FOs controlling multiple fire missions

[Cpl Steiner]

Hi,

In CM:SF I routinely pick a single FO and have him call in all my artillery missions. Often he will be calling in two or three missions simultaneously. Is this realistic? I would have thought talking to a battery and looking out for spotting rounds would take all your attention and that it would be next to impossible to have several channels open to different batteries and to be giving them all fire adjustment instructions simultaneously. Surely this is a recipe for disaster in the real world?

[SlowMotion]

You mean 2-3 * 2 guns a disaster? A LOT bigger missions were controlled by a single FO already during WW2.

[Sixxkiller]

Yes FO's are trained to use multiple assets at the same time, including air assets and naval batteries. A better designation now is Fire Support Specialist (FSS).

Also in game terms (will have to check on this) they should be the best at spotting atleast the friendly units in elite FOW settings, but not sure if they do.

And BTW, the washout rate to get into 13F is higher than being a combat pilot or some of the snake eating professions. Also the security clearance can be as high as any Army held position. Did I mention they have to pretty much be able to out run, out fight, and out survive most other units too?

[SSG DEG]

Originally posted by Cpl Steiner:

Hi,

In CM:SF I routinely pick a single FO and have him call in all my artillery missions. Often he will be calling in two or three missions simultaneously. Is this realistic? I would have thought talking to a battery and looking out for spotting rounds would take all your attention and that it would be next to impossible to have several channels open to different batteries and to be giving them all fire adjustment instructions simultaneously. Surely this is a recipe for disaster in the real world?

I don't know anything about the modern radios. In the old days Mortar and Arty FDC's had multiple radios. So one of them would have to switch a radio to the other FDCs freq/push.

The FDC would, for example, radio the FO "Shot Out, Time of flight 36 seconds". Then five seconds before impact would radio "Splash 05". So the FO could focus on that part of the business.

[Cpl Steiner]

As non-military this is something I didn't know before. Thanks for putting me straight. Kudos to those FOs!

[Sixxkiller]

The FDC's are good too, they just arent being shot at most of the time. I imagine the technology has made them more efficient since your day DEG.

Getting an FO (killing, wounding) is a pretty devistating loss to your mission in the real world. I have heard the Haji's in Iraq have big bounties on them (not sure if its true or not).

[phaeden]

As a former 25-31/08-61 with ANGLICO, calling in the types of missions in game is quite simple. It would be pretty easy to call in quite a few at the same time. If the missions were SEAD type then it might be a bit harder. Another thing that makes it easier is you don't really need to make any adjustments at all - just click on the map and the guns always hit it.

In future games, I would like to see a much more realistic CFF (call for fire) but that is just because I always enjoyed blowing things up.

[Cpl Steiner]

Originally posted by phaeden:

Another thing that makes it easier is you don't really need to make any adjustments at all - just click on the map and the guns always hit it.

That's interesting. So you are saying that in the "spotting" phase of a fire mission called in using an RPDA or FBCB2 the first spotting round should be on target like 99% of the time?

I'm pretty certain this isn't the case in the game.

[JonS]

No, he is saying that in the game you don't have to manage the adjustment procedure.

[athkatla]

Originally posted by JonS:

No, he is saying that in the game you don't have to manage the adjustment procedure.

This is correct. As a former Mortar Fire Controller (MFC) in the British Army my job was to identify the target, work out the grid reference and direction to the target, and send this to the mortar line with an order to 'Adjust Fire' with one round. From that round I would send corrections something like 'Left 100, Drop 100, Repeat' (although normally with that small a correction I would ask for 5 Rounds FFE, but you get the idea. If the original Grid Reference was way out, you would probably have to fire several adjusting rounds to get on target before Firing For Effect.

[StrykerPSG]

Originally posted by Cpl Steiner:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by phaeden:

Another thing that makes it easier is you don't really need to make any adjustments at all - just click on the map and the guns always hit it.

That's interesting. So you are saying that in the "spotting" phase of a fire mission called in using an RPDA or FBCB2 the first spotting round should be on target like 99% of the time?

With today's technology, that is a pretty accurate assessment of current indirect fire doctrine. Gone are the days of bold, shifting adjustments and now mortar platoons are able to lay and fire all 4 guns in under a minute, with phenomenal first round accuracy. Now, defining accuracy, meaning it falls within the about 5-10 meters of the spotted location. This is done through assets like FBCB2, RPDA and MFCS.

I'm pretty certain this isn't the case in the game. </font>