Group

Fire control

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The FM outlines our core skills, policies and guides to ensure every member stands ready for the mission ahead.

Point fire is fire using a direct and controlled aim, for the specific purpose of hitting an individual target accurately.

Example:

• A rifleman takes aim for an enemy combatant he can see in a window, releases controlled, accurate fire with the intended purpose of wounding the enemy

Area fire is aiming for a group of enemies close together, or an area of concealment that is hiding enemy units, with the intention not to hit any specific individual target, but to hit any target within the area of fire.

Example:

• A rifleman engages a column of enemy infantry, with the intention of putting enough rounds towards the general location that it is likely to wound several enemy combatants.
• A pilot, receiving an instruction to engage enemy infantry in a treeline, engages in area fire on that treeline. Despite not being able to see individual targets, the pilot knows they are there, and puts enough fire down in that area that it is likely to cause casualties.

Suppressive fire is fire where the primary intention is not to hit an enemy target, but to fix them in place and prevent them from returning effective fire, by placing them in the position where if they were to try, they would likely be wounded. If enemy combatants are wounded, this is simply a benefit. Suppressing the enemy can be used for many reasons but the main reasons are; preventing a superior enemy from returning fire, providing the opportunity to get into cover, or keeping the enemy in place whilst friendly units flank them.

Examples:

• A fireteam suppresses an enemy behind a wall, preventing them from moving without being hit, whilst another fireteam moves to the wall to finish the enemy
• A pilot, seeing an enemy fixed wing making an attack run, suppresses the enemy by firing towards them as much as possible, causing them to have to disengage.

Deliberate fire is the a rate of fire that, looking to make deliberate and controlled shots towards a target that have a high chance of accuracy despite a slower pace. This is the standard and default rate of fire.

A rough guide for a standard rifleman, would be 1 round per 4 seconds, for a combined total of 1-1.5 round per second per fireteam

Rapid fire is a rate of fire that is faster than deliberate in order to increase the volume of rounds towards the enemy, at the expense of accuracy. Often used to achieve suppressing fire, rapid fire is used sparingly, as its higher rate increases ammunition consumption.

A rough guide for a rifleman, is 1 round per second, for a total of 4-6 rounds per second from the fireteam.

Burst fire, commonly used with automatic rifles or any rifle with the burst fire setting, achieves a rate much like deliberate fire, but instead of a single round, a burst of 3-5 rounds is fired.

A fire control order (FCO) is used by an element leader to direct their element's fire quickly and effectively towards a target.

The acronym for fire control order is: GRIT

1. GROUP: who is being addressed, "Section", "Fire Team" (Charlie or Delta), "No. 2 Rifleman", etc. 
2. RANGE: the distance to the target. 
3. INDICATION: in which direction to look and what to look for. 
4. TYPE OF FIRE: the type of fire that is required.

Example:

FTL: ‘Green Team. 100m. Enemy infantry, North. Point fire!’

Engage the target specified in a given fire control order using:

• the correct type of fire
• using the correct rate of fire if specified, otherwise using an appropriate rate of fire depending on the target