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| SECTION I | ---------------------------------- | GENERAL |
82. General
a. The tactical need for greater individual and unit dispersion in warfare increases the possibility that your unit may be temporarily isolated from friendly forces. Experience shows this temporary isolation to be fairly common and normal in both conventional warfare and counterinsurgency operations. For example:
(1) Enemy use of nuclear weapons may cause relocation of adjacent units so that you lose immediate contact with friendly forces.
(2) A sudden massing of guerrilla forces may isolate your unit in a guerrilla controlled area.
(3) As a member of a patrol operating in an enemy area, you may become separated from your patrol and find yourself alone or with a small group.
b. When such a situation occurs, you and your group or unit must still accomplish your assigned mission, if at al1 possible. After this, your primary task becomes that of rejoining friendly forces.
83. Explanation of Terms
a. Survival is living in the field with limited equipment.
This condition exists in operations at any time and will always exist while you are evading or during the time you are a prisoner.
b. Evasion is the action you take when isolated in an enemy area to stay out of the hands of the enemy and to get back to your own unit.
c. Escape is the action you take to get away from the enemy if captured.
d. The code of Conduct is an expression of the ideals and principals which traditionally have guided and strengthened American fighting men and the United States armed forces must conduct himself when faced with the possibility of capture, or if actually captured (fig. 58).
84. Your Problems
a. If isolated in an enemy area, you have these major problems: LIVING IN THE FIELD WITH LIMITED EQUIPMENT (SURVIVAL) while AVOIDING THE ENEMY (EVASION) and GETTING BACK TO FRIENDLY FORCES.
b. If captured, you also have the problem of ESCAPING FROM THE ENEMY (ESCAPE).
85. Survival
Living in the field with limited equipment requires a knowledge of how to live off the land and take care of yourself (FM 21-76).
86. Evasion
When a unit is isolated, five courses of action which may enable the group or its individual members to avoid capture and rejoin friendly forces are:
a. Defense of Pre8ent Position. This course of action might be adopted when a unit occupies good defensive terrain and early relief by friendly forces is probable.
b. Breakout to Areas Under Friendly Control. This action may be possible when relatively weak or widely dispersed enemy forces are between you and friendly areas.
c. Evasion. This course of action may be considered in two ways-
(1) By unit. A small unit may be able to return to friendly areas by carefully avoiding contact with the enemy.
(2) By infiltration. Small groups may be able to infiltrate to friendly areas. Generally, this is the least desirable. It means loss of unit integrity and requires a high degree of training.
Figure 58. The code of conduct is your guide
d. Deeper Penetration to Conduct Temporary Guerrilla-Type Operations. This is a short term operation to be adopted only when other courses of action are not practicable. It must not be confused with activities of special forces. This course of action may be acceptable when enemy areas are known to be lightly held, or when reliable information indicates a good possibility of linking up with organized guerrillas.
e. Combination of Any of the Above. An example might be defense of your position until nightfall, then evading by infiltration.
87. Escape
a. If captured, make your escape early. You may never be in any better physical condition to escape than you are at the moment you are captured. Prison rations are barely enough to sustain life, certainly not enough to build up a reserve of energy. The physical treatment, medical care, and rations of prison life soon show their effects in moral and physical weakness, night blindness, and loss of coordination and reasoning pmYer. There are other reasons for making your escape early. The enemy on the battlefield is confused. Friendly artillery fire or air strikes may give you a chance to get away. The first guards you will have ure not as well trained in handling prisoners as guards farther back. Some of the guards may even be walking wounded and distracted by their own condition. You know something about the terrain where you are captured and you know the approximate location of friendly units. Several days later and many kilometers away, you may be in strange territory.
b. The exact way you make your escape depends on what you can think of to fit the particular situation. The only general rules are to make an early escape and do it when the enemy's attention is distracted.
c. Escape from a prison camp is much more difficult and requires mot detail ed planning. It must be organized and supported as any other military operation.
d. Once you escape it may not be easy to contact friendly units, even when you know where they are. Approach the problem as you would if you were a member of a lost patrol. Time your movements so you pass through the enemy forward areas at night and arrive between the enemy and friendly units at dawn. A good plan is to find a ditch or hill hole where you have cover from both friendly and enemy fire. Attract the attention of the friendly forces by waving a white cloth, shouting, exposing a panel, or some other method. This alerts friendly forces, and they are prepared to accept any small group which appears willing to surrender or regain contact. Alerted, they are not so likely to shoot you on sight.
88. Your Conduct
a. The Code of Conduct governs your actions at all times. You never surrender of your own free will, and you never surrender men under your command while they still have the means to resist.
b. If captured, continue to resist in every way possible make every effort to escape and to help others escape. Do not accept special favors from the enemy. Do not give your word not to escape. Give no information and do nothing which will harm a fellow prisoner. Give only your name, rank, service number, and date of birth. Evade answering any other questions. It is your duty to resist the enemy in every way-to escape and to continue to fight.
89. You Need All Your Other Training
Successful survival, evasion, and escape require a firm determination to avoid capture, to survive and resist if captured, and to make every effort to escape if captured. Knowledge of a few specific techniques improves your chances, but most of the training you need is included in other phases of the combat training of the individual soldier. You need to use all your other training in the use of cover, concealment, and camouflage materials; day and night movement techniques; maintenance of direction; security; passing of obstacles; the use of silent weapons; health measures; physical conditioning; and patrolling. Thes0 are all basic to survival, evasion, and escape. Your training prepares you to conduct yourself in a manner which will reflect credit on yourself and the United States of America (FM 21-77 and FM 21-77A).