FM-3-09 Fire Support and Field Artillery Operations Download
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Chapter 6 6-36 FM 3-09 30 April 2020 Make fires immediately available to crossing forces. If necessary, have GS artillery fire while DS artillery is crossing. Assign priority of fires to assault forces. Assign nonstandard missions to GS units. Change the priority of calls for fire, fire planning, and other inherent responsibilities as necessary. Plan smoke and suppression fires in greater than normal amounts if necessary. Use smoke to screen both actual and dummy crossing sites. Use smoke to obscure enemy direct-fire positions in the bridgehead area until the crossing forces can engage them. Suppress enemy forces in the bridgehead area until the assault force can provide its own suppressive fires. Use all available TA assets to identify targets in the bridgehead area. Have indirect-fire weapons cross the river with the forces they support. Use CAS and attack aviation to expand the bridgehead. COUNTERMOBILITY OPERATIONS 6-159. Countermobility operations are those combined arms activities that use or enhance the effects of natural and man-made obstacles to deny enemy freedom of movement and maneuver (ATP 3-90.8). The primary purposes of countermobility operations are to shape enemy movement and maneuver and to prevent the enemy from gaining a position of advantage. Countermobility operations are conducted to support forces that are operating along the range of military operations. Countermobility operations directly support offensive and defensive operations. For more information on countermobility operations see ATP 3-90.8. 6-160. Commanders must ensure that obstacles are integrated with observation and fires to defeat or disrupt enemy attempts to breach friendly obstacles. These fires must be fully synchronized with the concept of operations to avoid hindering any friendly-force mobility. Consider the use of scatterable mines to prevent repositioning of enemy forces without hindering friendly actions, and to disrupt the enemy counterattack. STABILITY OPERATIONS AND CONSOLIDATION AREA FIRE SUPPORT 6-161. Large-scale ground combat operations involves the combination of offense, defense, and stability operations. A stability operation is an operation conducted outside the United States in coordination with other instruments of national power to establish or maintain a secure environment and provide essential governmental services, emergency infrastructure reconstruction, and humanitarian relief (ADP 3-0). The priorities and effort given to stability operations vary within subordinate unit AO. Corps and division commanders analyze the situations they face to determine the minimum-essential stability operations and the priority associated with each operation. This analysis includes a planned transition to consolidation of gains in OAs once large-scale ground combat operations culminate. 6-162. Consolidate gains are activities to make enduring any temporary operational success and to set the conditions for a sustainable security environment, allowing for a transition of control to other legitimate authorities (ADP 3-0). Consolidation of gains is an integral and continuous part of armed conflict, and it is necessary for achieving success across the range of military operations. Operations to consolidate gains will be conducted simultaneously with all other strategic roles, to include large-scale ground combat operations. Army forces deliberately plan to consolidate gains during all phases of an operation. While Army forces consolidate gains throughout an operation, consolidating gains becomes the focus of Army forces after large- scale ground combat operations have concluded. Operations to consolidate gains require combined arms capabilities and the ability to employ fires and manage airspace, but at a smaller scale than large-scale ground combat operations. 6-163. The four FS functions, planning principles, and principles of FS execution during stability operations are the same as during offensive and defensive operations. The actions of FS personnel are framed by the disciplined application of force while adhering to the ROE. Considerations for FS during stability operations include: