Combat Tactical Challenge 32: Help Me!

This Challenge is only open to Defence personnel.

How the Combat Tactical Challenge works:

The Centre for Army Lessons (CAL) conducts Combat Tactical Challenges on our Discussion Forum. A Combat Tactical Challenge is a combat scenario where the reader is provided with a combat situation that requires them to utilise certain resources to achieve a tactical outcome. Not all considerations for the situation can be provided in this forum, so the reader is given scope to make assumptions when developing a solution.

All you have to do is read the scenario provided below and come up with your own solution. Once you have a submission to make, email it to cal.submit@defence.gov.au. Please include your rank and name, whether you wish to remain anonymous or not, a contact phone number and your solution. CAL will then transfer your entry onto the Combat Tactical Challenge Discussion Forum - without your name if you wish to remain anonymous.

The best couple of entries will receive a military history book.

CAL will not judge any response. We all have different knowledge and skills given our varying corps and trades, so it is only natural that some responses will be more detailed than others. Providing a submission for the Combat Tactical Challenge through this forum allows you the opportunity to remain anonymous should you wish this to be the case.

If you have any other queries, email cal.submit@defence.gov.au or phone 03 5735 7102.

This challenge is based on an issue that soldiers are facing on deployment. Please provide your thoughts on a solution so that they may be considered in the development of future TTP. Email your thoughts to cal.submit@defence.gov.au , or phone 03 5735 7102.
A new Combat Tactical Challenge is now going to be provided five times a year (around Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug and Oct).

Background
Tropical Cyclone Baldrick impacted on the North Queensland coast between Cardwell and Ingham, causing major damage to infrastructure (roads, buildings, power and water) in several towns along the coast.

You are deployed as part of Op BALDRICK ASSIST to provide immediate assistance to the town of Ingham and surrounding areas. You are among the first responders to the scene; your arrival is just 4 hours since the region was impacted.

You are the brick commander whose primary mission on this day is to clear debris from a series of roads on the southern approach to the town. This will allow emergency response vehicles into the town so that they can begin to set up infrastructure to support the local population.

Upon hearing the sounds of your chainsaws, your brick is immediately overwhelmed with civilians asking for assistance to clear their properties. Several comment that they lost their roof in the cyclone, and others have had significant structural damage.

Three civilians with serious injuries have been carried to you; one has a head wound which is bleeding profusely, while two others have significant limb injuries.

A heavily pregnant woman believes she has gone into labour and hasn't been able to call emergency services as the phone lines are down. She has no support with her, as her husband was caught out by the cyclone, and is stuck in Townsville unable to get through.

One of your soldiers helping to clear the felled trees is bitten by a snake.

Your only reliable form of communication is your own personal mobile phone. Emergency services are not able to get through the debris to you.

What Would You Do?

Several hours later, you have managed to clear one lane into the centre of the town when you hear word that the support vehicles coming up from Townsville have been involved in a mass vehicle accident, and will not be arriving with the extra fuel, food, water, and other supplies.

You estimate you have only an hour's supply of chainsaw fuel left, and three of your eight chainsaws have broken down. You are receiving significant pressure from emergency services to clear the road quicker, and civilians are stepping in to help with clearing the roads.

How do you manage this situation?

You receive new orders to send half your brick and yourself to the centre of town to assist local police with a spate of looting that is occurring in the town's electronic and hardware stores.

You and your soldiers must approach the town on foot, as the roads into town are still littered with debris.

Approaching the town centre, you observe several youths smashing store front windows. When they observe you coming towards them, they begin to throw rocks and other debris at you and your men.

You are not armed, and are not wearing any PPE.

How do you respond?

It is not the intent of the Combat Tactical Challenge to provide all the specific information necessary for a ‘DS solution'. As such, write down any assumptions you may have made and then come up with a solution.
You can either email your submission or any queries to cal.submit@defence.gov.au or phone 03 5735 7102, or join in the discussions at the CAL DefWeb website and then select "Combat Tactical Challenge".

Combat Tactical Challenge