“A patrol should assume the general formation of a column on the march, _i. e._, there is an advance guard, a main body, flankers, and a rear guard. These several elements may be represented by only one man, but the principle is exactly the same. The advance man is necessary to give warning of the approach of the enemy. The flankers are necessary to watch toward the flanks and prevent the enemy from ambuscading the patrol or working around its rear unobserved and cutting off its line of retreat. The main body is necessary to back up the advance man and protect him. The rear man is the “get-away man,” so that in case the patrol is surprised by the enemy, at least one man will have a good chance to escape and carry the news back to the support commander. You must always remember that a patrol that goes out and does not return, or is not heard from within a reasonable time, is the cause for a great deal of uneasiness and anxiety back at the outpost line.
“Some authorities advocate that the patrol commander march as the advance man of the patrol. This is not believed to be good tactics. He should be centrally located so that he will be able to control the operations of the patrol. The patrol leader has been selected for this particular line of work. The officer who sent him out is depending on him to carry out the mission upon which he has been sent and to get information back. He should not, therefore, needlessly make himself a target for the enemy marksman who may be lying in concealment at the turn of a road or trail. If he is the leading man he will be so busily occupied with the task of observation, that he will have little time available for conducting the operations of the other members of the patrol. Furthermore, if anything happens at the front that needs his attention, he can go there in a very short space of time.
“When a small patrol is advancing along a road which is more or less winding and has brush and trees along the side, it is believed that the Boni point formation will usually meet the requirements. In this formation the leading man walks along one side of the road, close up to the brush. The next man follows him at a distance of about 25 yards on the opposite side of the road. The remaining men follow at varying distances on alternate sides of the road. The rear or get-away man should march at least 75 yards in rear of his next preceding man. Flankers are sent out when necessary and where it is possible to do so.