How to Clear a Room (Without Pretending You're SEAL Team 6)
Clearing a room is a small set of choices made fast: how big is the doorway, how many of you are stacked, where are the corners you can't see, and who owns each one. Once you know the vocabulary, the rest is reps.
Slice first, almost always
Pieing a corner from the threshold reveals threat without exposing your whole silhouette. It's the default. Dynamic entry is the exception, not the rule.
Two-man = cross or buttonhook
A cross-entry sends each man to the opposite corner. Buttonhook keeps you on your side. Pick based on door geometry — never both for the same room.
Four points of domination
In a square room, the four corners are 'points of domination.' Each man on a four-stack owns one. Calls go: 'one set, two set, three set, four set, room clear.'
Step one — read the door
Center-fed door (you enter to the middle of the room) vs. corner-fed door (the door is in a corner) changes everything. Corner-fed: you only have one direction of unknown, easier. Center-fed: threats can be on both sides of you on entry, harder. Look before you stack.
Step two — slice what you can
Before anyone goes through that door, the lead man (1-man) pies the room from the threshold — small lateral steps that swing your weapon into more of the room each step. You shoot what you see. By the time you cross the threshold, the unknown should be the smallest possible slice.
Step three — pick your entry
Cross: 1-man goes to his strong-side corner, 2-man crosses behind him to the opposite corner. Used on center-fed doors. Buttonhook: each man hooks back along his side of the wall. Used on corner-fed doors. Both end with you facing inward, weapons up, owning your sector.
Step four — call it
'I'm set.' 'Two set.' 'Threats down, room clear.' Without calls, the next room can't start. This is the part sims get wrong constantly because randoms don't talk. It's why we mic-gate every CQB night.
Common questions
Is dynamic entry ever the right call?
Yes — when you've lost the element of surprise, when there's a hostage on a known timer, when you're being shot at through the door. It's not the default; it's the exception. Real teams almost always default to deliberate clears.
What's the biggest mistake new players make?
Crossing the threshold before slicing. The doorway is a 'fatal funnel' — the one place every threat in the room can shoot at you. Slice first.
Where can I drill this with a real squad?
TGH runs nightly Ready or Not stacks specifically built for this. Mic on, you'll be in a four-stack within 5 minutes of joining the voice channel.