Hello everyone from our Ready or Not Room Clearing Tactics guide! This guide is designed to keep you safe by providing the equipment and knowledge necessary to do any job. Room cleaning is an inevitable part of close combat and can be the most dangerous part of any operation. Yet, whether it’s high-intensity assaults, precision cleaning operations or surgical operations, housekeeping has always been essential to urban operations.
Ready or Not Room Clearing Tactics
Welcome to our Ready or Not Room Clearing Tactics guide. Room clearing tactics: 5 things to remember when securing a location!
1. Always Bring a Buddy (At Least 2 Shooters)
Room clearing should always be done by at least two shooters. Because there are so many unknowns and way too many dangerous angles to be cleared immediately by one person, two shooters are needed, at a minimum. It’s been said that “Two is one, and one is none.” With at least two shooters, you can maintain 360-degree coverage. And remember team trust is absolute so practice, practice and practice, together.
2.Clear The Point Of Entry Fast!
Unless the plan is to breach a wall, the likely place of entry into a potentially hostile room is through the door. The door is referred to as the “fatal funnel.” Anyone expecting an armed intrusion will be focusing attention and firepower towards the place of entry. Getting into and out of the fatal funnel is essential to success so if someone in front of you trips, walk over them.
3.Plan Your Position, But Be Flexible
If there’s time for a plan and rehearsal hours prior to the execution phase, do it; but remember to be flexible. Once inside, things have a tendency to change based on new information and real or perceived threats. Instead of planning on who goes left or right (criss-cross or button-hook) once inside the door, follow this simple rule of thumb: go the opposite way that the person in front of you went. In a hasty entry, you’ll never have time to plan anyway. Again, go the opposite way through the door that the person in front of you went.
4.Cover Your Bases (Fields Of Fire)
Get through the fatal funnel, then clear the near corner. You have to be close on the heels of the guy/gal in front of you or you won’t be able to protect his/her backside as soon as they’re in the building. The key here is to maintain personal responsibility for your area and sectors of fire—the field of vision you can feasibly shoot at accurately. Accordingly, wherever your muzzle goes, that’s where your eyes should be. Think “eyes, muzzle, target.”
In CQB, speed matters. Get through the door, clear the near corner (or “dig” the corner by walking close to it), walk the walls, and look for the next threat. The greatest threat may be a person, but it’s also any uncleared areas.
5.Use Speed To Your Advantage
Finally, as you’re “running” the walls, it’s really walking. If you have to shoot on the move, only move as fast as you can shoot accurately. Don’t be in such a hurry that you’re out of control. You’re there to control the situation. Be smooth. Here’s an old tactical saying to put in your toolbox: “Smooth is fast and fast is smooth.”
Note: Don’t fire fast if it’s just, don’t fire fast and accuracy after fast discrimination. Continue shooting until the threat stops.
This Ready or Not Room Clearing Tactics guide is here to help you hone your skills and keep adding new things to your tactical toolbox. We hope it helped. Good luck!
