How to write a Platoon Level TACSOP
Or
When re-inventing the wheel, think ‘ROUNDER.’
Okay. You’ve got a platoon. All the equipment and the people are there. They
seem to be fully mission capable (FMC) and technically and tactically proficient.
Then you ask the question.
“Where’s the SOP?”
If you’re lucky, they’ve got one and they’ll hand it to you, or someone will get it for
you. If you are very lucky, it’s up-to-date and clearly written. But what if you
aren’t lucky?
If you aren’t lucky a little bit then the thing only needs to be tweeked. A little
updating and some jargon changes and everything will be alright. (Not counting
that if the SOP isn’t up-to-date the question must be asked, “What standard, if
any, have your people been training to in the meantime?”) If you are really
unlucky then there is no SOP or what you’ve been given is hopeless and you
have to start from scratch.
This is an amazing thing about the Army. As important as an SOP is, there is
strikingly little guidance on how to write an SOP, what’s in a good one, or all the
myriad types of SOPs that there can be. I’m hoping to help you out with the first
two questions with this paper. The third question is of great scope and I’ve
chosen to keep my focus here to the TACSOP, or Tactical Standing Operating
Procedures.
The Purpose of a TACSOP
This is the simplest question to answer. What is the SOP for? It’s to set a
standard for all of the things that the platoon must do on every mission. When
everyone knows the standard and can work to it, then everyone is on the same
sheet of music and everyone knows what he/she is supposed to be doing at any
given time. The benefits of this are greater efficiency, faster operations, safer
operations, less down-time (non-mission capable down-time that is), and more
down-time (relaxing because the job is done and done right). In short, your
people will be happier, your superiors will be happier, and you won’t be
managing clusters. You’ll be leading troops.
So, How Do I Write a TACSOP?
The first, best thing you can do for yourself is to find a copy of FM 7-8: The
Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad.
(www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/7-8/toc.htm) Doesn’t matter that your
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