On
Saturday, January 25, I attended an in-service conducted by Jim Rosebrock
(Antietam Guide Service) about interpreting a battlefield the way the military
does today. I found it enlightening and very practical and believe I need to
share it with others. Very often, when visitors come to Antietam, they do so
with a vague idea of what happened there. They see the excellent video. They
take the self-guided tour, visit the bookstore, and often hire a guide to take
them on a 2.5-hour tour of the field.
While
visiting the undulating Cornfield, the Bloody Lane and the iconic Burnside
Bridge they often ask “Why?” Why did the men fight in shoulder-to-shoulder battle
lines? Why did they get so close to each other before opening fire? Why would
they attack over such open ground? Why did they stand up to fight, rather than
lie down?
To
understand the “why,” a person has to know the “how.” That is where Jim’s
presentation comes in. The military acronym for interpreting a field is OCOKA:
Observation and Fields of Fire, Cover and Concealment, Obstacles,
Key Terrain, and Avenues of Approach.
1. Observation
a. What
can you see from where you are standing?
b. Are
there hills, woods obstructing your view?
c. Is
there smoke or ground fog blanketing the area?
d. Is
it raining, snowing, or, worse yet, lightning and torrential rain?
e. Are
you on the best ground from which to observe the field?
f. Is
there a town blocking the line of sight?
2. Fields
of Fire
a. Where
do you place your artillery to be most effective?
b. How
close do you have to get to see the enemy?
c. How
does the terrain affect your placement of troops?
d. How
do you establish your line to get the clearest line of fire?
3. Cover
a. What
landscape features and or manmade structured will provide your soldiers from
incoming fire?
b. Stonewalls,
rock ledges, wooden fences, and buildings along with depressions in the ground
can protect troops from direct fire but not necessarily from plunging fire like
shell and case shot bursts.
i.
Sunken roads and depressions are subject to enfilade, defilade,
and flank fire
ii.
Stonewalls can produce collateral damage from direct hits from
artillery projectiles and incoming small arms fire.
iii.
Rail and board fences are subject to splintering and do not
provide solid cover from incoming fire.
c. Cover
is preferable to being out in the open. Proper use of it might not eliminate
casualties but can perhaps reduce the number of them.
4. Concealment
a. Concealment
means that the troops are protected from observation and not necessarily from
fire, though cover and concealment may occur at the same time.
b. Troops
use concealment to mask their movement upon an enemy position.
i.
Woods, creek beds, swales, ravines, and sunken roads may remove
troops from enemy observation.
5. Obstacles
a. What
on the field can impede your approach onto the field and how are they
classified?
i.
Go – dry ground, not a lot of man-made obstacles, concealed
approaches, anything that facilitates rapid, hidden movement.
ii.
Slow Go – hills, fences, overgrown woodlots, bad roads, plowed
fields, ground hog holes (Antietam), streams, creeks, fog, low visibility,
snow, rain, all of which reduce quick deployment.
iii.
No Go – torrential rain, blizzard conditions, mud, swamps, deep
water, cliffs can bring any advance to an abrupt halt.
6. Key
Terrain –
a. Elevations,
which can be used for observation.
b. Choke
points which make it difficult for the enemy to escape.
c. Any location,
which, if occupied and held, will effectively guarantee the success of the
mission.
7. Avenues
of Approach
a. Terrain,
which will facilitate rapid and successful approaches to the objective.
When visiting a battlefield apply OCOKA to the ground around you.
It might explain, in part, how the battle was fought.
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