SITREP- (situation report) is a military acronym that stands for Situation Report. A SITREP can be defined as: A short concise statement identifying a unit’s current location and tactical situation.
The SITREP is submitted by subordinate units to their higher headquarters to report their tactical situation and status. It is submitted daily at 0600 and 1800 hours, after significant events, or as otherwise requested by the platoon leader or commander.
What should be included in the SITREP?
Check out below.
How many lines are there in a SITREP?
21 lines are used mainly at battalion-level and higher to keep the commander’s higher and lower staff updated and advised on reporting the commander’s situation.
LINE 2 — UNIT________________________________________(unit making report)
LINE 3 — REFERENCE _________________________________(provide reference: report title, originator, and DTG)
LINE 4 — ORIGINATOR_________________________________(unit identification code of the unit originating the report)
LINE 5 — REPORTED UNIT______________________________(unit identification code of the reported unit)
LINE 6 — HOME LOCATION_____________________________(UTM ) universal transverse mercator or six-digit grid coordinate with MGRS grid zone designator for the home location of the reported unit)
LINE 7 — PRESENT LOCATION__________________________(UTM or six-digit grid coordinate with MGRS (military grid reference system) grid zone designator for the present location of the reported unit)
LINE 8 — ACTIVITY____________________________________(brief description of reported unit’s current activity)
LINE 9 — EFFECTIVE___________________________________(commander’s evaluation of the reported unit’s combat effectiveness)
LINE 10 — OWN SITUATION DISPOSITION/STATUS________(a summary updating changes to or not previously reported major combatant and support force locations; significant mission readiness degradation on units; current deployments; proposed deployments; changes in task force designations; organization or operational control (CHOP) change of operational control/plan; and projected requirements for additional forces)
LINE 11 — LOCATION__________________________________(UTM or six-digit grid coordinate with MGRS grid zone designator)
LINE 12 — SITUATION OVERVIEW_______________________(a brief overall assessment of the situation to include circumstances or conditions which increase or materially detract from the capability and readiness of forces assigned or under operational control of the command or service)
LINE 13 — OPERATIONS________________________________(a brief description and results of offensive and defensive operations carried out by major combatant elements during the period of the report; information on allied forces’ operations; summary of plans for combat operations during next 24 hours including objectives and probable enemy reaction; deviations or variations from previously reported intentions/plans)
LINE 14 — INTELLIGENCE/RECONNAISSANCE____________(brief overview of the situation, including operations, order of battle (ORBAT), task organization (task org), capabilities, and threat changes; reference: Any significant spot intelligence reports (SPIREPs) or intelligence reports (INTREPs) submitted in previous 24 hours)
LINE 15 — LOGISTICS__________________________________(significant deficiencies affecting support for planned operations; problem areas beyond the commander’s or services’ capability to overcome or alleviate in a timely manner)
LINE 16 — COMMUNICATIONS/CONNECTIVITY__________(significant outages, traffic volume, incompatibilities, and quantitative equipment deficiencies; an assessment of the mission impact caused by communications outages and degradations should be provided by the CINC’s J-6/J-3 staff and contained in this section)
LINE 17 — PERSONNEL (factors affecting readiness of forces/units; mobilization status; daily battle casualties (e.g. KIAs killed in action, WIAs wounded in action, MIAs missing in action) aggregated by service and impact of all casualties sustained (battle, non-battle, critical skills, key personnel upon the commands’ mission capability))
Line 18 – SIGNIFICANT POLITICAL/MILITARY/DIPLOMATIC EVENTS (events not reports that could result in US and local public reaction; civil unrest indicators; events emphasizing interests of key segments of society)
Line 19 – COMMANDER’S EVALUATION (cmdr’s evaluation) (summary of key points from 12-19; continuity of operations)
Line 20 – NARRATIVE (free text for info required for clarification of report)
Line 21 – AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
· Be concrete and specific rather than vague and indirect.
· Don’t use any more words than necessary to convey your meaning.
Now check out how well you know your SITREP acronyms by completing the multiple choice quiz link below.
What does each line of the SITREP contain?
For example line 7 of the SITREP gives the current location of the reported unit using
the military grid reference system (MGRS).
How do you communicate grid references in English, whether six-digit or eight-digit ones?
Match each SITREP line with its relevant function
AO WHITE
TASK (Group Work)
You are the 2IC of 1st Platoon, Alpha Company (a standard UK mechanized inf configuration). You have just attended a briefing, standing in for your platoon commander. Your post-briefing task is to issue a SITREP to your absent platoon commander. However, you are not familiar with the SITREP format, and therefore you drafted it more like a written briefing or a report. You sent it off to your platoon commander, who was not impressed. She has now instructed you to rearrange the relevant content of your report only, in accordance with the SITREP template’s 10 lines (OR ANY OTHER NUMBER OF LINES YOU PREFER.)
Scenario
Company A is on the far right (northern) flank of our battalion as it clears from east to west IOT prevent the Dentraban Resistance Force (DRF) from destabilizing the Dentraban government. The DRF has been conducting a guerrilla campaign that has been marked by small units operating independently to strike government forces quickly and then withdrawing. The DRF has occasionally massed to company strength to conduct deliberate attacks.
DRF forces have occasionally conducted deliberate defenses when they can muster significant strength, and when the area defended is critical to their operations. The DRF has been operating in this area for approximately 1 year and is seeking to prevent us from advancing westward into their key territories.
1st Platoon is the northernmost unit in the battalion. Alpha company is approximately 2.5 kilometers to the south of 1st Platoon. Since your attack will take place prior to the main effort attack, you will have priority of fires for the company 60mm mortars until the main effort attack commences.
Terrain
1 st Platoon is currently located in Assembly Area Silver in Area of Operations White (AO White). The map shows the entirety of your AO. The Deep River is swift flowing and crossable only where there are bridges. North and South Bridges are identical footbridges of wood construction. The Western Swamp is mired in chest-deep mud in almost all areas except for some footpaths that are known to the locals and are nearly invisible. Visibility in open areas is 100 meters, 50 meters in the swamp, 50 meters in the thinner tree line, and 25 meters in the thick tree line. Visibility from the high ground is 100 to 200 meters, but essentially stops at the tree line and 100 meters into the swamp. Within the tree line next to the river, visibility is 25 to 50 meters. Sunrise tomorrow is at 0620, sunset today is at 1726. It is early winter in the Quantico Highlands and the temperature tonight will be six degrees Celsius with light cloud cover and no precipitation. Your probable rate of march (dismounted) in the Eastern Forest is 1 kilometer per hour.
Latest Intelligence
The following intel on the enemy is available at this point: Reports indicate that a section of CRF wearing green camouflage utilities is in a fortified position in AO White and a platoon may be present 3 to 5 kilometers to the north. The section is reportedly armed with at least 1 PKM (general purpose machine gun, effective range 1,000 m), one or two RPG 7s, and AK-74s. They may have a single antiquated Soviet 50mm mortar system with a maximum range of 800 meters. They are communicating via cellular phones and handheld radio systems with a maximum range of 5 kilometers. They do not have night-vision capabilities.
Alpha Coy’s platoons have the following tasks:
(Present time 16:00)
