FO Course Pt.1 Call For Fire (Simplified Version)

Author: Boner

I got the opportunity to meet veterans of various military occupation specialties from my previous community, learning a lot about their roles and details during their service. They would often happily provide courses that instructed and explained procedures that correlated with their specialty such as acting JFOs, FISTs FACs, TACPs, etc. I have simplified the Call of Fire procedure to relate to BW's play style so I did omit some procedures for the sake of adaptation. I've always believed in the importance of passing knowledge, if you choose to use the procedures, it is a simple, quick and informative way for requesting indirect fire in 3 short transmissions. The amount of detail will depend on your immersion.

Forward Observer (FO) - Observes targets and prepares call for fire Fire Direction Officer (FDO) - Manages the Fire Direction Center (FDC), in game he translates map data provided by FO to firing data for gunners. This is usually the Team Leader of the artillery squad.

CALL FOR FIRE (CFF)

A call for fire (CFF) is a concise message prepared by the observer. It contains all information needed by the FDC to determine the method of target attack. When CFF is issued, all messages from the FO are read back by the FDC for clarity and ensuring key information are understood. There are few key elements require to be transmitted by the FO to FDO or Gunner depending on the game slots, they are as follows:

Warning Orders (WARNO) The warning order clears the net for the fire mission and tells the FDO the type of mission, the type of target and location that will be used.

TYPE OF MISSION

Fire for Effect (FFE): Accurate Target Location Adjust Fire: Inaccurate Target Location Suppression Immediate Suppression and Immediate Smoke The most common type of mission used in game is FFE. The practical example provided below is based on FFE mission type. Example of Warning Order & Type of Mission: 1st Transmission FO: [STEEL RAIN, THIS IS THUNDER, ENEMY INF MARKED ON MAP, FIRE FOR EFFECT,OVER] FDC: [THUNDER, THIS IS STEEL RAIN, ENEMY INF MARKED ON MAP, FIRE FOR EFFECT, OUT] or FO: [STEEL RAIN, THIS IS THUNDER, SHIFT TRP 101 , ADJUST FIRE, OVER] FDC: [THUNDER, THIS IS STEEL RAIN, SHIFT TRP 101, ADJUST FIRE, OUT]

Method of Target Location

This element enables the FDO to plot the location of the target to determine firing data. The available methods are as follows:

Grid - In game, six or eight digit grids are normally used, also FO to provide direction in relation to target to FDO during or before fire adjustments Shift - The target location is shifted from a known point e.g. Known TRP, buildings etc Polar - The target is located with respect to the FO's position

The Grid method is most straight forward in game, however, since we mark, you can just reference the marker as a Shift or with a grid for a quicker search.

Example of Method of Target location: 2nd Transmission

FO:[MARKER ON GRID 202 909, ALTITUDE 200, OVER.] FDC:[MARKER ON GRID 202, 909, ALTITUDE 200, OUT.] *Optional transmission in BW if you want to clarify the location, but you should send it because who knows which inf marker you're talking about?

or if its an adjust fire mission

FO:[ADJUST FIRE, NORTH 100, EAST 50, OVER.] FDC:[ADJUST FIRE, NORTH 100, EAST 50, OUT.]

Target Description

The FO must describe the target in enough detail that the FDO can determine the amount and type of ammunition to use. The FO should transmit a target description contains the following:

What the target is (troops, equipment, supply dump, trucks, and so forth) The target size and shape (squad, platoon, three trucks, six tanks, spread across 100m, bunched up in small area and so forth) The degree of protection (in open, in bunkers, with overhead protection, and so forth) Method of Engagement The FO may indicate how he wants to attack the target. This element consists of the type of ammunition, distribution, call out danger close.

Danger Close - safe distance for artillery and mortar is generally 400-600 meters depending on caliber Ammunition - HE, Illumination, SMOKE, WP, EXCAL Volume of Fire - Amount of rounds Method of Control At My Command - The FO wishes to control the time of delivery of fire, he includes AT MY COMMAND in the method of control Request Time of Flight (TOF) - Time of flight of the rounds Time on Target - The FO may tell the FDC when he wants the rounds to impact by requesting TIME ON TARGET e.g. TIME ON TARGET 5 mins from now, TIME ON TARGET 0859 Check Firing - CHECK FIRING is used to cause an immediate halt in firing Repeat - REPEAT can be given during adjustment or FFE missions e.g. REPEAT last fire mission If Method of Control is omitted, it is defaulted to FDO's discretion.

Example of Target Description and Method of Control: 3rd Transmission

FO:[INFANTRY IN THE OPEN, 6 HE, 3 SMOKE, DANGER CLOSE, OVER.] FDC:[INFANTRY IN THE OPEN, 6 HE, 3 SMOKE, DANGER CLOSE, OUT.]

FDC:[SHOT, OVER.] FO:[SHOT, OUT.] *SHOT: When the rounds are fired.

FDC:[SPLASH, OVER.] FO:[SPLASH,OUT] *SPLASH: 5 secs before rounds impact

FDC:[ROUNDS COMPLETE,OVER.] FO:[ROUNDS COMPLETE, OUT.] *All rounds have left the tube, important to know if any more rounds are incoming.

FO:[ENEMY INF DESTROYED, END OF MISSION, OVER.] FDC:[ENEMY INF DESTROYED, END OF MISSION, OUT.] *This last transmissions sends your Battle Damage Assessment and to notify that the fire mission has ended, giving time to prepare for the next.

FULL EXAMPLE

FO: [STEEL RAIN, THIS IS THUNDER, ENEMY INF MARKED ON MAP, FIRE FOR EFFECT,OVER] FDC: [THUNDER, THIS IS STEEL RAIN, ENEMY INF MARKED ON MAP, FIRE FOR EFFECT, OUT] FO:[MARKER ON GRID 202 909, ALTITUDE 200, OVER.] FDC:[MARKER ON GRID 202, 909, ALTITUDE 200, OUT.] FO:[INFANTRY IN ENTRENCHED, 7 HE AIR BURST, OVER.] FDC:[INFANTRY IN ENTRENCHED, 7 HE AIR BURST, OUT.] FDC:[SHOT, OVER.] FO:[SHOT, OUT.] FDC:[SPLASH, OVER.] FO:[SPLASH,OUT] FDC:[ROUNDS COMPLETE,OVER.] FO:[ROUNDS COMPLETE, OUT.] FO:[ENEMY INF SUPPRESSED, END OF MISSION, OVER.] FDC:[ENEMY INF SUPPRESSED, END OF MISSION, OUT.] Call For Fire should take only 2-4 minutes depending on the skill of the artillery crew