· By Jaeger Schnuerle
CLOSE QUARTERS BATTLE BREAKDOWN
Today we’re going to go over what the 5 basic steps of clearing a room are, how to do it, some
tips for success and how to practice clearing on your own.
The first step of clearing any space moving from exterior (outside the house/room) to interior
(inside the structure/room entry) is to clear the doorway.
- Clearing the doorway consist of visually checking the door for any obstacles. From the
outside of the door you are able to tell what type of room you may be entering (corner
fed – door is against the frame of the wall. A center fed room means the door is in the
center of the wall and you have equal uncleared space to both sides).
- From the door way you will be able to identify the hinges of the door, which will
indicate how to door swings open. (Hinges on the outside means the door opens to
you/no hinges means the door opens inward to the room).
- Upon entry you need to ensure your body, gear and weapon clear the frame with no
hang ups. Hesitation of movement will give the threat inside the ability to fire upon you
before you are able to engage.
The second step is to clear the immediate area. The immediate area is classified as the 6 foot
cone inside the door frame or as far back as you can see from breaching of the door.
- From this position you are able to identify threats and potential obstacles that may
impede your movement upon entry.
- You may also take time to pie the room off. To do this means to use the frame of the
door as a barricade to gain depth into the room and potentially engage threats from a
covered position. Be sure to keep your weapon and body from breaking the door frame.
Limiting your exposure will give you an advantageous shooting position to the potential
threat inside.
The third step is to clear your corner. This is done upon your initial entry to the room, and can
be done from the threshold of the doorway.
- The threshold is the space that is underneath the frame of the door. To keep
yourself from having your back exposed to you opposing corner, you want to ensure you
do not get sucked into the corner you are clearing. .
The fourth step is to sweep your sector of fire. Once the corner is clear you will begin moving
towards the long wall while moving your muzzle in a clockwise motion to clear the remaining
space
- While moving and sweeping your sector of fire you want to ensure that you are
only moving as fast as you can accurately engage. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. You
are only effective if your shots are delivered on target. Accuracy and shot placement are
critical here.
The final step is to establish a dominate position. The dominate position is where you will stop
inside the space you are clearing. This position should be out of the doorway or fatal front, and
two feet off the wall, with your muzzles covering the next danger area.
- Once the space has been cleared, announce that it is clear and repeat the 5 step
clearing process until the structure has been cleared.
Key takeaways:
1. Limiting exposure will give you an advantageous shooting position as well as protect you
from your threat being able to engage you before you can engage it.
2. Move slow enough to engage targets accurately.
3. Use barricades when possible, doorframes, walls and other hard structures, will offer
protection against some rounds.
4. If you have the ability to pie off the room before entry, do it. This will give you the
chance to see the space that you are about to enter before fully breaking the plane of
the door.
5. Close quarters battle is a game of angles. Your goal is to be able to see the threat before
it sees you.
Practice makes perfect.
You now have the basic knowledge to do simple room clearing. As with anything, this is a skill
that must be repeated in order to become proficient. Take the time to practice these 5 steps in
your home. You can also practice at the range by setting up a “tape house”. Lay down rope or
tape, in the shape of a room(center fed or corner fed with 4 walls) and practice movement,
angles, barricades and clearing procedures.