ATP-3-09-42 Fire Support for the Brigade Combat Team Download
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Planning and Integrating Fires for BCT Operations 1 March 2016 ATP 3-09.42 6-17 Develop the Concept of Operations 6-53. The BCT commander's intent, visualization, concept of operations and guidance for fire support are critical to the development of the fire support plan. As a minimum, the scheme of fires supporting the concept of operations should establish the basis for the employment of fire support. 6-54. Using the outputs from the mission analysis, the BCT S-3, FSCOORD and fires cell planners consider what fire support assets and resources to use and develop the supporting scheme of fires for each course of action. A course of action may include one or more ways to generate the BCT commander’s desired effects. 6-55. The scheme of fires states how the BCT commander will integrate fires to accomplish the mission. It is linked to and is simultaneously developed with the course of action for the overall operation. The scheme of fires identifies fire support priorities by critical event, phase, or unit and area. The scheme of fires focuses fire support on the course of action’s decisive point, or on fire support to shaping operations that allow the BCT commander the freedom to effectively apply combat power at the decisive point. 6-56. As the scheme of fires is developed, the BCT fire support planners determine how best to position and use fire support assets throughout the operation. The object is to ensure that fire support priorities are consistent with the commander’s intent and resources are available when and where needed. 6-57. The first priority of fires is to the decisive operation. The decisive operation determines the outcome of a major operation, battle, or engagement. It leads directly to the accomplishment of a commander’s mission. Commanders typically identify a single decisive operation, but more than one of the BCT’s subordinate units may play a role in a decisive operation. The decisive point may shift during the execution of the operation in order to exploit an enemy weakness. Critical Asset List 6-58. The fire support planners review the critical asset list developed during mission analysis to help determine fire support tasks for each course of action. A critical asset list is a prioritized list of assets or areas, normally identified by phase of the operation and approved by the joint force commander, that should be defended against air and missile threats (JP 3-01). 6-59. Critical assets are generally specific assets of such extraordinary importance that their loss or degradation would have a significant and debilitating effect on operations or the mission. Critical assets may be added or deleted from the list based on how their loss or degradation would affect the course of action. TARGETING AND RELATED PRODUCTS 6-60. Army targeting uses the functions of D3A as its methodology. Targeting: Integrates and synchronizes fires into unified land operations. Uses available capabilities to generate a specific lethal or nonlethal effect on a target. Begins during pre-hostilities deliberate planning and continues throughout execution. 6-61. The targeting working group brings various members of the BCT staff together to synchronize targeting and related targeting products. During the development of each course of action, the targeting working group selects potential high-payoff targets for each BCT course of action. The targets are developed from among the identified high-value targets and knowledge of the enemy commander’s intent developed during mission analysis. The focus of the effort is to identify the capabilities required by the enemy and the targets that enable the enemy ability to successfully achieve anticipated objectives. Using the information developed, the targeting working group identifies the purpose for attacking targets, and the payoff to be gained. The analysis specifies the particular function, capability, or units to be attacked; when and where they should be attacked, and the desired effects to be achieved by successfully attacking these targets. The targeting working group deconflicts targets, identifies the change in enemy activity desired (develops measures of effectiveness and measures of performance for assessment), and develops plans by which fires, reconnaissance, target acquisition, and intelligence capabilities are positioned to acquire and attack identified high-payoff targets in time and space.