ATP-3-09-30 Observed Fires Download
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28 September 2017 ATP 3-09.30 5-1 Chapter 5 Adjustment of Fire An observer's primary mission is the placement of timely and accurate fires on targets. If an observer can locate the target accurately, FIRE FOR EFFECT will be requested in the call for fire. Failure to locate the target accurately may result from poor visibility, deceptive terrain, poor maps, or the observer's difficulty in pinpointing the target. If the observer cannot locate the target accurately enough to warrant fire for effect, an adjustment may be conducted. Even with an accurate target location, if current firing data corrections are not available, the fire direction officer may direct that the observer conduct an adjustment. Normally, one gun fires in adjustment. Special situations in which more than one gun is used are noted throughout this discussion. ADJUSTING POINT 5-1. When it is necessary for the observer to adjust fire, an adjusting point must be selected. In area missions, the observer must select a well-defined point near the center of the target area on which to adjust the fire. The selected point is an adjusting point (see figure 5-1). The location of this point is included in the target location element of the call for fire in an area fire mission. In the conduct of a registration or destruction mission (precision fire), the adjusting point is the target itself. Figure 5-1. Adjusting point in an area fire mission SPOTTING 5-2. Spotting is the observer's determination of the location of the burst, or the mean point of impact of a group of bursts, with respect to the adjusting point as observed along the observer-target line. The observer should consider the most difficult spottings first. The sequence of spottings is HOB (air or graze), range (over or short), and deviation (left or right). Spottings are made for the following: When firing fuze time, the HOB (the number of meters the burst is above the target). Range (whether the burst occurred beyond or short of the target). Deviation (the number of mils right or left of the observer-target line).