Center Peel, or simply "Peel" for short is a type of retreat practiced by modern-day infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

. This particular tactic

Military tactics

Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...

 is more specifically designed for situations where smaller groups of infantry withdraw from an engagement of a much larger force. In general terms, it is a sloped or diagonal retreat from the enemy.

Definition

This tactic was designed with human psychology in mind. It begins with an infantry unit facing off with a larger force of enemies. Once the command is called, the soldiers implement a battle line formation facing into the enemy's midst. The soldiers then begin, or continue, to use suppressing fire to delay the enemy's attack and advance. Depending on the direction of the retreat, the second to last soldier on the farmost end, opposite the retreating direction, calls out, "Peel one". Next, the infantryman next to him, on the end of the line, ceases fire, works his way behind the line towards the other side, takes a position one meter diagonally back from the farthest soldier on this side, and resumes suppressing fire. Then, the process repeats with the commands being simplified to "Peel", the "one" only there to signify the actual start of the tactic, and continues until the party has safely disengaged the target.

The slanting motion of the tactic gives the impression of increasing numbers of infantry joining the battle, a psychological move designed to demoralize the opposition. The slanting motion also has the benefit of keeping open one's field of fire. Retreating directly backwards would put the soldier too closely behind his own men, severely limiting his/her field of fire.

In the Canadian Army, this technique is referred to as an "Aussie Peelback".

In the Australian Army this tactic is known as "The Tunnel of Love" and is often used as the first part of "Break Contact" drills for small reconnaissance and special forces patrols when encountering larger enemy forces.