text: Chapter 4
  4-43. The support area or base camp commander can use the following guidance to counter a penetration:
  * Maintain contact with the penetrating enemy force. Forces may be able to delay the penetrating
  force by maintaining contact. The commander seeks to determine the size, composition, direction
  of attack, and rate of movement of the penetrating enemy force. Forces in contact must also sustain
  fires and close air support against the enemy to disrupt, delay, or divert their attack.
  * Take immediate actions to hold the advance or expansion of the penetration. This may require
  changing task organization, adjusting adjacent boundaries and tasks, executing situational or
  reserve obstacles, or shifting priority of fires.
  * Move threatened units. Based on the direction of enemy attack, units may need to move away
  from the penetration. These movements must be controlled to ensure that they do not interfere
  with counterattack plans or movements of combat forces.
  * Determine where and how to engage the penetrating enemy force. Based on the size,
  composition, and direction of enemy attack, the commander selects the best location at which to
  engage the enemy. The reserve may counterattack into the flank of the enemy, or it may establish
  a defensive position in depth to defeat or block the enemy. The staff establishes control measures
  for the attack of the reserve. The reserve can use an engagement area or objective to orient itself
  to a specific location to engage the enemy. A battle position can be used to position the reserve
  along defensible terrain. The commander and staff develop a concept of fires and consider required
  adjustments to fire support coordination measures. They also decide on the commitment of
  directed, reserve, or situational obstacles to support the action. Traffic control is especially critical.
  Sufficient routes must be designated for the reserve to use, and provisions such as the use of
  military police and combat engineers must be taken to ensure that those routes remain clear.
  * Plan effectively. A simple, well thought-out plan, developed during the initial planning process,
  greatly improves the ability of subordinates to react effectively.
  4-44. MEB commanders must keep their higher headquarters informed of any enemy penetrations, and the
  base camp commanders must keep the MEB commander informed. The higher headquarters or MEB
  commander might reinforce the base camp commander with additional fires, attack aviation, security forces,
  or maneuver forces. Normally, in the case of a base camp penetration, the commander positions the response
  force or reserve according to the priority of the counterattack.
  Counterattack
  4-45. MEB and base camp commanders use counterattacks to destroy an enemy within the support area or
  base camp perimeter. The units seek to slow the rate of penetration; weaken the enemy; and reduce maneuver
  options, momentum, and initiative and then counterattack with all available force. Timing is critical to a
  counterattack. Assuring the mobility of the counterattacking force is critical.
  4-46. Ideally, the response force or reserve must be given warning time to prepare and maneuver. A quick
  verbal warning order or monitoring the command net can give the response force or reserve some warning
  and allow them to begin immediate movement toward their attack position to begin a counterattack. The
  response force or reserve issues situation reports and oral fragmentary orders on the move. Planning and
  preparation to a battle drill standard are needed. Within the support area, a successful defense is the defeat of
  enemy forces within the security area or the main battle area, if designated.
  Fires
  4-47. The MEB must plan for Army and joint fires: indirect fires, attack aviation, and close air support
  throughout the support area. The commander must consider the risk and advantages of observed and
  unobserved fires and then incorporate this into the attack guidance and target selection standards of the
  concept of fires and targeting criteria.