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January–April 2014 Engineer 35 SOSRA actions are vital to combined arms breaching, but they can only be accomplished if the maneuver task force is task-organized properly using the third breaching tenet— breaching organization. Breaching organization consists of three main forces: support, breach, and assault. The support force suppresses all direct and observed indirect enemy fres in and around the POB or reduction area. The breach force consists of a reduction element and a security element. The reduction element reduces the obstacle by creating and marking lanes; and the security element secures the near side and far side of the obstacle. The assault force attacks through the obstacle and seizes the objective. Intelligence, breaching fundamentals, and breaching organization have to work together in space and time to be effective. This is accomplished through the two fnal breaching tenets—mass and synchronization. Mass consists of overwhelming combat effects at the right location to create an enemy weakness at the POB or reduction site. Synchronization entails massing those forces and effects at the right time by communicating clear instructions to subordinate units. Synchronization brings all breaching tenets together through effective mission command. B reaching trends observed at the National Training Center from spring 2012 to spring 2013 can be divided into two categories—planning and execution. One common trend during planning relates to intelligence, the frst breaching tenet. Most task forces struggled to obtain obstacle intelligence during the planning process. This was due to their failure to employ reconnaissance assets at echelons in support of the combined arms breach. Using reconnaissance assets to gain obstacle intelligence facilitates planning. It allows the unit conducting the breach to determine the POB; the size, type, and makeup of the obstacle size; enemy locations; the identity of key terrain surrounding the obstacle; and possible bypass locations. A second trend observed during planning involved the lack of engineer-specifc input during course-of-action development and war games. These trends included— ■ Failure to develop or reference engineer assets and tasks in the maneuver task force execution synchron- ization matrix (ESM). ■ Failure to develop decision points related to the support, breach, and assault forces or failure to place decision points on a decision support matrix. A cavalry unit conducts a combined arms rehearsal before a live-fre exercise. "[Using reconnaissance] allows the unit conducting the breach to determine the POB; the size, type, and makeup of the obstacle size; enemy locations; the identity of key terrain surrounding the obstacle; and possible bypass locations." EN Law.1.indd 38 3/12/2014 1:27:02 PM