Military Operations and Leadership Practice Test 2026 – METT-TC, ROEs, Troop Movements

Interval is the spacing between units used in movement planning to create a safety margin that preserves reaction time. By maintaining an interval, the lead element can identify threats or obstacles and react, while the following units have space to observe, assess, and maneuver without crowding or colliding. This buffer can be measured in time or distance, depending on doctrine and conditions, and it helps keep the formation flexible and cohesive even under changing situations. Speed describes how fast units move, not how they are spaced to allow reaction; distance is just a static separation and doesn’t inherently capture the need for a reaction-time buffer; cover is protection or concealment, not spacing. So the concept that embodies the safety margin for reaction time is interval.