isl doc2 2 rally points

7/28/2019 ISL DOC2 2 Rally Points

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Indiana Sons of Liberty

Rally Points


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Indiana Sons Of Liberty (ISL)

ISL-DOC2 Rally Points (Rev 1 - MAY 2009) Page 2 of 4

1. Introduction

Chances are there will come a time when you and your team will be activated. And when this occurs,everyone within the ISL should have already pre-selected a rally point where you and your team canmeet up, and wait for orders, and/or plan your next move. Rally points should be consideredtemporary stopovers to allow other members to catch up and regroup. This guide will help you indetermining where your rally points should be. From this point forward, RP will mean Rally Point.

2. Security

The single most important factor to keep in mind when picking an RP is security, and not just thelocation of the RP, but also the security and safety of yourself and that of your team. Regardless ofhow many RPs you set up, you must ensure the safety of your team first, and therefore, you mustkeep the RP location secret amongst your team and command. If there is a need to communicate thelocation of your RP to a unit outside of your immediate command, do so only as necessary.

3. Location

Selecting the best RP location requires satisfying several items of importance. Those items are;

3.1 Cover & Concealment

Your RP should be easy to hide in. This means that you must be able to hide men and equipmentsuch as vehicles, radio antennas, power generators, etc. A stand of trees of at least 5 acres in size isabout the smallest that any one squad should consider using. This provides enough depth that therisk of sky lighting is greatly reduced. During winter months, this same 5 acres may not be largeenough to effectively hide vehicles, even if camouflaged, and could easily double the acreagerequired to hide the same size force.

3.2 Ingress & Egress

Your RP must be quickly accessible by a car, and it must have a minimum of at least 3 routes in andout. Do not make your RP at the end of a dead end trail! Also, weather will play a major part in route

selection. Try to avoid dirt roads during the winter and spring months as these will become muddy. Ifdirt roads are unavoidable, try to locate the RP as close to a main, hard surface road as you possiblycan. A good place to set up an RP would be near an intersection.

3.3 Elevation

Elevation can work for you and against you at the same time. If you make your RP in a low spot,depression, valley, etc., you automatically put yourself at a tactical and communicationsdisadvantage. Generally speaking, low terrain is a weak position in the event that you have to fightyour way out of the area. Also, radio transmissions can not reach as far when in a hole. Avoidmaking your RPs in low areas. If at all possible, make your RPs on elevated terrain, which willprovide you with a greater field of view allowing earlier detection of hostile forces (HF), it increases

your communications distance, and overall, it increases your teams combat effectiveness.3.4 Fields of View

The farther away that you can spot and identify HFs, the better chance of survival you and your teamwill have. In the event that your RP becomes a fighting position, long and wide fields of view becomefields of fire, and this is very important to remember. Your RP should have clear visibility in alldirections out to a range of at least 500 yards more is better. In many parts of Indiana, wide openspaces are not hard to find since most everything is farm country. For much of the southern half ofthe state, the terrain changes drastically to hills, this makes high ground more important.


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3.5 Natural Perimeter Zone (NPZ)

An NPZ refers to features around a house, town, or city that affords HFs the most efficient means forcontainment. For example, around a city or town, there may be a freeway that encompasses thearea. This would be a NPZ because it would provide a means for hostile forces to move around theoutside, and the freeway acts as a natural barricade to people trying to leave the area.

The standard tactic used by HFs to control people is containment. This tactic is used from smallpolice forces, to entire Army groups the world over. Since the majority of the population residesinside cities and towns, to contain and control these people requires the creation of a perimeteraround a specific area. This is also true for individual households, that being that a perimeter will becreated around the target area to keep the inhabitants from escaping, as well as keeping rescueforces out.

When selecting an RP, its best to select a location outside of the NPZs. Determining where HFsmight set up their perimeter can be challenging. As a rule of thumb, HFs will attempt to hold aperimeter with as few personnel as possible, and use other barriers such as building, ditches, andfreeways to take the place of manpower.

Figure 1


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In Figure 1, shown outlined in red, are examples of what multiple NPZs might look like. Although thesizes of the NPZs shown are probably much larger than what might be feasible for a given HFstrength, it does illustrate areas where ISL personnel may become trapped in a containmentoperation. However, NPZs will more than likely be smaller areas such as city blocks. Its importantto identify the outer most NPZ ring and locate your RPs outside of these areas.

4. Trapped

In the event that you or your team becomes trapped within an NPZ, its important to have reliable,long-range communication to other ISL units outside of the containment area, or NPZ.Communication is vital to ISL units on the outside of the NPZ as it provides valuable intelligence toother units, and allows for coordinated rescue efforts.

5. RP Responsibility

The ultimate responsibility for establishing RPs will be up to individual commanders from the lowestranking ISL member, to the very top. Commanders are not responsible for the creation of RPsoutside their area of operations (AO) or command, and nor should they know the location of otherRPs outside their own AO. Secrecy of the RPs is paramount for the survival of individual units!

A minimum of 2 RPs should be created for each level of command, designated Alpha, Bravo,Charlie, etc. In the event of a GO condition or order from higher command authority, ISL membersshould gather at RP Alpha and wait for at least 1 hour, but not more than 2 hours. If Alpha has beenover run, proceed to RP Bravo and wait again for at least 1 hour. Repeat in the same manner ifnecessary if there are anymore RPs designated. Once situated at one of the RPs and a secureperimeter has been established, attempt to make contact with other ISL units in your area. Oncecommunications have been established, any intelligence information that you may have gatheredshould be broadcast at that time.

If all communication is lost with other ISL members while in-route to, or while in the RP, or it is nighttime, increase wait times and increase the number of personnel on perimeter security. For night,strict light and sound discipline should be followed no flashlights, no smoking, remove dome lightsfrom cars, disable day-time running lamps if possible, etc.

The number of RPs will be based on the time required to drive from one RP to the next. RPs shouldnot be more than 30 minutes drive between each other for a given county. However, try to keep thenumber of RPs in one county, at the battalion CO level, to less than 4. This will ensure that you willnot forget their location.

5.1 State

No RPs will be maintained at the state level. If an RP is required to facilitate state level operations,they will be created as required.

5.2 Brigade

The Brigade COs are only responsible for the creation of RPs within their home battalion/county, andwill follow the same format as battalion.

5.3 Battalion

The Battalion CO is responsible for the creation of all RPs in the battalion to include his or her owncommand staff and personnel, and for all other levels below that of battalion. All personnel within thebattalion should muster at the battalions RPs per the 1-hour interval method stated earlier, longer ifnecessary.

isl doc2 2 rally points

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