SOPs was; Re: [OT]Nukes... tunnels.... boom....

> At 10:20 13/03/02 -0800, John L. wrote:

> --- Derek Fulton <derekfulton@bigpond.com> wrote:

That is not a fair comment to make regarding SOPs, in this case ALL air to
air kills with the AIM-9L in the Falklands War were from attacks from
the rear quarter. For various reasons the RN and RAF choose not to rely on the
new capability of AIM-9L and stuck with what they knew would work.

'Standard Operating Procedures' (SOPs) are there to provide a common way of
doing things which puts everybody on the same page [ hence the standardization
;)], SOPs are normally the result of experience. When the 1st Battalion, Royal
Australian Regiment deployed to Vietnam in 1966, joining the US 173rd Airborne
Brigade. They were able to draw on a wealth of experience in Jungle fighting
dating back to New Guinea (1942) and this for a large part came through in the
unit SOPs.

BUT this doesn't mean that SOPs are static, at the end of a operation (say a
fighting patrol) the question should be always asked "OK, this is what we did,
what can we do to improve on this?". Ideally this process starts with
the soldiers (during a post patrol de-brief) and travels up the chain of

command [feedback;)].

Cheers

> --- Derek Fulton <derekfulton@bigpond.com> wrote:

> That is not a fair comment to make regarding SOPs,

> 'Standard Operating Procedures' (SOPs) are there to

Well, hell just froze over. I have to agree with Derek. SOPs in the US Army
cover a lot of things that HAVE to work with 100% fluidity. Especially in the
Engineer side of things. For instance, if we marked the lefthand side of a
breach lane the first time we did it, and the righthand side of the lane the
second time we did it, we'd end up killing a LOT of tankers. Most of our
written SOPs cover basics like lane marking, communications procedures,
maintinence procedures, logistics packages, and obstacle planning, plus a lot
of idiot cards and checklists. Some of these things are done differently than,
say, my old unit in Germany did things. But rather than the minor details of
how things are done, what is important is that everyone is doing them the same
way in our unit.

> BUT this doesn't mean that SOPs are static, at the

We call it an AAR (After Action Review). It's become a ritual in the US Army
to the point that it's frequently too stylized to matter, but it's a serious
failing to not hold one after every mission. On occasion something significant
actually does come up in one.

> At 09:10 15/03/02 -0800, John wrote:

> --- Derek Fulton <derekfulton@bigpond.com> wrote: