The SITREP (Situation Report) is the periodic snapshot of a unit's situation transmitted to command. It is not an event report (like a contact), not a punctual observation (like a SALUTE): it is a structured synthesis of position, status, enemy activity, friendly activity, logistics and intent, repeated on schedule or on demand. The main tool by which command keeps situational awareness across the whole force.
Purpose
The SITREP serves three functions: feeding command's common operating picture, flagging deviations from the plan before they become severe, and producing a temporal record for AAR and later analysis. An honest, correctly formatted SITREP is the difference between a unit command can support with QRF/fires/logistics and a unit command stops considering in its decisions because "we never know what they're doing".
Cadence
SITREP frequency depends on the operational cycle. Set in OPORD, never improvised. A unit skipping a scheduled SITREP creates command anxiety and triggers overdue procedures pointlessly. If there is nothing new, transmit "NO CHANGE" — that is information, it is not silence.
| Scenario | Cadence |
|---|---|
| Static ops / OP | Every 2–4 hours or per SOP |
| Active movement | At every checkpoint or march leg |
| Recent contact | Within 15 minutes of contact break |
| Extended hold | Every 6 hours + on significant change |
| Rotation / shift change | At start and end of every shift |
Standard format
Six mandatory fields, fixed order. Anglo mnemonic: "LEEP-IL" — Location, Enemy, Equipment/logistics, Personnel, Intentions, Logistics. Doctrinal variants exist; the principle is the same: position → what the enemy is doing → what I am doing → what I need → what I will do.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| LOCATION | Current position in MGRS 6–8 digits. If moving, current position + direction + approximate speed. |
| STATUS | Unit operational status: GREEN (full mission capable), AMBER (degraded), RED (combat ineffective), BLACK (out of action). Brevity: one word. |
| ENEMY ACTIVITY | What the enemy has done/is doing since the previous SITREP. Observation only, no inference. |
| FRIENDLY ACTIVITY | What the unit has done since the previous SITREP: movement, events, plan changes. Brief, no narrative. |
| LOGISTICS | State of critical consumables: ammunition (% of basic load), water, batteries, medical, fuel (where applicable). Critical only, not the inventory. |
| INTENT | What the unit will do next. One or two lines, action verb + objective + expected timing. |
Status codes
Colour status codes are the most efficient way to communicate combat capability without detail. Command reads the colour before reading the rest of the SITREP: it sets the urgency with which to dedicate attention and resources to the unit.
| Code | Definition |
|---|---|
| GREEN | Full mission capable. Personnel, equipment, ammunition and morale at operational level. |
| AMBER | Degraded. Reduced capability but still functional. Typically: contained losses, consumable shortage, fatigue. |
| RED | Combat ineffective. No longer able to sustain the plan. Needs replacement, reinforcement or extraction. |
| BLACK | Out of action. Unit no longer operational. Needs MEDEVAC, recovery or recomposition. |
Realistic example
ZULU SIX, this is ALPHA TWO, SITREP follows, over.
LOCATION: grid three-seven-uniform charlie-bravo eight-two-fife seven-zero-three, holding.
STATUS: AMBER.
ENEMY: two FPV passes last hour, one impact two-zero meters west, no observed dismounts.
FRIENDLY: one WIA Priority C stabilized, position improved with overhead cover.
LOGISTICS: ammo eight-zero percent, water two-fife percent, batteries five-zero percent, medical adequate.
INTENT: hold to last light, request resupply at grid four-fife-uniform-uniform-three-six-niner-two-fife-fife at twenty-one-zero-zero Zulu.
How copy, over.
Operational variants
Variant focused on logistics: ammunition consumption, water, medical, fuel. Typically end-of-day or LOG-cell requested.
Specific to fuel consumption and availability for motorised units. Typical cadence every 12 h or pre-movement.
Personnel status: present, wounded, MIA, KIA. Updated after every loss or replacement event.
Intelligence summary — not operational for the single unit but for the intelligence cell or S2. Slower cadence, higher detail.
Common mistakes
- Copy-pasting the previous SITREP without updating changed fields
- Declaring GREEN to avoid drawing attention — false reassurance, fails on first real request
- Skipping the INTENT field because "not decided yet" — command works off the declared intent
- Reporting logistics at inventory-detail level instead of critical consumables
- Transmitting clear SITREP with real MGRS and real intent instead of brevity codes (where the net requires it)
- Not declaring "NO CHANGE" — silence does not equal no variation, it equals potentially compromised unit
Lessons learned Ukraine
On the Ukrainian front, the honest SITREP is rare and precious. Informal pressure to report GREEN (to avoid seeming weak, to not lose rotation slot, to avoid triggering reinforcement bureaucracy) leads to systematic under-reporting of AMBER and RED. Result: command is surprised when an undeclared AMBER unit folds under pressure. International volunteer formations with more mature operational culture introduced the unpunished-AMBER principle: declaring AMBER is not weakness, it is operational data, and asking for reinforcement is not surrender. Command always prefers a declared AMBER six hours early to a surprise BLACK.