Improved Tactical Message Book: Combat Leader warfighting tool

Today, we expect the troop leading procedure to be soon digitalized with individual Soldier computers. However, that day has not arrived yet. Fire teams leaders, squad leaders and platoon leaders are still furiously scribbling away in their leaders notebook making mulitple copies of the same information. For example, the two pictures below show fire planning sketches. The first one a fire time sector sketch requires the fire team leader to make two copies, passing one up to the squad leader. The squad leader collects all of his fire team sketches and makes the squad fire plan sketch. Then he makes several copies sending one to the platoon leader.

The point of all this, is that we are wasting time playing human zerox machines. Ninety-nine percent of this information is "boiler-plate", meaning the essential elements are not changed. There is a better way and it doesn't require a computer.

Self-carbon message books

Currently, Radio Telephone Operators (RTO) use message books with self-carbonizing paper. With self-carbon message books, RTOs can copy down messages and instanly have as many copies as needed to pass on. Infantry leaders would be wise to get a hold of some of these books to use for their troop-leading.

However, the RTO message book is not optimized for infantry use. What we need is an Improved Tactical Message Book (ITMB), that would have lines for writing operation orders (OPORDs), clear sheets for drawing sktetches, range cards for weapons, and some clear sheets that are see-through for map overlays. The ITMB would be printed with a hard cardboard cover with commonly used map symbols, weapons, data, call-for-fire procedures, etc. Soldiers would place the entire ITMB in a zippered nylon cover to protect it from the elements. It would be the sole leaders reference in the field, providing rapid dissemination of information. The ITMB does not need battieries and is not complicated like a computer. Its low-tech, low-cost and can be made availible to Soldiers today. If you would like to see an ITMB provided to the combat arms Soldier, please contact U.S. Army TRADOC.