Any tips on crossing open/clear terrain

[Rigafan]

I'm struggling with this on the Soviet Afghan campaigns. 

The area is all clear/field and I get spotted straight away and pinned down! Ends up in a stand off unless I meat grind my way forward

Are you making sure to go to ground, or, to stay on ground and creep forward? Do you have smoke, or no? Sometimes I take units further back from my first line, and shoot at the enemy to hopefully suppress, and exhaus the opp fire, then move the closest units. If against an opponent they might have the hold order on, so they won't fire.

1. If you have to move over open terrain, chose a hex that can be seen by as few enemy positions as possible. Make plenty use of the line of sight overlay (hotkey S). Terrain analysis is key. (It is the safest approach to simply assume that there will be an enemy position in any hex that offers protection and good fields of fire)
   
2. Make sure that all enemy units who can see the clear hex are suppressed (either disrupted, pinned, demoralized - in all cases, their fire effectiveness is reduced by 50% which is crucial if you need to manoeuvre). This is what long range/fire support weapons (MGs, mortars) are for.
   
3. If you need to cross open terrain, try not to END your movement/turn in open terrain. Move across it and end your turn in cover, if possible. This is especially true if the enemies who can fire on the hex are only disrupted: Disrupted units can recover at the start of their turn, so they might get 100% fire power on you if you end your turn in the open. Against pinned units, it's much safer (as they cannot get back to 100% firepower in a single turn). Check the parameter data in advance to see if your units can make it across the open area in one turn (and also remember the weapon-overload rules, which might slow units down! I wished I could turn that off!).
   
4. If you cannot suppress all enemies or "jump" across clear terrain in a single turn, make sure you go to ground mode at the end of the move and use smoke on the clear hex. It will decrease incoming fire effectiveness by 50% (so it has the same effect as suppressing the enemy positions). You might also chose to crawl forward (move in "ground mode"), which of course is slow and might extend the time of exposure.
   
5. Make sure that the unit's commanders are close by so that if units get disrupted by fire in the enemy turn, they have a good chance to recover immediately at the start of your turn. This is very essential as disrupted units have their movement costs doubled which can be fatal if you have a lot of open ground to cover.
   
6. If you have tanks, you might want to stack them with the infantry, as the infantry gets some protection from it ("infantry protection" parameter).
   
7. Think twice if you want your manoeuver elements to fire at the enemy. Their main task should be to manoeuver and assault, not waste time/movement points on firing. Firing should be the task of fire support elements. If the enemy has better cover and is not suppressed, it's often wise to hold your fire. (If you want to preserve your weapons' effectiveness, you can also chose to hold your units' opportunity fire - select the weapons and press "F").
   
8. Don't bunch up. Fire in Squad Battles always affects ALL units in the hex. By stacking various units in a hex, you're basically multiplying your opponent's fire. Only bunch up if you have excellent cover. (It's usually safe to stack leaders with units though as these are single man units and are thus very unlikely to get hit).
   

PS: Nice youtube channel! :) I also have some Squad Battles videos online, but the commentary is in german:
Afghan War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHCAWZUoFNI
Vietnam: https://youtu.be/s0BYEmVNM40
Spanish Civil War (not finised yet): https://youtu.be/ukAm4uZrq-c

Do you mind if I ask another question?

On my Grenada campaign, the second mission I think it is, there is a bridge with has some barbed wire infront of it. 

During the game I get a bulldozer reinforcement. I assume this is to clear the obstruction, the wire? But I cannot figure out how! I've looked in the manual and don't see the bulldozer!