tc., are
repaired promptly so as not to delay the march of the column and that
information of the enemy is promptly sent back to the advance guard
commander; he verifies the correctness of this information, if
possible.

=1029.= (=a=) A thorough understanding of the arrangement of the
support and the duties of the leaders of its subdivisions--point,
flank patrols, advance party and main body (of the support)--is of the
greatest importance to a noncommissioned officer. For example, the
ignorance of one noncommissioned officer leading the advance party of
a column of troops six miles long can cause the entire column to be
delayed. If he halts because a few shots are fired at his men, and
conducts a careful reconnaissance before attacking (instead of pushing
right in on the enemy, forcing him to fall back quickly, if a weak
detachment; or, to disclose his strength, if strong), the entire
column, six miles long, is halted, the march interrupted, valuable
time lost, and what is more important, the men irritated and tired
out.

(=b=) The leader of the point must understand that as the principal
duty of an advance guard is to secure the safe and uninterrupted march
of the main body, he is the first man to discharge this duty. If, for
example, his squad receives a volley of shots from some point to the
front, he cannot take the time and precautions the commander of a
large body would take to reconnoiter the enemy's position, determine
something about his strength, etc., before risking an attack. If he
did he would not be securing the uninterrupted march of the main body.
He has to deploy instantly and press the enemy hard until the hostile
opposition disappears or the advance party comes up and its commander
takes charge. The point will lose men in this way, but it is
necessary, for otherwise one small combat patrol could delay the march
time after time.

(=c=) The same problem must be met in much the same manner by the
leader of the advance party. In this case there is more time to think,
as the point, being in advance, will have begun the fight before the
advance party arrives; but the leader of the advance party must use
his men freely and quickly to force the enemy to "show his hand," thus
preventing small harassing or combat detachments from delaying the
march.

(=d=) As the subdivisions of the advance guard become larger their
leaders act with increasing caution, for as soon as it develops that
the enemy in front i