Enter a Trench
A trench lets the enemy fight and reinforce under cover, so the assault buys a single foothold instead of the whole line. Suppress, obscure, isolate, grenade the entry, and roll in. Here is the trench-foothold drill, step by step, the way it runs on the ground.
Interactive Walkthrough
Hit play and watch the drill unfold from above, or step through it at your own pace. Gold is A Team, blue is B Team, white is the squad leader, red is the enemy. Every movement on the map matches the written steps below.
The Ranger Handbook (TC 3-21.76) is the source for every drill on this page — mandatory kit for any military leader.
Your boots take more abuse in trench clearing than anywhere else — the full ranking: Best Military Boots 2026.
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Task · Conditions · Standards
Enter an enemy trench and secure a foothold: suppress and isolate the trench, reduce the entry point with grenades, roll in and clear opposite directions to the first corners, and secure an area large enough to pass the follow-on force through.
The platoon is moving and receives fire from an enemy trench, and is ordered to secure a foothold in the trench. Only organic weapons support is available.
The leader quickly identifies the entry point; the unit secures the entry point, enters the trench, and secures an area large enough for the follow-on unit, while maintaining a force able to repel a counterattack, and continues the mission.
The Full Sequence
Squads that walk this drill on a terrain model before stepping off run it clean the first time live — build the objective, talk every phase.
Comms & Reports
SOSRA — The Fundamentals
The same logic that breaches an obstacle secures a trench foothold:
- Suppress — base of fire wins the firefight
- Obscure — smoke screens the entry
- Secure — assault takes the entry point
- Reduce — grenades clear the entry
- Assault — roll in and clear
The Foothold Command
One clear order that sets the assault in motion:
- Entry point — “left bend, near corner”
- Who suppresses — base of fire + adjacent
- Who assaults — assault fire team
- Lift/shift — off the entry on signal
On the Edge — First-Two Drill
The two-man action that opens the trench, called aloud:
- “ON THE EDGE” — first two set against the lip
- “COOK-OFF — FRAG OUT!” — 2-sec cook, into the trench
- “IN!” — roll in back-to-back, opposite directions
Lift & Shift Off the Entry
The signal that keeps your own fire off the assault:
- Shift fire off the entry point as the assault reaches the lip
- Lift the guns whose lane the clearing pair is in; keep the guns that isolate the far end
- Lift the guns whose lane the clearing pair is in; keep the guns that isolate the far end
- Keep suppressing adjacent positions and the depth
- Unmistakable, rehearsed signal per SOP
“CLEAR” / “FOOTHOLD SECURE”
The reports that let the platoon follow through:
- “CLEAR” — to the first corner each direction
- “FOOTHOLD SECURE” — to the platoon leader
- Posts guides for the follow-on element
ACE — On the Foothold
Re-cock the squad for the next stretch of trench:
- Ammo — count and cross-level, grenades especially: the base of fire shot the most, so the clearing team gives up mags until everyone is even
- Casualties — treat and evac priority
- Equipment — sensitive items, weapons up
SALUTE, ACE, and every report above gets written, not memorized — in the all-weather leader book that’s standard issue for a reason.
Where Squads Fail This Drill
Entering Before You’ve Isolated the Trench
If the base of fire and indirect haven’t isolated the trench, the enemy floods men down it to the entry and overwhelms your first two soldiers. Isolate the trench before anyone touches the lip.
Not Shifting Fire Off the Entry
A base of fire that keeps hammering the entry point as the assault arrives kills its own men. Shift off the entry on the rehearsed signal while continuing to suppress the rest of the trench.
Throwing a Live Grenade Into the Trench
A trench is a chute — a grenade with a full fuse rolls right back to you. Cook off for two seconds, announce “FRAG OUT,” and confirm detonation before anyone rolls in.
Both Men Clearing the Same Way
If both soldiers turn the same direction, the trench behind them is open and the entry is uncovered. Roll in back-to-back and clear opposite directions — that geometry is the whole drill.
Outrunning the Foothold
Racing down the trench past where the team can support turns a foothold into a trapped fire team. Clear to the first corner, hold, reinforce, and then extend deliberately.
Not Reporting the Foothold Secure
The platoon can’t commit the follow-on force to a foothold it doesn’t know is secure. Report it clearly and post guides so the passage of lines into the trench actually happens.
