acles, repair the road, and favor in every way
possible the steady march of the column.

=1022. Strength:= The strength of the advance guard varies from
one-ninth to one-third of the total command. The larger the force the
larger in proportion is the advance guard, for a larger command takes
relatively longer to prepare for action than a small one. For example,
a company of 100 men would ordinarily have an advance guard of from
one to two squads, as the company could deploy as skirmishers in a few
seconds. On the other hand, a division of 20,000 men would ordinarily
have an advance guard of about 4,500 men, all told, as it would
require several hours for a division to deploy and the advance guard
must be strong enough to make a stubborn fight.

=1023. Composition.= The advance guard is principally composed of
infantry, preceded if possible, by cavalry well to the front. When
there is only infantry, much more patrolling is required of the front
troops than when cavalry (called "Advance cavalry") is out in advance.
This book does not deal with large advance guards containing artillery
and engineers. Machine guns, however, will be frequently used in small
advance guards to hold bridges, defiles, etc.

=1024. Distance From Main Body.= The distance at which the advance
guard precedes the main body or the main body follows the advance
guard depends on the military situation and the ground. It should
always be great enough to allow the main body time to deploy before it
can be seriously engaged. For instance the advance guard of a company,
say 1 squad, should be 350 to 500 yards in advance of the company. The
distance from the leading man back to the principal group of the squad
should generally be at least 150 yards. This, added to the distance
back to the main body or company, makes a distance of from 500 to 650
yards from the leading man to the head of the main body.

Examples:

Command. Advance Guard. Distance (yds.).

Patrol of 1 squad 2 men 100 to 300
Section of 3 squads 4 men 200 to 400
Inf. platoon of 50 men 1 squad 300 to 450
Cav. platoon of 20 men 4 men 300 to 450
Inf. company of 108 men 1 to 2 squads 350 to 500
Cav. troop of 86 men 1/2 platoon 450 to 600
Inf. battalion 1/2 to 1 company 500 to 700
Cav. squadron 1/2 to 1 troop 600 to 800