Short Problem 2
From the 'Infantry School Mailing List'
The following problem appeared in the first semi-annual volume of the Infantry School Mailing List, which rolled off the press in 1931. (This periodical, which might well be described as a journal in all but name, replaced the collections of instructional materials that the US Army Infantry School sent out to subscribers in the 1920s.)
For the philosophy behind this problem (and the fifteen that followed), please see:
This problem builds upon the second part of the solution to Short Problem 1:
Short Problem 2
E’s the man that done us well, an we’ll follow im to ‘ell.
Kipling, Bobs
You are the captain commanding the partially-trained, inexperienced rifle company ordered to attack from E.
Please
designate the route that the company will take from its position on the improved road (near B) to E
indicate the formation the company will take during the approach march, to include your position and that of the 1st Sergeant
describe the actions that you intend to take upon approaching E
Your company consists of a headquarters and eighteen standard (eight-man) rifle squads. Three squads form a section. Two sections form a platoon. Thus, you have three platoons, each of six squads.
How to Play
I invite full-bore subscribers to use the comments section to share their own answers to the questions posed.
Please note that the problem asks players to provide two distinct solutions: one that presumes well-trained, experienced units and one that presumes units with little training.
I will post the original (1931) solution to the problem, as well as my own commentary, on Sunday, 24 May 2026.
Source
‘Infantry Problems’ Infantry School Mailing List (Fort Benning: US Army Infantry School, 1931) Volume 1 (1930-1931) page 27 (Internet Archive)
The Internet Archive preserves scans of microfilmed copies of all thirty volumes of the Infantry School Mailing List. However, it catalogs them under the heading of the Infantry School Quarterly, which succeeded the Mailing List in 1947. (Internet Archive)
The Hathi Trust provides links to scanned-from-paper copies of some, but far from all, issues of the Infantry School Mailing List (Hathi Trust)
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