5-4  |  Army Field Manual I Warfighting Tactics - Part 1 The Fundamentals

b. Freedom of action. Delaying forces must maintain freedom of action and not become
decisively engaged or be forced to react to the enemy’s initiative; this will require
the protection of critical points for movement such as natural defiles and bridges. A
combination of movement and fires, preferably at long range, and the conduct of
counter-attacks will confuse the enemy causing a pause and allowing the delaying
force to break contact, avoid envelopment and be available for subsequent actions. A
balance of surveillance, recce, combat and reserve forces is required.

c. Deception. Deceiving the enemy as to the intentions and true composition of the
delaying force can impose delay so the maximum use of camouflage and concealment,
OPSEC and countersurveillance measures is required. However, any deception measures
must be resourced properly and applied across the whole force to be credible.
Deception measures might include convincing the enemy that the position is more
strongly held than it actually is or the use of false fronts to entice the enemy to deploy
early.

d. Maintain contact. Once contact is made with the enemy it must be maintained
to avoid surprise, estimate the rate of advance and determine their main effort. A
handover or handoff of the enemy to another part of the delaying force or the Main
Body must take place before a break clean is affected.

e. Simplicity. Delaying operations are difficult especially when faced by a numerically

superior enemy, and thus plans must be simple enough to conduct under pressure and
adapt in the face of the unexpected.