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Is it really fair to continue to tell our maneuver commanders that fires aren't right because the guidance they provide us is unsatisfactory? Granted, the maneuver commander is responsible for his fires. However, it's time for us to take a hard look in the mirror before pointing fingers at maneuver and ask ourselves, "What can we do to make it easier on the commander?"
The "broken record" guidance trend briefed throughout the Army may be true for some, but it should be put on "sabbatical leave" until we, as fire supporters, clean up our publications, field manuals and white papers. Our white paper "Fire Support Planning for Brigade and Below," dated 1998, is as close to getting it right as I have seen. It links essential fire support tasks (EFSTs) to proper Task terminology (of the EFST Task, Purpose, Method and Effects) and makes it easier for the commander to convey guidance to us.
However, for the most part, we have not been clear about what we need from the maneuver commander and have provided conflicting versions of what we need. The fire support community is making valiant efforts to fix the manuals discussed in this article, and some of the revisions look promising for fire support guidance, but our current arsenal of publications is unsatisfactory.
Publications on Commander's Guidance. The old FM 71-123 Tactics and Techniques and Procedures [TTP] for Combined Arms Heavy Forces: Armored Brigade, Battalion Task Force, and Company Team had nothing in it about guidance for fire support. Its replacement, the FM 3-90 Tactics followed suit. That's easy to fix. Once we determine the best method for conveying guidance to us, we can get the Combined Arms Command (CAC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the branch schools to insert it in their manuals as part of the planning process. Our combined arms brothers will welcome the addition.
Next is the FM 6-20 series. FM 6-2040 TTP for Fire Support for Brigade Operations is representative. The brief discussion on Page 2-3 puts more effort into addressing the guidance from the higher fire support cell than it does the construct ofthe maneuver commander's guidance. Hopefully, our maneuver commanders are not reading this page, or we might receive something patterned in the form...