stack and is ready, he will pass up a firm shoulder squeeze to the man in front of him. When the next shooter in the stack is ready, he will then pass up the same ready signal. This procedure will continue until the number one man has received a squeeze. In order to let the shooter to his rear know that he ready, he will nod his head up and down. This nod will be passed back until the team leader receives it. Once the team Leader receives it, the stack is now prepared to make entry with its accountability and readiness confirmed.

Note: Once a shooter passes the ready signal, he will then regain control of his primary weapon.

The Countdown From The Team Leader:

After readiness and accountability is confirmed the Team Leader will initiate the team's action with a countdown. The different team members will perform specific tasks during the countdown based on their positions in the stack. These tasks will change depending on whether a Paint Grenade is being used during entry. The Team Leader or Breacher may stop the countdown at any time if there is a problem with the diversion or breach. The countdown is as follows:

"Five":

"Four":

"Three": Diversion set off (if one is used)

"Two": Door is Breached

"One": The team should not hear this

“Execute, Execute, Execute”: The team makes entry

When Entering An Enclosure:
When entering an enclosure there are five steps that must always take place in order to successfully dominate the enclosure. These are:

1. Clear the doorway. This is done by visually checking the door for any obstacles or booby bombs and when entry is started the shooter must get through the doorway.

2. Clear the immediate area. This is done when entering the enclosure, if an occupant or threat or an obstacle is in your path to your dominant position, it must be moved.

3. Clear your corner. Once you have entered into the enclosure your priority, as a one or two man will be to clear the immediate corner of the room.

4. Sweep your sector of fire. While on the move and prior to establishing a good dominant position, you should collapse your sector of fire six feet off of the deepest shooter in the room.

5. Establish a dominant position. Any dominant position should be out of the fatal funnel (door way) and at least two feet off of the wall.

Note: The Fatal Funnel of Fire is an imaginary cone that starts in the center of the doorway and extends between two to three feet on either side of the door. This is the point at which a threat would fire at if entry were made into a room. This is especially true if the room is dark and the entry point is lit up by the shooters’ tac-light.

Illuminating An Enclosure:

1. Once the shooter breaks the plane of the door and entry is made into a dark enclosure or during hours of reduced visibility, the light source on either the shooter’s primary or secondary weapon is turned on and will stay on until the mission is complete. The shooter must be careful not to initiate the light prematurely and compromise the stack.

2. The purpose of illuminating the enclosure is to allow the shooters to see what is inside of the room and also lets shooters identify other shooters inside the objective.

Entry Techniques:

1. Crisscross Technique

Crisscross technique is used when two team members end up on opposite sides of a door.

(a) The number one man will clear the doorway and the immediate area, crossover, clear his corner, and establish his dominant position in the room while sweeping his sector of fire from outboard to inboard.

Note: His dominant position should be out of the "fatal funnel" of the doorway and off of the wall. This leaves sufficient room for support shooters to move in behind the initial entry team and prevents the shooters from being hit by stray rounds traveling along the walls.


(b) The number two man instantly lowers his muzzle once the number one man starts his entry. Then, the number two-man follows behind the number one-man, coming back up to the ready once the number one man is out of his way. He also clears the doorway and the immediate area, crosses over, clears his corner, and sets up his dominant position in the room while sweeping his sector of fire from outboard to inboard.

Verbiage used will be as follows:
Shooter 1: CRISS CROSS...READY...(pauses for an answer)
Shooter 2: MOVE...(lowers his muzzle allowing other shooter to cross)

2. Buttonhook Technique

The Buttonhook technique can also be used when two team members are on opposite sides of a door preparing to make entry.

(a) When the shooter breaks the plane of the door he will clear it and the immediate area. Instead of crossing over to the opposite side of the door, the shooter pivots in the door jamb and “hooks” around and clears to the side of the door that he came in from.

(b) Once the shooter buttonhooks, the remaining steps to clear the room are the same as with the crisscross.

Verbiage used will be as follows:

Shooter 1: BUTTON HOOK...READY...(pauses for an answer)
Shooter 2: MOVE...(lowers his muzzle allowing other shooter to cross)

I know this was long, but I think it's info that will come in very handy .
I'm sure I missed quite a bit... feel free to post advice to either add or modify this info.

Semper Fi...

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Defensive Tactics l MOUT Basics l Offensive Tactics l Patrolling/Scouting l CQB-Entry l CQB-Stacking l Fire Team Basics l

Now that's good readin'

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I've always wanted to these, but this type of gameplay is still under construction at my local field. I can't wait!

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The lead member enters whichever way is most comfortable for him/her.
the next team member just needs to learn to go opposite of the first player

Great write-ups Viper...I'd like to see the execution of these tactics, but not on the receiving end...lol..especially hearing a countdown..

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Interesting to see how the Marines do this!
Very good crash-course into clearing a room.




Yes, the number one man is NEVER wrong. He takes the path of least resistance, since he is the first one in.

MOUT is a living, breathing creature... it must be practiced over and over again, modified and modified until each member of the stack can perform his/her role in any position. There IS a textbook way of doing it, but when it comes to MOUT, throw the textbook aside. Each group will have their own way of doing it - nobody is right, nobody is wrong.

I don't know if short rooms were covered in the above. What we do, is when there's a short room (as in, 4 people couldn't fit safely inside), the first man in yells out "Short room!", the second man comes in, third, fourth, and fifth (if you have a fifth) pull security outside. Again, this can be changed by SOP.

Great post!

I have a video of us in the Kill House, but I'll need to get approval before I can post it up here.

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"If you are short of everything except enemy, you are in combat." - Murphy

PM me a link to the video and i'll let you know.

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thanks this is some really helpful stuff.

you need a video made.

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Just for a reference (these are from images.google and are not of me).





Although, in the last picture it's not a good idea for the #1 man to be sticking his muzzle out of the corner... it lets his enemy know that he's there.

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"If you are short of everything except enemy, you are in combat." - Murphy