FiST is short for Fire Support Team. Not Forward Support Team. I goofed on that, my bad. Explains why I wasn't smart enough to join you FO's out there! Check out our video on the AH-64Apache or don't it's cool th-cam.com/video/wfkzsv5Iip4/w-d-xo.html
Task & Purpose I was just about to correct you on that. As a young 2LT in the 82d in 1977, I was part of the original development of the FIST concept. Prior to that, the FO had a recon sgt and a driver (Korea ‘76) and supported an infantry or other company on their own.
@JJ Bonneville Agree, absolutely. We had a purpose paper written at the time by the 82d DivArty XO (can't remember his name, sorry-43yrs ago) that stated the mission of the FIST was to be inserted as far forward as possible, including missions we had with the Ranger battalions to go deep behind the lines (think about being dropped into East Germany or Poland if the Cold War heated up) to gather targeting info. Otherwise, we were also tasked to dig in deep and be able to target the support trains of units that had passed by. The biggest problem at the time was that there was little coordination on a daily basis with the infantry or armor units. They did their training and we did ours. As the Bde FSO for COL Gordon Sullivan (later GEN and Chief of Staff of the Army), I pushed constantly for my FSOs and FISTs to be sent on training exercises with the treadheads. Being in Fire Support was the best part of my career.
This was my job in Vietnam. I was the 1st Platoon, Echo Company, 2nd Battalion 9th Marine Regiment, Whiskey Echo Foxtrot Oscar. I liked it because I was respected and I only had to carry a Map, Compass, binoculars, Rifle, Ammunition and my food and personals and I had my own Radioman to call in Missions. The bad news was the enemy did their best to kill me first, since I was the most dangerous.. I got the job as an E-2 because 3 FO's were wounded and they were looking for a volunteer to take the last ones place. I lasted about 6 months then was flown home in a Hospital Plane. I was hit at least twice but our platoon took Hill 861 away from the NVA. I was near the end of my 13 month tour so after I recovered I was sent to CamPen, and months later Hawaii and then back to Vietnam again with 1/27.
Awesome, Vietnam was way before my time but my MOS was the same when I joined in 1993. The drill sgts and instructors used to scare us with short life expectancy stories, but what you just shared makes all them stories make more sense now. You wouldn't be a target if you weren't effective. Thanks for your service and God Bless You brother!
I was also in weapons 2/9 though much later. FO’s still carried the same gear. When I was in we literally was still using the same gear from Vietnam and Korea and the mortar rounds were dated 1968. Guess they made a lot of ammo for that party. I think 2/9 has been disbanded (again)
I used to be a FO for 2 yrs in the Korean army and the biggest difficulty was to carry all the heavy equipment and to climb up the mountain. Physical fitness is crucial more than anything
I worked alongside Korean WARFLOT FOs as a TACP for exercises for about 2 years from 2016-2018. I loved y'all! Absolutely hated crushing mountains with all the gear, but getting know y'all over a meal once the work was done is a memory I still think about to this day.
When I was a FO in the late 70s in the USMC we used a map, binoculars, and the Mark 1 Eyeball. We were experts at reading a topo map, that is how we judged distance.
Taught my call for fire by USMC officers at my OBC (13E enlisted MOS). If you calibrated your hand you didn't even need the binos. I still have my FO reference card.
@@mikuhatsunegoshujin Not for distance. Range is from a map. The hand is for deflection. I think I still have my observed fire reference card. And I do have my old FMs 6-30, -40 and -50. Sorry for the artillery geeking out. I learned my fire support and call for fire from a Marine captain. Say what you what about artillery, no really. We can't hear you.
A late friend of mine was an FO in Korea. He related the uncomfortable feeling of knowing that the enemy was dedicating multiple artillery pieces to your personal destruction. From the stories he told it’s a miracle he survived. He was regularly dodging incoming artillery and mortar fire. The worst was when the only low spot was an ice cold river. A friend of my fathers was also an FO in Korea, and he remembered going to a forward position in the middle of the night with a squad of ROK soldiers to protect him. He remembered the sound of their rubber soled shoes as they scuttled away before dawn to avoid being caught out there with him. I don’t really blame them. A Marine friend was in Viet Nam and was sent with his platoon to cover an FO on a hilltop. They low crawled up to find the FO sitting out in a lawn chair under a Cinzano umbrella, craters all around him. His explanation “Ah, they can’t hit shit anyway.”
my grandpa was artillery in the korean war and his best friend, his brother in law was an FO apparently they had a very low survival rate because the enemy always aimed for the FO first
Benito Mussolini In Viet Nam, truth was stranger than fiction. The Marine I know saw so much bizarre stuff that he didn’t have to make things up. Some people (like that FO) became utterly fatalistic, which was probably a rational response for an FO. If he had camouflaged his position they still would have found him and bracketed him. My FO friend from Korea related a story about his artillery having a hard time hitting a bunker. They hit left, right, long, short. During a lull, one of the N Korean occupants jumped on top of the bunker and made rude gestures, knowing that he would see them.
MAkes sense but how did they locate him? If you camouflage your position I imagine it would be pretty hard to spot on dude with a radio in the middle of a battlefield.
@@MrDiamondism If the rounds are hitting accurately as you move, this tells you there are eyes on target. Just like there are Counter Sniper operations there are counter FO Operations. One must think like an FO and try to figure out where the eyes are at. If I wanted to have a good vantage point to observer the enemy where would I be? if it looks like a good FO spot you drop artillery on it. This is why a smart FO looks at his terrain and goes, "damn it would really suck to get there" and that is where he goes. Least likely place anyone would think
Thanks for the love bro. It's not often we Fisters get recognition. just for knowledge purposes, we use polar CFF method quite often especially when were low on time to react. It's one of the most expediant ways of getting shells down range to suppress or destroy the enemy. Keep making killer content!
"artillery are ussually miles behind the lines and they usually don't have line of sight to the target" If arty has line of sight to the target, something has gone terribly wrong
Back in my day, was attached to a mortar platoon. Spending some time as a mortarman, I also got a chance to play in the role of FC. However as a fire controller we did not have the computers you see today. Albeit we were generally working in targets 2-4km down range with the 81. Still firing over the heads of you buddies, still very important to get things right. Especially when coordinating fire at night with armoured groups. Our method was more of the last you spoke of, we took our grid reference, bino’d the target area..drawing on the map with a transparent grid/range reference overlay and call in rounds, bracketing to target. It was quite a rush. I always found it amazing, you could with 2-3 rounds, put 4 smooth bore guns on target, sending 16 rounds FFE of 81mm converging on an area not much larger than a Volkswagen ....really something to see. I recall just before getting out, they brought in a Mortar Data Fire Calculator or MDFC, which basically looked like an oversized old Texas Instruments calculator with the old red coloured single digits screen with about 50-60 multifunction buttons....generally, we could do the math in our heads faster than it took to punch in the numbers to that monstrosity of a handheld nightmare 😝 I liked you segment on language and how important it was to use it. Even though I have been out for over 25 years, I still use “say again”, rather than repeat. Old habits are hard to break.
I was an MFC in the British Army and was taught on the MFDC. Just as I was leaving regular service they brought in its replacement so never got to play with it
I appreciate this video. I was a forward observer in Afghanistan, and the only people that ever seemed to appreciate were the infantry platoon I was attached to.
When the MOS 13F started back in 78, I switched over from 11C. When we went too the field with the Infantry, we put up with a lot of crap. The biggest was chow. They would feed their own people first, let them get seconds if there was any, then we could eat. That did get rectified, but it still sucked.
When I used to be a young, inexperienced and little too much gung-ho corporal in the Austrian Army's infantry back in the mid-90ies, we always used to take the piss out of the artillery blokes in our NCO courses by telling them that the safest place from them would be at least 500 meters out of their maximum weapon range, no matter which weapon they were carrying. (and yes, that also included Glock 17s). Then they countered with the joke that artillery does know neither friend nor foe, but only worthwile targets to take us down a peg - and then we all had a good laugh, toasted each other and appreciated the concept of combined arms. Good times. I'll turn 50 in four weeks, retired about 15 years ago from active service as an OR-7 who was a team leader in Austrian SF (where I was trained as an FO among a number of other things) with three UN tours in the Balkans and an undisclosed number of undisclosed hush-hush stuff under my belt, so I'm now about twice the age when I earned my sergeant's stripes - and I miss those times like crazy. But war is always a young man's game as well as a ton of memories for old war horses to remember, so I'm kinda okay with that.
The guns get all the glory in Artillery... and While you support your maneuver. Tanks or infantry, you get no love there. It's ok to be underappreciated. Those who know know.. those that don't.. don't.
1:34 "hey, artillery guys, the hills keep shooting at us and screaming in Arabic. I'm gonna need you to un-alive them and turn that hill into a valley"
My grandfather was an FO in WWII. He was a captain in the army, and fought at the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of the Ramagen Bridge. At the Remagen, his team was killed and he was wounded by shrapnel, which earned him the purple heart. After spending the rest of the war in a British hospital, he assisted with rebuilding ruined buildings that were destroyed in the blitz. After that he returned to Florida and met my grandmother at UF. The rest of course is history.
Grant Hatch My grandfather was LtCol William F. Hartmann he commanded the 755th Field Artillery Battalion. I seem to be a repository of his stories that he only told a few people. Thanks for your response.
@@scottb6225 In Vietnam ('66-67) I was the medic in an Abn Inf platoon. We did not have an FO so our Lt called in much of the fire. He cross trained me and I ended up calling in lots of fire missions for mortars, field artillery, air artillery (we were Airmobile), and even a fast mover or two. I enjoyed the artillery side of things so much I ended up getting a commission as a 13B. We liked to say that we brought a sense of dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.
Excellent video. That might be my old unit seen with 1st Cav patches. Circa 1987, Reagan was still my Commander in Chief. The GPS units of the era were extremely rare, and the single one I saw took up most of an entire Hummer. Our radios were Vietnam leftover POS's. Our M-113-based FIST-V held 4 radios, the most powerful of which used a cooling fan whenever it spooled up. I kept a ball-peen hammer on hook nearby, and I used it to whack the radio whenever its acted up. Which was frequently. One day, the battalion commander stopped by to use my assortment of radios, and naturally he chose the big one. As he transmitted, I heard the radio's fan stop. I drew out my hammer, whacked the radio, and it started working again. The look on the Commander's face was priceless. Then he seemed to realize that the harder you hammered that POS radio, the better it worked. Besides it multitude of crappy radios, my FIST-V had a superb Thermal Night Sight. I recall that sight cost nearly half a million dollars. With that Thermal, I could discern whether a vehicle was an APC or a Tank from 2000 meters away through smoke or through darkness. If a night-time fog set in, then that range was limited somewhat, but still awesome at 800 meters or so. It was cool to watch coyotes stalking warm bunny rabbits around our track throughout the night as the rest of my team slept. 3 decades later, I still remember the serial number of my FIST-V (#C3219). With all the innovations since, I have often wondered what being a 13-Foxtrot is like now. GPS's are now ubiquitous, and drones are a mainstay. And I wonder how many FISTER's of today could truly use a map, compass, and visual distance estimation like I had to do, in the bad-old pre-GPS Cold-War of Reagan's Army. Sometime during my Army days, the Berlin Wall fell, and we won the Cold War. Had we needed to fight the Russians, my life expectancy was said to be 13 seconds in combat. Currently I have a few Russian emigres as friends, and I am ashamed to admit they are better people than many so-called Americans in my midst. And yet I spent most of my young life hating the USSR. For what? In the words of Smedly Butler, "War is a Racket." There are no good wars. Only good soldiers.
Awesome video I was an RTO on a firepower control team with 4th Anglico. FOs are definitely unsung heroes of the battlefield. "Lightning from the sky, thunder from the sea"
These Forward Artillery Observers are awesome!!! To us in the infantry we call them "Over Qualified Infantrymen". They call themselves "Artists in the Battlefield". I wish these guys could be teaching every platoon in an infantry company on the call for fire portion of the Expert Infantry Badge Test. It's not to get them out of a job. The FOs are excellent at what they do and are experts especially radios. The folks in the Army I will not piss off besides my chain of command. Number #1 is the cooks, they feed me and get me my hot chow. Number # 2 is supply and mechanics, be very pleasant to them and give them treats so you get what you need and fix your shit. Number # 3 is Doc. Never fuck with him and treat his ass nice because all infantrymen can and will get wounded in combat. Last on my list and very valuable when infantry is in combat is the FOs. Keep them like family in the platoon like Doc. The FOs will deliver hell on those who are in front of you. They know fucking radios and commo like a genius in combat. In Iraq our Commo NCO was a 13 Foxtrot in my last unit. I gave this man respect and never got on his bad side. These guys have to be respected in their abilities.
I like that term "over qualified infantrymen" great stuff. our FO was the quiet type of guy that knew his job inside and out and was obviously too smart to be hanging out with any of us but he'd shoot the sh*t occationally , funny dude
I WENT TO SIGNAL OCS IN 1953. ALL OCS PROGRAMS INCLUDED SHORT TRAINING AS AN FO SINCE ALL 2ND LIEUTENANTS WERE EXPECTED TO SERVE AS AN FO WHEN NEEDED. 2ND LIEUTENANTS WERE EXPENDABLE. I WAS IN KOREA.
13xray/delta here. FO calls me. I would be carful about having anyone other than FO contact me. I have enough trouble unfkn his fire missions. Much less someone that think he’s a fister. Lol I calculate everything from the weather and Coriolis effect to powder temp and fuse time to get out that perfect shot like a sniper shooting a rocket ship. If you ever meet one of us just say “oh thank you crazy airborne big brain psycho guy for not killing all of us.” But you won’t see me. You’ll just Hear me on the radio. FDC leads the way. Artillery King of battle!
Damn Chris you explain things so incredibly well! I love the humor, amazing historical facts, & just all around great presentation! Thanks for making me smile while educating me at the same time :)
Swedish Army Selection officer: Congratulations: you get you be a FO and sit in the back of a warm and cozy vehicle playing with communications equipment. He lied.
Oh yea I heard oh you'll be like the commanders best friend letting him know what's going on here and there on the radio lol! I also was called sniper bait alot! Radios sounded awesome too I was into electronic stuff like that. I joined in Sept. Of 99. I loved technology too and had every new hi tech pager that came out and all the services. Radios were almost like having a giant cell phone working from a pack on your back so I thought it was awesome before learning all about it. Then who would of thought cell phones were like $1000 dollar deposit back then, but in maybe 2003ish I gave 100 bucks and had basically a Motorola computer with a camera in my pocket. A few years from then, I have a touch screen computer in my pocket, with most any info I need to find out, also maps that load in seconds and you can see right down into the street and view whatever address you want from the curb, and can talk to people around the globe!
@@dannysllrs Ha! I got dragged into the army in -99 as well, at the time I thought the equipment was pretty cool but compared to a modern device it was kind of primitive in terms of user friendliness. Heavy stuff to drag around but having access to various communication networks is pretty handy...for calling mom or just ordering pizza when you are all alone somewhere during maneuvers!
Boy did he lie! My brother was Infantry in the Marines. Hearing about all the fun he had sleeping in the rain and walking everywhere he had to go, I knew that wasn't for me. I told my recruiter that I wanted combat arms, but not infantry. He set me up with FO. Telling me that FA slept in tents and drove every where. The deception was brutal. I'm looking at you, Ssg B.!
Cmon that’s nothing, but far from the truth!!! I was an FO for 8 years n we had an M981 (FistV) with no heat n I froze my butt in Korea the rest of the time I was dismount n I slept on rain, snow, mud, rocks and dust... we didn’t have a vehicle n we didn’t even had time to unroll a sleeping bag to rest as this guy said! Only the FSO had a vehicle n we humped with singar radios a glid and batteries and the average ruck was around 90 lbs... if u don’t know what u talking about just don’t say anything!!!
In finnish army we have 5 man fo team in every platoon. One officer, one nco, signaller and two range finder guys. I was the nco. In the one year i was in conscript service, my team called hundreds of live rounds on practice targets. The last fire mission was 108 rounds on target in one minute. A very nice sight to behold. Our artillerys unofficial motto is piiru, metri, sekuntti, meaning milliradian, metre, second, which is the accuracy to which everything is done.
As a former US FO, I agree with your dedication to precision and timeliness. Fire missions are dimensional, rounds need to be at the right place at the right time
@@marklalonde4713 is it true that americans still use talk radio as primary means of communication between FOs and firing units? We have been using text from the eighties, since it is faster and less prone for human error.
@@pekkamakela2566 Ask yourself the differences between the two, how they work, and operate. Radios are dependable when communication systems are actively being knocked down. Cell phone towers are civilian targets. Easy pickings and obvious infrastructure targets
@@marklalonde4713 i tried to say that we use text radios, not text messages. We have computer linked with cable to the radio so we can send text with the same radio that can be used for talking also. Written messages are faster and more reliable. One can read them multible times, so misunderstanding is not so common. Written message can also be inserted to fire control computer with pressing of a button, so no mistakes can be made in the battery either.
@@pekkamakela2566 US Army has had digital message devices since the 80's. The FO can lase a target for a 10 digit grid and transmit the data to the FDC digitally and encrypted, for a Fire For Effect Mission on the first request. Otherwise, off map and compass alone, you have to adjust fires prior to the fire for effect. They train to be proficient with voice and adjustments for when the equipment breaks, or you are otherwise caught without the equipment.
A late relative of mine was a Wehrmacht Forward Observer on the eastern front from the invasion of Russia until the end of WWII. He suffered from terrible PTSD even after he became demented, often telling how he had to direct fire by climbing into leafless trees with his radio.
@@TheOldKevin I hope you didn't have the mighty M981 FISTV. It looked kinda cool, but half the time the targeting system and laser didn't seem to work. I can remember lazing things in the impact area and it would give me back coordinates that I knew were worse than if I'd just pulled out my map. Ha
Thanks Chris !! This is cool ! I was an FO in the Hawaii guard, Ft. Ruger, HQ Co. Diamond Head, Honolulu. Attached to Ft. Lewis, Wash. St. before it became JBLM. I now live in Hood River in the Columbia River Gorge. Garth Hardin on youtube. Keep up with the good sitreps !! Accurate intel is scarce and SOOO appreciated !! Peace n Godpeed !!
Democratically Challenged you are absolutely incorrect, the J in JTAC stands for Joint and all services have certified JTACs. JTACS provide terminal attack control for all forms of Air, to include Air Force, Navy and Marine and allied partners. The Army and Marine by MTOE/ TO&E have FISTs, they don’t exist in Navy ROC&POE and the Air Force provide have TACP (Tactical Air Control Parties) who bring JTAC capability but are not really really FISTs
There's another type of FO, the FAC (forward air controller). In the Marines, they are radio operators and assigned to infantry companies and are specially trained at Little Creek, VA, to call in air strikes on enemy positions. The aircraft being sort of artillery in the sky. The Marines perfected close air support. When I was in the Marines and was an FAC team leader as one of my assignments, the team consisted of a Marine pilot, temporarily assigned to the team, a Marine NCO in charge, and two enlisted Marines. We enlisted were communications specialists and carried an AN-GRC-9 air-to-ground radio and had direct communication with the aircraft. Secondly, there was another specialist Marine team that directed Naval gunfire, ANGLICO.
Thanks, I was wondering about this, my dad was I phantom pilot, he was never a FAC but he did earn a silver cross dropping bombs so close to the freindlys. I'll never forget how he told me the story that he was so nervous dropping them because he was so close, and back in those days they were unguided
@@Glockman20008 Yes. They operate a desk. E6 (SSG) level is an FSNCO (a squad leader for a squad of FO's) who is planning with the FSO (2nd or 1st LT) for the infantry company...sometimes they leave the "wire" but more "desk" work. By E7 (SFC), you're in some TOC advising infantry battalion commanders with the BN FSO (CPT)...if these dudes leave the wire, something is royally f@%&ed! To be a FO on the line attached to an infantry platoon is usually an E5 (SGT) or high speed E4 (SPC sometimes sideways-ed to a CPL)...sometimes even E3's if your squad is short people (this was how I started).
Hey former FO here! thank you so much for this video! i always try and describe my old job in the Army and it doesn't really come out well. Now i am just going to link this video to everyone!
EXCELLENT VIDEO My father was a captain in the British Royal Artillery during WWII. He commanded eight 25 pounder Howitzers. He spent much of his time as an FO. Either on the ground or in a single engine Stinson L-5. It helped that he had phenomenal eyesight. In Burma.
13F here. I'm not sure who the hell told this guy what a CFF sounds like but, here's what a CFF looks like or at least how I was taught. FO: "Thunder fires, This is OP 12, Adjust fire, over." FDC: "OP12, This is Thunder fires, Adjust fire, out." FO: "Grid: CH 1234 5678 Altitude: 123 Direction: 1234, over." FDC: "Grid: CH 1234 5678 Altitude: 123 Direction: 1234, out." FO: "One M1978-koksan, in the open, over." FDC: "One M1978-koksan, in the open, out." FDC: "Message to observer, Thunder, one round, quick in effect, target number AA100, over." FO: "Message to observer, Thunder, one round, quick in effect, target number AA100, out." Also, the methods of target location are: adjust fire, polar, grid and shift from known point. Shift from known can be from your position BUT it can also be a building 1200m north of your position and you adjust your rounds from that location. And yes, regular infantry and officers like to think they can do our job. Just ask them what their six elements for CFF or the 15 subsequent corrections are.
First i wish to say thank you for showing this film about Forward Observers. Seems like everyone forgets about him. I was a F. O. for six years, the eyes and ears for the big guns, never did like being up front alone with just a radio and a rifle, knowing the enemy was always looking to do me in. Knock out a F.O. and you knock out the big guns. The system i used to use for a Fire Mission was Iwalnut, worked for me. Being a F.O. you miss a lot of meals,sleep, and always on the move staying ahead of the Div.
My grandfather was an FO with the 1st Light Airlanding Regiment. He fought at Arnhem, or more specifically at Osterbeek, during Operation Market Garden. He swam across the Rhine to reach safety when they evacuated. He was a lovely, kind man. I still miss him.
Being precise in your wording is extremely important in the military. My buddy JO Griffin was our platoon radio man. He explained many of the protocols (not "etiquette") to me, and even though I have been out of the Corps for many years, I still use them when talking on the phone, or when writing notes or sending email to someone. I never say "oh" for "zero;" even your computer keyboard knows the difference.
My son was an 13F initially when he went into the Army 10 years ago. Very well put together video. God Bless all who wear the uniform in defense of our country and thank you all who serve.
I remember being told that in the military they did not ever say "repeat that" because that would repeat a bombardment, and if you, or other friendly units were in the area, that could be very bad. I was told that that is why they always said "say again" instead. That is one of those things that stuck with them even after they left the military.
@@willdsm08 Most dangerous to his own unit, you mean :) Seriously, a friend of mine was a medic in the Australian Army for a number of years and once they got a call-out on a training exercise - at 7:13 he mentions the polar method of giving the FO's own position and then giving bearing and range from it as the coordinates for the artillery fire? Well, one platoon LT had given his unit's position as the target coordinates. Then, to add to the fun, when the LT got the acknowledgement from the artillery that the outgoing mail was on its way he called on them to halt fire - and used 'Repeat!' rather than 'Say again!' See 4:48 for why this is bad news. Luckily the platoon sergeant figured out what the LT had done and the artillery was far enough away that there was enough time for most of them to get most of the way clear of the blast zone. Even so, my friend and his fellow medics were pretty busy that day. :(
@@vavalazones i switched from one to the other i liked the idea of kicking in doors better in the end but nothing stopping you trying 1 and transferring later
@@mawdeeps7691 i will not ne able to switch because i will enlist as an officer. Do you have some action as a 13f ? And how is a journey in the artillery ? Have some action ?
@@vavalazonesi was british army works slightly diffrently to US as mfc's mortar fire controllers operate at platoon level and FST/FOO operate a company level as such our FOO was watching live ISTAAR feeds and calling in air and arty on to targets as such he was located in the company OPS room and didnt go on any patrols. My stint as FOO was only on exercise and usually again located with a company HQ element and as such always a tactical bound or 2 to the rear.
Love you dude. We are experts of indirect fire. Artillery, F16 drops, or otherwise. If a 13F can see you, either kill them or you are dead. 13Es are our support experts, we are a team. But anything associated with artillery,: simply:.. good night. FOs are forward. Some of us are very forward. Occasionally behind the target... There is a reason they say the life expectancy of an FO is seven seconds. If you meet an old school FO, you are looking at luck personified, or someone you really, really want on your side.
This was a fascinating video for me. In the early 70's I joined the Ottawa base 30th Artillery Regement which was a reserve unit. Our primary function was to perform ceremonial salutes for dignitaries visiting Ottawa. We did a lot of those so we got very good at our gun drills. After learning to be a gunner I also learned to be a communicator (radio operator) and then an artillery technician. I hated high school so I spent every spare moment at the armoury doing any work that needed to be done. Eventually I ended up teaching classes for communicators and for Arty Techs. It just happened, honest. One other function I had was teaching new officers how to do "fire planning". In those days we called theses officers Forward Observation Officers (FOOs). We had not fancy tech to help us. It was all maps and firing tables. YUK!!! May last exercise at Petewawa was a full brigade exercise. This was a mobile infantry exercise so we had to work at the front lines preparing fire plans to hold off an attack by a beer peer adversary. During this excercise we got a visit from a German general who wanted to see how a Canadian brigade would perform in a combine operation. At some point the Regimental Commander walked over to me an asked if I would be able to directed a fire mission if my FOO was injured and could not perform his function. My answer (Forgive me but I was very young) I told him "Sure I can run a fire mission. I taught him how to do it"! So I proceeded to call a fire mission by the numbers and totally old school! I did the calcs, called in the mission, adjusted the fire and then ended it with "Three Rounds Fire for Effect". That resulted in two full batteries each with three 105s lobbing three round each on an intersection on the battlefield. It took ten minutes start to finish. The German General was impressed. At the end of the exercise the RSM asked me if I wanted to join the regiment. Not in a month, not in a day but right then and now. I refused because I had spent the entire exercice in the company of captain Bryce of the 2 RCHA talking about military history and education. When I explained that I plannned to go off to college in the fall to study exploration technology he ecouraged me to go to colllege first before joining the regiment because the skills I would learning would be very applicable in the military ( not just the artillery. After the exercise Captain Bryce was getting a promotion to Major and heading off to an assignment at Canada's National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. He asked me to look him up after I graduated to join but I never did. I had too much fun running around the Canadian wilderness working geological exploration projects in Labrador, Quebec, Ontario and the North West Territories. Living in tents eating canned food and chasing of bears who wanted my supper. Geez! I should have just joined the artillery...Bahahaha!!!
Thank you so much in putting this video and very informative on the aspects of the positions involving the FO’s. I was looking for one to show family one of the many jobs/positions I had the pleasure in doing. “Make It Rain” was our tag in 5/11 Comm connected with the 5/11 Artillery in Camp Pendleton. Oorah! Semper FI Brother!
I loved working with a TACP on my special equipped M113 in the German Army. Did a lot of jobs back then as an NCO. We had to be extremely stress proof and learn a lot of stuff with a lot of different radio types and technics to get the target coordinates, weather on ground etc.
I was a FO in the marines, trained at Ft Sill, Vietnam Era, enjoyed your Video, would have loved to have the toys you have today back then. still a awesome job
My roommate in Iraq was a FO and I was an Intel Analyst, it was fun how fast we demolished the landnav course at the mob site. We actually ran a second set of points and still got back before some of the other teams.
if he was an FO worth his salt he already had all the points and their grids written in the back of his notebook from all the previous runs of the course.
A couple years late but... As a former 13F, thanks for the shout out. It was a nice history lesson too that they should bring to Fort Sill. It's also noteworthy that they're not just calling in artillery strikes (dumb & laser guided), but we're at least basically trained in providing smoke cover, calling air strikes, naval gunfire, and guiding in Hellfire missiles off of Apaches. Not that we get to do any of that "fun" stuff often, it's there. I do have to admit that some of the best training deployments I did with with your 11Ms running mortars. Laid back, quick to fire, and I never felt like they might hit us. Usually because we'd be sitting right next to them. haha Keep up the great work.
As a FISTer, I wanna say a cheesy, heartfelt thank you. There aren’t enough videos about us, and this is pretty damn good! Keep on keeping on, Brother.
Back in the day, I was an 11C, and our ability to send mortar rounds downrange hinged on the abilities of forward observers or scouts. I received minimal training as an 11c, and later as a 19d, in the rudiments of calling for fire.. I seem to remember 25, 27 years ago, we focused on Polar call for fire, though we had some training with grid and shift methods as well. While our range of fire wasn't nearly as great as that of artillery, this video did provide me with more than a few nostalgic moments. I'm curious as to how those call for fire missions transpire now, with better FDC computers and GPS capabilities (GPS was just starting to gain traction amongst us ground pounders when I was prepping to ETS). Thanks for the informative video!
I have been out of the Army for 27 years and to this day I still say, "Say again?". No repeats... I do say, "Roger Out" a lot, and my favorite, "Roger that". EVERY once in a while I'll tell someone that I'm only going to be about 5 or 10 mikes late or that I'll be there in about 5 or 10 mikes. It never leaves you.
Everyone always gives crummy advise to new booties. Real advise, basic is a game and it's the easiest part of your time in the military. Listen well in AIT. No matter what level, you'll always need to know the basics of this job. Volunteer for Rangers in AIT if a recruiter comes. At the minimum, you can go to airborne school and drop out if you dont actually want to become a ranger. You'll get more out of the army and more likely to do cool shit or be stationed overseas. Dont rank chase in this MOS. It's a combat gig. Being put in charge of lives because you can memorize lines is irresponsible and you'll never be taken seriously, despite your actual potential to lead. And most important, always have the best hair. Fisters and FOs always get in trouble because they're jealous of our superior hair. It probably has nothing to do with hair being out of regulation but that's not what's important.
Jesse Christensen thanks for the advice. Were you a FO? If so how’d u like the MOS and do u actually get to use what you’ve been trained to do on a deployment
@@jacetwardowski264 My advice to you is to save ALL your paperwork, ESPECIALLY if you get injured - especially in basic and AIT (they destroy all your records after you graduate). Trying to get supporting documentation after you're out of the military is extremely difficult and it's the main reason why veterans get denied coverage from the VA.
Nice vid... brought back memories... After winning the battalion Land-Nav compotation when with NMCB-21, I was appointed as the Battalion FO... I was USMC field and weapons trained at Camp Lejeune and had my classroom training at Camp Geiger. (Semper Fi)... it was some of the best training I ever received and thoroughly enjoyed all of it... We did not make decisions on "strikes" we just relayed the information discovered , and some zero would decide what to do...
When I was in mortars in the Marine Corps, we didn't have FOs for the 60mm mortar section in the rifle company, but the 81mm mortar platoon in the battalion's H&S company (they hadn't created Weapons Company yet) attached an FO to the company command element of each rifle company - we also had an independent FO, a job I had at one time. It was a one-man job - I carried my own radio and rifle; no team involved. I had to know how to call in artillery and air, and I was even expected to be able to adjust naval gunfire. Being an FO is a mind game. You're trying to find a place to set up where you can see the area you need to see, but that isn't where the enemy would look around, expect you to be hiding, and drop a lot of their own mortars and artillery on that spot to kill you. They, in turn, are trying to hide from you, as well as looking around and asking themselves, "If I were the enemy FO, where would I be?" and blowing up whatever place they think is the answer.
I guess you can stay well hidden even while you rain fire on enemy heads. But you can see them, at least when they fire. Do they send snipers to find you?
I would never use a 6 digit grid for a fire mission. That’s an infantry or cav thing. A real fister gives an 8 digit grid to get round closer on target and less room for error
When I was in Recon in The Corps (2nd Battalion at LeJeune...our barracks were beachfront)...we did lots of training in the hills around Lejeune and on occasion we would run into the Combat Forward Air Observers school training Marines. I was always impressed with their training tempo and the quality of their Marines...they were very good troops and their training regimen pretty much mirrored ours, without the direct action mission elements.
Actually the 3rd method (polar) was how we received most firing missions when I was a 13E (Fire Direction Center). It was my job to make sure we took what the FO saw and make it into what the guns would "see." We dropped warheads on foreheads very accurately with that method. Now it's all GPS based and the 13E's are phased out. Hearing that ol' firing mission language got me all tingly in my nether regions though.
fdc is still a thing, atleast in heavy units. all we get/need is quadrant and deflection and the gun does its own thing now. but we're still taught how to do everything manually just in case. -13banger
@@travis8044 Yeah. back to basics manual is good. GPS can fail, satellites be shot, radios and GPS signal jammed, Laser run out of batteries (also shining a targeting laser around is an invite sign of "HELLO ENEMY; SOMETHING IMPORTANT HERE; SHOOT AT THIS DIRECTION; BEFORE WHATEVER WEAPON THAT RANGE WAS DONE FOR HAS TIME TO SHOOT", since Range Finder means heavy weapon asset (vehicle mounted weapon or heavy weapon with fancy targeting on ground tripod) or observing element (and observing elements don't shoot lasers for fun, so rounds incoming, shoot the observers, before they can observe the initial rounds and send corrections). Any Laser warning receiver picks that laser beam shining and all the big guns in the area will follow that beam line back to the laser and it's user. A optical coincidence range finder, map, quadrant and fire correction circle never run out of batteries and as long as striker hits the primer, guns will go bang. If need be have message runner deliver those orders by hand. Basic map of the area, flat sheet of millimeter paper, couple rulers, pen, compass, 50 meter steel cable length and an FO team can locate itself in the most adverse conditions in total electrical black out and give them said coincidence range finder (working fine since WWI and WWII) and they can rain steel on any point they observe. Whole point is to know, where one is, so one can know where the target is. Always assume and prepare for worst, then be extremely glad, that the real situation turns out better. The first thing any serious military enemy will do is to deploy their Electronical Warfare assets to jam the hell out of radios and any other radio frequency based assets.
@@Taskandpurpose polar is the easiest way to do CFF since they should already have your friendly positions, the FIST HQ and FDC is battle tracking friendly positions to prevent other FOs from CFF on friendlies so all you're doing is popping out your compass, getting a direction and estimating a distance. no map, no protractor, nada. just hey you this is me, (laser) polar AF/FFE, direction and distance, tgt description. don't even need to give an altitude, the FDO in the fdc will extract one for you based off the map spot. Its basically like shift from known point except that known point is you. There's no reason why polar is "unsafe".
Being a good FO is as much an art as training. You have to get the feel for the fall of shot and adjust accordingly. Well, that was before GPS and laser rangefinders. If you "felt" where the ranging shot landed you could short-cut the procedure and save one or two ranging shots. Which made the Colonel always really nervous but also happy when it worked. I got quite a reputation for being "lucky" so much that at the annual battalion evaluation tests, I got temporarily assigned to the battery being tested, so they all could profit from my luck.
@@north7764 LMAO no it wasn't. "Its design and concept are based on the Canadian CADPAT pattern." en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARPAT The U.S. military was absolutely experimenting with digital camouflage before the Canadian military, but when it came to finalizing designs the Marines just did a slight palette-swap of CADPAT and called it a day. Hell, development of MARPAT started in 2000, which is well after Canada's involvement in the Clothe the Soldier project in the mid-90s. TL;DR: you have no idea what you're talking about, kid.
Matthew Connelly That’s not technically true. The MARPAT by all means an original design , yes it is influenced by the CADPAT (all they had was one piece that they requested from the Canadian Army) but all of the color and pattern was original design. Source is on militarymorons if you wanna check that out, pretty cool story of one of the designers!
I received my enlistment date to begin training as an Artillery/Forward Observer in the Australian Army. Wish me the best of luck and I needed to hear this, I'm even more hyped now to begin training.
Here is how they operate in garrison: In the Infantry Battalion HQ: Where are the FOs? Oh, they told me they had critical artillery training over at the artillery HQ. In the Artillery Battalion HQ: Where the hell are all the FOs?? I heard they had a roadmarch with the grunts. Real answer? Only those in the know can say, but rumor has it they went home for a nap after pt but should show up for lunch. Sincerely, a career Infantry officer
I took my first step to becoming a Royal Marines Commando today! My goal is to specialise in long range reconnaissance, artic warfare and mountain climbing with Brigade Reconnaissance Troop
My dad ran comm for a tracked 105 battalion. He ran wire across France. The fo radio would only go a very short range and the batteries died quickly. So he would string wire from the battalion hq to the companies. Then run up toward where the front was. Over the wire they used Morse code. Over the radio they used a code that changed. So he would talk, listen ,convert to Morse, then type it in. When he could they didn't use the radios and the fo just stood near dad's jeep. He memorized Morse so much he would talk in it with other old vets.
13F was 8 years old when I joined the army in 1981. the 6-30 was maybe 3/8" thick and held together with staples. I helped with the integration of the GVLLD and the DMD, and the testing of the Copperhead rounds in White Sands, NM. When I got out Singars raidos were just coming in about 1993, the 6-30 was about 2" thick and I helped write most of it. I wrote what became SOP for the 25th (Light) and the 10th Mtn Div for call for fire.
I was an FO with the 3/319FA assigned to B and A Cos 3/503 173rd ABN Brigade 1969, Viet Nam. What fun. In the beginning there was chaos and the chaos was the infantry, for the infantry was alone. And fear was with the infantry and they cried unto the Lord saying, "Lord, save us for we are afraid." And the Lord heard their grunts and set some of the infantry on beasts of burden and these he called cavalry, and the cavalry became armor. And when the lord had seen what he had done, he laughed saying, "Well, you can't win them all." The infantry and the armor again cried out to the Lord saying, "Lord, save us for we are afraid." And the Lord heard their cries and decided to end their weepings. And the Lord said unto them, "Lo and behold, I send you a race of men noble in heart and spirit," and the Lord created the Gunners. And the Lord said unto the infantry and armor, "When it gets dark, the Gunners shall light your way." "And when you need smoke, there shall be smoke, and when you need HE, WP, H & I and counter battery fire, all this ye shall have." And the Lord gave the Gunners big guns, and field guns, and the infantry and armor were jealous for they had naught. And the infantry cried out saying, "Lord, thou hast created the infantry as Queen of Battles, and now thou has made the Gunners King of Battles and well knowest thou what the King does to the Queen." And the Lord replied, "Right On!" And the Lord gave unto the Artillery rockets and missiles and, best of all, nukes. And when the infantry and armor saw this they fell to their knees in wonder saying, "Surely God is on the side of the greatest -The Gunners." And the Lord sayeth, "You got that right." Now abideth infantry, armor and Artillery but the greatest of these is Artillery. And then the lord God said "I shall give you one of my own, my angels, to walk with you." And lo he sent them the angel of death to walk amongst the Infantry and Armor. They saw this and stood in awe. For this was the FO. Walking in both worlds, but belonging soley to none. - Author Unknown
Observed Fire was one of my courses of study as a new 2LT in FAOBC at Ft. Sill, OK. Class 1-71. We were given an M1 lensatic compass, a pair of binoculars, a map, and a PRC-10 radio. The goal was to "bracket" the target, then "fire for effect". Depending on the nature of the target, the result was often spectacular.
Army and Marine Corps Forward Observers, as well as Air Force TACP and Special Tactics CCT, are a vital asset to bring on the thunder and lightning in the form of Artillery, Air and Naval Gunfire, for Troops Downrange in Action and Active Combat Operations. DANGER CLOSE SUPERINTENSIFIED!!🇺🇸🦅🗽🗡️⚔️🔫💣💥🔥☠️💀
My dad wanted to be a Marine pilot and ended up in radio school and was a forward radio operator for an 81 mm mortar platoon in the 28tg rgt, 5th Marines on Iwo Jima. He said he started covering his whip antenna with his jacket because he was getting fire before he crested a rise. I’m sure it saved his life. I’m sure he would be amazed at the technology now available.
I was infantry for 5 years, went 13F for 3. Finished that last contract with a leader who told us that FIST stands for Finest Infantry Soldier To-date and honestly I couldnt have said it better. Calling for fire is in the EIB, but damn near nobody knows what the hell they're doing till they have to train up for EIB lmao and you better be able to keep up with your 11B brothers. All in all, I loved both professions, but watching an immediate suppression you called in makes you feel pretty badass lmao moreso than shooting a .50 cal or TOW missile and thats saying something lol
I was an FO as an E-3 because there weren't enough of us. Promotion points to E-5 were 350. I spent six months as an E-4 so I went from E-1 to E-5 in 26 months.
@@tysonl79 Pramoting in that manor in the marine corps is unheard of. We had E5 AS PLATOON COMMANDER E-4 SQUAD LEADERS, EVERY OTHER POSITION E-3 DOWN FOR 6 MONTHS . RAN LIKE A CLOCK. YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO WITH WHAT YOU GOT.
![Best Combat Load Out from Three Military Time Periods [4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9TexnwbyWAU/mqdefault.jpg)
![โอ้เธอช่าง... - บี้เดอะสกา ft. ต๋อง เทวัญ (Prod. by ป๋าเพชร) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zbWhiLFmVL0/mqdefault.jpg)
FiST is short for Fire Support Team.
Not Forward Support Team. I goofed on that, my bad. Explains why I wasn't smart enough to join you FO's out there! Check out our video on the AH-64Apache or don't it's cool th-cam.com/video/wfkzsv5Iip4/w-d-xo.html
Task & Purpose I was just about to correct you on that. As a young 2LT in the 82d in 1977, I was part of the original development of the FIST concept. Prior to that, the FO had a recon sgt and a driver (Korea ‘76) and supported an infantry or other company on their own.
@JJ Bonneville Agree, absolutely. We had a purpose paper written at the time by the 82d DivArty XO (can't remember his name, sorry-43yrs ago) that stated the mission of the FIST was to be inserted as far forward as possible, including missions we had with the Ranger battalions to go deep behind the lines (think about being dropped into East Germany or Poland if the Cold War heated up) to gather targeting info. Otherwise, we were also tasked to dig in deep and be able to target the support trains of units that had passed by. The biggest problem at the time was that there was little coordination on a daily basis with the infantry or armor units. They did their training and we did ours. As the Bde FSO for COL Gordon Sullivan (later GEN and Chief of Staff of the Army), I pushed constantly for my FSOs and FISTs to be sent on training exercises with the treadheads. Being in Fire Support was the best part of my career.
Yeah, I was about to comment about that FiST misspeak! You caught it, tho
I'm just surprised you reference Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan in this.
one question........what's "WARNO" ?
Foward observer and artillery are basically amazon prime for the infantry
actech you’re an idiot
This is so stupid but amazingly accurate
They can't find my house and are always a day late?
After 4 years of doing this I have not heard a more true thought.
King of Battle for a reason.
This was my job in Vietnam. I was the 1st Platoon, Echo Company, 2nd Battalion 9th Marine Regiment, Whiskey Echo Foxtrot Oscar. I liked it because I was respected and I only had to carry a Map, Compass, binoculars, Rifle, Ammunition and my food and personals and I had my own Radioman to call in Missions. The bad news was the enemy did their best to kill me first, since I was the most dangerous.. I got the job as an E-2 because 3 FO's were wounded and they were looking for a volunteer to take the last ones place. I lasted about 6 months then was flown home in a Hospital Plane. I was hit at least twice but our platoon took Hill 861 away from the NVA. I was near the end of my 13 month tour so after I recovered I was sent to CamPen, and months later Hawaii and then back to Vietnam again with 1/27.
@James Chase... WARRIOR and PATRIOT!! THANK YOUR SERVICE SIR!!
Awesome, Vietnam was way before my time but my MOS was the same when I joined in 1993. The drill sgts and instructors used to scare us with short life expectancy stories, but what you just shared makes all them stories make more sense now. You wouldn't be a target if you weren't effective. Thanks for your service and God Bless You brother!
Welcome home Brother. Glad you made it.
I was also in weapons 2/9 though much later. FO’s still carried the same gear. When I was in we literally was still using the same gear from Vietnam and Korea and the mortar rounds were dated 1968. Guess they made a lot of ammo for that party. I think 2/9 has been disbanded (again)
Thank You
I used to be a FO for 2 yrs in the Korean army and the biggest difficulty was to carry all the heavy equipment and to climb up the mountain. Physical fitness is crucial more than anything
100 lbs of lightweight equipment.
True nothing like carrying lightweight batteries 10 lbs each oooofff
Been to the Peninsula 3 times with the US Army. Used to have to go up Soyosan Mountain once or twice a month. Camp Casey/Hovey was my second home.
Never were words more true uttered by a human.
I worked alongside Korean WARFLOT FOs as a TACP for exercises for about 2 years from 2016-2018. I loved y'all! Absolutely hated crushing mountains with all the gear, but getting know y'all over a meal once the work was done is a memory I still think about to this day.
When I was a FO in the late 70s in the USMC we used a map, binoculars, and the Mark 1 Eyeball. We were experts at reading a topo map, that is how we judged distance.
Taught my call for fire by USMC officers at my OBC (13E enlisted MOS). If you calibrated your hand you didn't even need the binos. I still have my FO reference card.
@@redleg56 Used your thumb method eh?
@@mikuhatsunegoshujin Not for distance. Range is from a map. The hand is for deflection. I think I still have my observed fire reference card. And I do have my old FMs 6-30, -40 and -50. Sorry for the artillery geeking out. I learned my fire support and call for fire from a Marine captain. Say what you what about artillery, no really. We can't hear you.
We also had the TLAR method. That means, That Looks About Right.
Yep. We trained you at Fort Sill.
A late friend of mine was an FO in Korea. He related the uncomfortable feeling of knowing that the enemy was dedicating multiple artillery pieces to your personal destruction. From the stories he told it’s a miracle he survived. He was regularly dodging incoming artillery and mortar fire. The worst was when the only low spot was an ice cold river.
A friend of my fathers was also an FO in Korea, and he remembered going to a forward position in the middle of the night with a squad of ROK soldiers to protect him. He remembered the sound of their rubber soled shoes as they scuttled away before dawn to avoid being caught out there with him. I don’t really blame them.
A Marine friend was in Viet Nam and was sent with his platoon to cover an FO on a hilltop. They low crawled up to find the FO sitting out in a lawn chair under a Cinzano umbrella, craters all around him. His explanation “Ah, they can’t hit shit anyway.”
my grandpa was artillery in the korean war and his best friend, his brother in law was an FO apparently they had a very low survival rate because the enemy always aimed for the FO first
Benito Mussolini In Viet Nam, truth was stranger than fiction. The Marine I know saw so much bizarre stuff that he didn’t have to make things up. Some people (like that FO) became utterly fatalistic, which was probably a rational response for an FO. If he had camouflaged his position they still would have found him and bracketed him.
My FO friend from Korea related a story about his artillery having a hard time hitting a bunker. They hit left, right, long, short. During a lull, one of the N Korean occupants jumped on top of the bunker and made rude gestures, knowing that he would see them.
MAkes sense but how did they locate him? If you camouflage your position I imagine it would be pretty hard to spot on dude with a radio in the middle of a battlefield.
@@MrDiamondism If the rounds are hitting accurately as you move, this tells you there are eyes on target. Just like there are Counter Sniper operations there are counter FO Operations. One must think like an FO and try to figure out where the eyes are at. If I wanted to have a good vantage point to observer the enemy where would I be?
if it looks like a good FO spot you drop artillery on it.
This is why a smart FO looks at his terrain and goes, "damn it would really suck to get there" and that is where he goes. Least likely place anyone would think
@@jackguarino1629 That makes a lot of sense. thanks Dude
Thanks for the love bro. It's not often we Fisters get recognition. just for knowledge purposes, we use polar CFF method quite often especially when were low on time to react. It's one of the most expediant ways of getting shells down range to suppress or destroy the enemy. Keep making killer content!
"artillery are ussually miles behind the lines and they usually don't have line of sight to the target"
If arty has line of sight to the target, something has gone terribly wrong
Same for if you need to draw your sidearm!
Not necessarily, it was effective in urban warfare in the Philippines.
@@HiDragLowSpeed what do you mean?
@@MatoVuc They used artillery to fire on fortified houses directly.
@@HiDragLowSpeed got a link to somewhere i can read up on that?
Back in my day, was attached to a mortar platoon.
Spending some time as a mortarman, I also got a chance to play in the role of FC. However as a fire controller we did not have the computers you see today. Albeit we were generally working in targets 2-4km down range with the 81. Still firing over the heads of you buddies, still very important to get things right. Especially when coordinating fire at night with armoured groups.
Our method was more of the last you spoke of, we took our grid reference, bino’d the target area..drawing on the map with a transparent grid/range reference overlay and call in rounds, bracketing to target. It was quite a rush. I always found it amazing, you could with 2-3 rounds, put 4 smooth bore guns on target, sending 16 rounds FFE of 81mm converging on an area not much larger than a Volkswagen ....really something to see.
I recall just before getting out, they brought in a Mortar Data Fire Calculator or MDFC, which basically looked like an oversized old Texas Instruments calculator with the old red coloured single digits screen with about 50-60 multifunction buttons....generally, we could do the math in our heads faster than it took to punch in the numbers to that monstrosity of a handheld nightmare 😝
I liked you segment on language and how important it was to use it. Even though I have been out for over 25 years, I still use “say again”, rather than repeat. Old habits are hard to break.
@ Canadian KRIS … . 10-4.
I was an MFC in the British Army and was taught on the MFDC. Just as I was leaving regular service they brought in its replacement so never got to play with it
I appreciate this video. I was a forward observer in Afghanistan, and the only people that ever seemed to appreciate were the infantry platoon I was attached to.
When the MOS 13F started back in 78, I switched over from 11C. When we went too the field with the Infantry, we put up with a lot of crap. The biggest was chow. They would feed their own people first, let them get seconds if there was any, then we could eat. That did get rectified, but it still sucked.
When I used to be a young, inexperienced and little too much gung-ho corporal in the Austrian Army's infantry back in the mid-90ies, we always used to take the piss out of the artillery blokes in our NCO courses by telling them that the safest place from them would be at least 500 meters out of their maximum weapon range, no matter which weapon they were carrying. (and yes, that also included Glock 17s).
Then they countered with the joke that artillery does know neither friend nor foe, but only worthwile targets to take us down a peg - and then we all had a good laugh, toasted each other and appreciated the concept of combined arms.
Good times.
I'll turn 50 in four weeks, retired about 15 years ago from active service as an OR-7 who was a team leader in Austrian SF (where I was trained as an FO among a number of other things) with three UN tours in the Balkans and an undisclosed number of undisclosed hush-hush stuff under my belt, so I'm now about twice the age when I earned my sergeant's stripes - and I miss those times like crazy.
But war is always a young man's game as well as a ton of memories for old war horses to remember, so I'm kinda okay with that.
@@javo5270/videos
You don't know anything about me or my service, so spare me this empty "thank you for your service" platitude bullshit.
The guns get all the glory in Artillery... and While you support your maneuver. Tanks or infantry, you get no love there. It's ok to be underappreciated. Those who know know.. those that don't.. don't.
1:34 "hey, artillery guys, the hills keep shooting at us and screaming in Arabic. I'm gonna need you to un-alive them and turn that hill into a valley"
"Drop me one them thicc boi's over yonder"
yes, finally the preferred radio etiquette for call for fire
🤣😂🤣.
LMFAOO
I was an FO from 1988 to 2007, best job in the military.
I was 19d scout about that same time period, we did a lot of call for fire training.
13F 2002-2010 Fort Hood
My grandfather was an FO in WWII. He was a captain in the army, and fought at the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of the Ramagen Bridge. At the Remagen, his team was killed and he was wounded by shrapnel, which earned him the purple heart. After spending the rest of the war in a British hospital, he assisted with rebuilding ruined buildings that were destroyed in the blitz. After that he returned to Florida and met my grandmother at UF. The rest of course is history.
great comment thanks for sharing a little FO history here
Grant Hatch
What unit? My grandfather commanded a Battalion of 155mm long toms.
@@logoseven3365 I wasn't told. Everything I know is second hand from my mom, and I'm not sure if she could name a specific unit.
Grant Hatch
My grandfather was LtCol William F. Hartmann he commanded the 755th Field Artillery Battalion. I seem to be a repository of his stories that he only told a few people. Thanks for your response.
@@logoseven3365 not a problem, I'll get back to you if I find out anything else
When the FO and the medic are good friends... we call it preventative medicine
I love this haha the medic and FO were good buds in my platoon
@@Taskandpurpose yeah I was a platoon medic. The FO and I were always together when we deployed!
@@scottb6225 In Vietnam ('66-67) I was the medic in an Abn Inf platoon. We did not have an FO so our Lt called in much of the fire. He cross trained me and I ended up calling in lots of fire missions for mortars, field artillery, air artillery (we were Airmobile), and even a fast mover or two. I enjoyed the artillery side of things so much I ended up getting a commission as a 13B. We liked to say that we brought a sense of dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.
Of course. Besides, where else would you get the primary ingredient in GI Gin?
this shit is so legit. Medics usually are the best friends of JFO's,FO's and JTAC's.
"Alongside the only other asset that's not expendable, the medic"
As a 68W..... awwwwww thank you! You're gonna make me blush
Man I hope your channel blows up and you get some serious recognition.
Excellent video. That might be my old unit seen with 1st Cav patches. Circa 1987, Reagan was still my Commander in Chief. The GPS units of the era were extremely rare, and the single one I saw took up most of an entire Hummer. Our radios were Vietnam leftover POS's. Our M-113-based FIST-V held 4 radios, the most powerful of which used a cooling fan whenever it spooled up. I kept a ball-peen hammer on hook nearby, and I used it to whack the radio whenever its acted up. Which was frequently. One day, the battalion commander stopped by to use my assortment of radios, and naturally he chose the big one. As he transmitted, I heard the radio's fan stop. I drew out my hammer, whacked the radio, and it started working again. The look on the Commander's face was priceless. Then he seemed to realize that the harder you hammered that POS radio, the better it worked.
Besides it multitude of crappy radios, my FIST-V had a superb Thermal Night Sight. I recall that sight cost nearly half a million dollars. With that Thermal, I could discern whether a vehicle was an APC or a Tank from 2000 meters away through smoke or through darkness. If a night-time fog set in, then that range was limited somewhat, but still awesome at 800 meters or so. It was cool to watch coyotes stalking warm bunny rabbits around our track throughout the night as the rest of my team slept.
3 decades later, I still remember the serial number of my FIST-V (#C3219). With all the innovations since, I have often wondered what being a 13-Foxtrot is like now. GPS's are now ubiquitous, and drones are a mainstay. And I wonder how many FISTER's of today could truly use a map, compass, and visual distance estimation like I had to do, in the bad-old pre-GPS Cold-War of Reagan's Army.
Sometime during my Army days, the Berlin Wall fell, and we won the Cold War. Had we needed to fight the Russians, my life expectancy was said to be 13 seconds in combat. Currently I have a few Russian emigres as friends, and I am ashamed to admit they are better people than many so-called Americans in my midst. And yet I spent most of my young life hating the USSR. For what?
In the words of Smedly Butler, "War is a Racket."
There are no good wars. Only good soldiers.
Nice video! I would like to one day become one. But that means I have to leave the guns!
Join us mat, the 13f and our Canadian counterparts get to see all the fun of the guns.
Occasionally, we use to do a little cross training, or "ride alongs" for the gun bunnys up on the O.P. They always enjoyed it. Gonpay them a visit.
Get on an op det member course and see if you can be in a party for an ex
I think you mean you’d have to leave the gunline*** don’t be so dramatic, the OP is where it’s at. ;)
There's still Tanks Matt , just putting that out there
Awesome video I was an RTO on a firepower control team with 4th Anglico. FOs are definitely unsung heroes of the battlefield. "Lightning from the sky, thunder from the sea"
My dad was 1st Anglico, he wears his Anglico shirts proud!
These Forward Artillery Observers are awesome!!! To us in the infantry we call them "Over Qualified Infantrymen". They call themselves "Artists in the Battlefield". I wish these guys could be teaching every platoon in an infantry company on the call for fire portion of the Expert Infantry Badge Test. It's not to get them out of a job. The FOs are excellent at what they do and are experts especially radios. The folks in the Army I will not piss off besides my chain of command. Number #1 is the cooks, they feed me and get me my hot chow. Number # 2 is supply and mechanics, be very pleasant to them and give them treats so you get what you need and fix your shit. Number # 3 is Doc. Never fuck with him and treat his ass nice because all infantrymen can and will get wounded in combat. Last on my list and very valuable when infantry is in combat is the FOs. Keep them like family in the platoon like Doc. The FOs will deliver hell on those who are in front of you. They know fucking radios and commo like a genius in combat. In Iraq our Commo NCO was a 13 Foxtrot in my last unit. I gave this man respect and never got on his bad side. These guys have to be respected in their abilities.
I like that term "over qualified infantrymen" great stuff. our FO was the quiet type of guy that knew his job inside and out and was obviously too smart to be hanging out with any of us but he'd shoot the sh*t occationally , funny dude
I WENT TO SIGNAL OCS IN 1953. ALL OCS PROGRAMS INCLUDED SHORT TRAINING AS AN FO SINCE ALL 2ND LIEUTENANTS WERE EXPECTED TO SERVE AS AN FO WHEN NEEDED. 2ND LIEUTENANTS WERE EXPENDABLE. I WAS IN KOREA.
13xray/delta here. FO calls me. I would be carful about having anyone other than FO contact me. I have enough trouble unfkn his fire missions. Much less someone that think he’s a fister. Lol I calculate everything from the weather and Coriolis effect to powder temp and fuse time to get out that perfect shot like a sniper shooting a rocket ship. If you ever meet one of us just say “oh thank you crazy airborne big brain psycho guy for not killing all of us.” But you won’t see me. You’ll just Hear me on the radio. FDC leads the way. Artillery King of battle!
@@TheBeefSlayer this dude just say fdc leads the way? gtfo here xD
@@r2Kd0ugernaut hey…. We do the math or everyone dies. Plus we guard the brass.
Damn Chris you explain things so incredibly well! I love the humor, amazing historical facts, & just all around great presentation! Thanks for making me smile while educating me at the same time :)
Swedish Army Selection officer: Congratulations: you get you be a FO and sit in the back of a warm and cozy vehicle playing with communications equipment.
He lied.
Oh yea I heard oh you'll be like the commanders best friend letting him know what's going on here and there on the radio lol! I also was called sniper bait alot! Radios sounded awesome too I was into electronic stuff like that. I joined in Sept. Of 99. I loved technology too and had every new hi tech pager that came out and all the services. Radios were almost like having a giant cell phone working from a pack on your back so I thought it was awesome before learning all about it. Then who would of thought cell phones were like $1000 dollar deposit back then, but in maybe 2003ish I gave 100 bucks and had basically a Motorola computer with a camera in my pocket. A few years from then, I have a touch screen computer in my pocket, with most any info I need to find out, also maps that load in seconds and you can see right down into the street and view whatever address you want from the curb, and can talk to people around the globe!
@@dannysllrs Ha! I got dragged into the army in -99 as well, at the time I thought the equipment was pretty cool but compared to a modern device it was kind of primitive in terms of user friendliness. Heavy stuff to drag around but having access to various communication networks is pretty handy...for calling mom or just ordering pizza when you are all alone somewhere during maneuvers!
Boy did he lie! My brother was Infantry in the Marines. Hearing about all the fun he had sleeping in the rain and walking everywhere he had to go, I knew that wasn't for me.
I told my recruiter that I wanted combat arms, but not infantry. He set me up with FO. Telling me that FA slept in tents and drove every where.
The deception was brutal. I'm looking at you, Ssg B.!
Same thing happened to my dad back in Desert Storm! They said he’d be working with computers in a room with AC though haha
Cmon that’s nothing, but far from the truth!!! I was an FO for 8 years n we had an M981 (FistV) with no heat n I froze my butt in Korea the rest of the time I was dismount n I slept on rain, snow, mud, rocks and dust... we didn’t have a vehicle n we didn’t even had time to unroll a sleeping bag to rest as this guy said! Only the FSO had a vehicle n we humped with singar radios a glid and batteries and the average ruck was around 90 lbs... if u don’t know what u talking about just don’t say anything!!!
This is one of the best military channel I've seen. It's very entertaining to see this knowledge in depth with some humors.
In finnish army we have 5 man fo team in every platoon. One officer, one nco, signaller and two range finder guys. I was the nco. In the one year i was in conscript service, my team called hundreds of live rounds on practice targets. The last fire mission was 108 rounds on target in one minute. A very nice sight to behold.
Our artillerys unofficial motto is piiru, metri, sekuntti, meaning milliradian, metre, second, which is the accuracy to which everything is done.
As a former US FO, I agree with your dedication to precision and timeliness. Fire missions are dimensional, rounds need to be at the right place at the right time
@@marklalonde4713 is it true that americans still use talk radio as primary means of communication between FOs and firing units? We have been using text from the eighties, since it is faster and less prone for human error.
@@pekkamakela2566 Ask yourself the differences between the two, how they work, and operate. Radios are dependable when communication systems are actively being knocked down. Cell phone towers are civilian targets. Easy pickings and obvious infrastructure targets
@@marklalonde4713 i tried to say that we use text radios, not text messages. We have computer linked with cable to the radio so we can send text with the same radio that can be used for talking also. Written messages are faster and more reliable. One can read them multible times, so misunderstanding is not so common. Written message can also be inserted to fire control computer with pressing of a button, so no mistakes can be made in the battery either.
@@pekkamakela2566 US Army has had digital message devices since the 80's. The FO can lase a target for a 10 digit grid and transmit the data to the FDC digitally and encrypted, for a Fire For Effect Mission on the first request. Otherwise, off map and compass alone, you have to adjust fires prior to the fire for effect. They train to be proficient with voice and adjustments for when the equipment breaks, or you are otherwise caught without the equipment.
A late relative of mine was a Wehrmacht Forward Observer on the eastern front from the invasion of Russia until the end of WWII. He suffered from terrible PTSD even after he became demented, often telling how he had to direct fire by climbing into leafless trees with his radio.
He was a racist white, who cares?
@@pronounshismajesty3542 No he was drafted whether he liked it or not.
@@peterbrickwood3204 still a white boy. Your kind is irrelevant now. It’s a BLACK world
@@pronounshismajesty3542 Fair enough. Fix global warming please.
@@peterbrickwood3204 wow you’re pathetic dude. German blood is super weak. I’m glad I’m of Celtic and med blood
The most underrated mos in combat arms
they're never given enough love if you ask me
and yet we are still viewed as admin pogs because nobody knows our MOS code lol
shot out shot over
@@TheOldKevin I hope you didn't have the mighty M981 FISTV. It looked kinda cool, but half the time the targeting system and laser didn't seem to work. I can remember lazing things in the impact area and it would give me back coordinates that I knew were worse than if I'd just pulled out my map. Ha
@@TheOldKevin F 3/82? 😆
thanks
Without Forward Observers you would have some Private First Class calling in Artillery right on your dome every dang time.
Task & Purpose That was only that ONE time....in the Arma 3 simulator.
Depending on what unit you are in.
I'm actually planning to be a 13Foxtrot which is a forward observer.
best of luck ! great job to pick
@@haydenswanson3210 study up on them 15 subs and six element my dude!
Thanks Chris !! This is cool ! I was an FO in the Hawaii guard, Ft. Ruger, HQ Co. Diamond Head, Honolulu. Attached to Ft. Lewis, Wash. St. before it became JBLM. I now live in Hood River in the Columbia River Gorge. Garth Hardin on youtube. Keep up with the good sitreps !! Accurate intel is scarce and SOOO appreciated !! Peace n Godpeed !!
FIST is fire support team and JTACs exist for all services.
FIST are joint, they combine all branches, JTACs exist only to provide terminal guidance for Air Force assets
Democratically Challenged you are absolutely incorrect, the J in JTAC stands for Joint and all services have certified JTACs. JTACS provide terminal attack control for all forms of Air, to include Air Force, Navy and Marine and allied partners. The Army and Marine by MTOE/ TO&E have FISTs, they don’t exist in Navy ROC&POE and the Air Force provide have TACP (Tactical Air Control Parties) who bring JTAC capability but are not really really FISTs
Chris Garard Thumb is disappointed at your lack of knowledge.
Excellent!!! Do You have more??!!!
You Also forgot about JFO's... Ahh good times.
13Fox! That was my son's job. I am so proud of him.Thank you for making this video.
thanks for watching!
You’re a comical genius!
Honestly though ,most military focused informative channels on TH-cam have pretty dull presentation. Keep up the good work!
thanks I appreciate that! I'm trying to mix information and humor even if my jokes are lame sometimes it helps keep things light and moving
There's another type of FO, the FAC (forward air controller). In the Marines, they are radio operators and assigned to infantry companies and are specially trained at Little Creek, VA, to call in air strikes on enemy positions. The aircraft being sort of artillery in the sky. The Marines perfected close air support. When I was in the Marines and was an FAC team leader as one of my assignments, the team consisted of a Marine pilot, temporarily assigned to the team, a Marine NCO in charge, and two enlisted Marines. We enlisted were communications specialists and carried an AN-GRC-9 air-to-ground radio and had direct communication with the aircraft. Secondly, there was another specialist Marine team that directed Naval gunfire, ANGLICO.
My dad was 1st Anglico
Thanks, I was wondering about this, my dad was I phantom pilot, he was never a FAC but he did earn a silver cross dropping bombs so close to the freindlys. I'll never forget how he told me the story that he was so nervous dropping them because he was so close, and back in those days they were unguided
I did 13F for 10 years. If the infantry is tough, remember the FO carries that and about in addition 40 pounds of radio and Range/direction finder.
At higher ranks do FO’s get stuck at a desk and have lower rank guys go out?
@@Glockman20008 NO, they become FSOs at battalion.
Thank you assisting us artillery boys. I was in FDC
AND NO CIB...........
@@Glockman20008 Yes. They operate a desk. E6 (SSG) level is an FSNCO (a squad leader for a squad of FO's) who is planning with the FSO (2nd or 1st LT) for the infantry company...sometimes they leave the "wire" but more "desk" work. By E7 (SFC), you're in some TOC advising infantry battalion commanders with the BN FSO (CPT)...if these dudes leave the wire, something is royally f@%&ed! To be a FO on the line attached to an infantry platoon is usually an E5 (SGT) or high speed E4 (SPC sometimes sideways-ed to a CPL)...sometimes even E3's if your squad is short people (this was how I started).
Hey former FO here! thank you so much for this video! i always try and describe my old job in the Army and it doesn't really come out well. Now i am just going to link this video to everyone!
FiSTER here 🙋🏾♂️
Lol. You should look up the meaning on urbandictionary
Who would’ve thought a horror story channel would be a FO
82nd? Im attached to the 82nd Airborne!
Soon to be FiSTER here. June 14 ship out date to Fort Jackson.
@@Lobo0011 I was in the 82nd. A long time ago: 1984-1986
In 1967 I didn't understand much. Just did what I was told. You're answering some questions I had from way back then! Great stuff !!
Finally someone got it right
thanks for watching, glad you liked the video!
EXCELLENT VIDEO
My father was a captain in the British Royal Artillery during WWII. He commanded eight 25 pounder Howitzers. He spent much of his time as an FO. Either on the ground or in a single engine Stinson L-5. It helped that he had phenomenal eyesight.
In Burma.
13F here. I'm not sure who the hell told this guy what a CFF sounds like but, here's what a CFF looks like or at least how I was taught.
FO: "Thunder fires, This is OP 12, Adjust fire, over."
FDC: "OP12, This is Thunder fires, Adjust fire, out."
FO: "Grid: CH 1234 5678 Altitude: 123 Direction: 1234, over."
FDC: "Grid: CH 1234 5678 Altitude: 123 Direction: 1234, out."
FO: "One M1978-koksan, in the open, over."
FDC: "One M1978-koksan, in the open, out."
FDC: "Message to observer, Thunder, one round, quick in effect, target number AA100, over."
FO: "Message to observer, Thunder, one round, quick in effect, target number AA100, out."
Also, the methods of target location are: adjust fire, polar, grid and shift from known point. Shift from known can be from your position BUT it can also be a building 1200m north of your position and you adjust your rounds from that location. And yes, regular infantry and officers like to think they can do our job. Just ask them what their six elements for CFF or the 15 subsequent corrections are.
First i wish to say thank you for showing this film about Forward Observers. Seems like everyone forgets about him. I was a F. O. for six years, the eyes and ears for the big guns, never did like being up front alone with just a radio and a rifle, knowing the enemy was always looking to do me in. Knock out a F.O. and you knock out the big guns. The system i used to use for a Fire Mission was Iwalnut, worked for me. Being a F.O. you miss a lot of meals,sleep, and always on the move staying ahead of the Div.
My grandfather was an FO with the 1st Light Airlanding Regiment. He fought at Arnhem, or more specifically at Osterbeek, during Operation Market Garden. He swam across the Rhine to reach safety when they evacuated. He was a lovely, kind man. I still miss him.
Being precise in your wording is extremely important in the military. My buddy JO Griffin was our platoon radio man. He explained many of the protocols (not "etiquette") to me, and even though I have been out of the Corps for many years, I still use them when talking on the phone, or when writing notes or sending email to someone. I never say "oh" for "zero;" even your computer keyboard knows the difference.
My son was an 13F initially when he went into the Army 10 years ago. Very well put together video. God Bless all who wear the uniform in defense of our country and thank you all who serve.
I remember being told that in the military they did not ever say "repeat that" because that would repeat a bombardment, and if you, or other friendly units were in the area, that could be very bad. I was told that that is why they always said "say again" instead. That is one of those things that stuck with them even after they left the military.
I got out 36 years ago and I STILL say "Say again".
Got out in 78. I still say, "say again", and "repeat your last" And I wasn't a ground pounder.
The Most dangerous man on the battlefield- The guy with a radio... Hehehe
I was always taught it was an officer with a map and (gasp) a compass.
@@willdsm08 Most dangerous to his own unit, you mean :) Seriously, a friend of mine was a medic in the Australian Army for a number of years and once they got a call-out on a training exercise - at 7:13 he mentions the polar method of giving the FO's own position and then giving bearing and range from it as the coordinates for the artillery fire? Well, one platoon LT had given his unit's position as the target coordinates. Then, to add to the fun, when the LT got the acknowledgement from the artillery that the outgoing mail was on its way he called on them to halt fire - and used 'Repeat!' rather than 'Say again!' See 4:48 for why this is bad news. Luckily the platoon sergeant figured out what the LT had done and the artillery was far enough away that there was enough time for most of them to get most of the way clear of the blast zone. Even so, my friend and his fellow medics were pretty busy that day. :(
@@scrapper3494 ofc a Lt would do that
That was one of my jobs in the Marines. Loved that bring the noise guy .
@@scrapper3494 So.. I shouldn't shoot FO. Choices, choices.
Hey Soldier I'm an old retired Artillery Colonel...and that was an awesome video the best I have seen on Forward Observers! God Bless you and Go Bold!
9 yrs of service as a 13F. i never, not once, said, "repeat."
Hi, do think Being a 13f is a cool job ? How it was ?
Im french and im hesitating between artillery and infantry
I have.
*Maniacle laughter intensifies*
@@vavalazones i switched from one to the other i liked the idea of kicking in doors better in the end but nothing stopping you trying 1 and transferring later
@@mawdeeps7691 i will not ne able to switch because i will enlist as an officer. Do you have some action as a 13f ?
And how is a journey in the artillery ? Have some action ?
@@vavalazonesi was british army works slightly diffrently to US as mfc's mortar fire controllers operate at platoon level and FST/FOO operate a company level as such our FOO was watching live ISTAAR feeds and calling in air and arty on to targets as such he was located in the company OPS room and didnt go on any patrols. My stint as FOO was only on exercise and usually again located with a company HQ element and as such always a tactical bound or 2 to the rear.
Love you dude. We are experts of indirect fire. Artillery, F16 drops, or otherwise. If a 13F can see you, either kill them or you are dead. 13Es are our support experts, we are a team. But anything associated with artillery,: simply:.. good night.
FOs are forward. Some of us are very forward. Occasionally behind the target...
There is a reason they say the life expectancy of an FO is seven seconds.
If you meet an old school FO, you are looking at luck personified, or someone you really, really want on your side.
I've seen fisters work and everything, from an 11B perspective, but I never fully understood their role. Thanks for this video.
same here I always saw our FO doing work but never understood it till I researched the job and its history. thanks for watching!
@@billymurray1334 We call you a Grunt also and Doc because you are the only other MOS that does everything with us.
This was a fascinating video for me. In the early 70's I joined the Ottawa base 30th Artillery Regement which was a reserve unit. Our primary function was to perform ceremonial salutes for dignitaries visiting Ottawa. We did a lot of those so we got very good at our gun drills. After learning to be a gunner I also learned to be a communicator (radio operator) and then an artillery technician. I hated high school so I spent every spare moment at the armoury doing any work that needed to be done. Eventually I ended up teaching classes for communicators and for Arty Techs. It just happened, honest. One other function I had was teaching new officers how to do "fire planning". In those days we called theses officers Forward Observation Officers (FOOs). We had not fancy tech to help us. It was all maps and firing tables. YUK!!!
May last exercise at Petewawa was a full brigade exercise. This was a mobile infantry exercise so we had to work at the front lines preparing fire plans to hold off an attack by a beer peer adversary. During this excercise we got a visit from a German general who wanted to see how a Canadian brigade would perform in a combine operation. At some point the Regimental Commander walked over to me an asked if I would be able to directed a fire mission if my FOO was injured and could not perform his function. My answer (Forgive me but I was very young) I told him "Sure I can run a fire mission. I taught him how to do it"! So I proceeded to call a fire mission by the numbers and totally old school! I did the calcs, called in the mission, adjusted the fire and then ended it with "Three Rounds Fire for Effect". That resulted in two full batteries each with three 105s lobbing three round each on an intersection on the battlefield. It took ten minutes start to finish. The German General was impressed. At the end of the exercise the RSM asked me if I wanted to join the regiment. Not in a month, not in a day but right then and now. I refused because I had spent the entire exercice in the company of captain Bryce of the 2 RCHA talking about military history and education. When I explained that I plannned to go off to college in the fall to study exploration technology he ecouraged me to go to colllege first before joining the regiment because the skills I would learning would be very applicable in the military ( not just the artillery. After the exercise Captain Bryce was getting a promotion to Major and heading off to an assignment at Canada's National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. He asked me to look him up after I graduated to join but I never did. I had too much fun running around the Canadian wilderness working geological exploration projects in Labrador, Quebec, Ontario and the North West Territories. Living in tents eating canned food and chasing of bears who wanted my supper.
Geez! I should have just joined the artillery...Bahahaha!!!
As a 13 foxtrot from the 80s. Appreciate the video
Thank you so much in putting this video and very informative on the aspects of the positions involving the FO’s. I was looking for one to show family one of the many
jobs/positions I had the pleasure in doing. “Make It Rain” was our tag in 5/11 Comm connected with the 5/11 Artillery in Camp Pendleton.
Oorah! Semper FI Brother!
I loved working with a TACP on my special equipped M113 in the German Army. Did a lot of jobs back then as an NCO. We had to be extremely stress proof and learn a lot of stuff with a lot of different radio types and technics to get the target coordinates, weather on ground etc.
I was a FO in the marines, trained at Ft Sill, Vietnam Era, enjoyed your Video, would have loved to have the toys you have today back then. still a awesome job
My roommate in Iraq was a FO and I was an Intel Analyst, it was fun how fast we demolished the landnav course at the mob site. We actually ran a second set of points and still got back before some of the other teams.
if he was an FO worth his salt he already had all the points and their grids written in the back of his notebook from all the previous runs of the course.
A couple years late but... As a former 13F, thanks for the shout out. It was a nice history lesson too that they should bring to Fort Sill. It's also noteworthy that they're not just calling in artillery strikes (dumb & laser guided), but we're at least basically trained in providing smoke cover, calling air strikes, naval gunfire, and guiding in Hellfire missiles off of Apaches. Not that we get to do any of that "fun" stuff often, it's there. I do have to admit that some of the best training deployments I did with with your 11Ms running mortars. Laid back, quick to fire, and I never felt like they might hit us. Usually because we'd be sitting right next to them. haha Keep up the great work.
Because if we had back observers, they'd be called a pervert.
We had them too lol
As a FISTer, I wanna say a cheesy, heartfelt thank you. There aren’t enough videos about us, and this is pretty damn good! Keep on keeping on, Brother.
Back in the day, I was an 11C, and our ability to send mortar rounds downrange hinged on the abilities of forward observers or scouts. I received minimal training as an 11c, and later as a 19d, in the rudiments of calling for fire.. I seem to remember 25, 27 years ago, we focused on Polar call for fire, though we had some training with grid and shift methods as well.
While our range of fire wasn't nearly as great as that of artillery, this video did provide me with more than a few nostalgic moments. I'm curious as to how those call for fire missions transpire now, with better FDC computers and GPS capabilities (GPS was just starting to gain traction amongst us ground pounders when I was prepping to ETS).
Thanks for the informative video!
Scout out! Have our own fire support from 11C on the mortars tracks,then have a squadron how battery standby! Great!!🔥😂
I have been out of the Army for 27 years and to this day I still say, "Say again?". No repeats... I do say, "Roger Out" a lot, and my favorite, "Roger that". EVERY once in a while I'll tell someone that I'm only going to be about 5 or 10 mikes late or that I'll be there in about 5 or 10 mikes. It never leaves you.
Just enlisted as a 13F last week
Where u going for basic?
Josiah De La Torre Fort Jackson, June 8th
Everyone always gives crummy advise to new booties. Real advise, basic is a game and it's the easiest part of your time in the military. Listen well in AIT. No matter what level, you'll always need to know the basics of this job. Volunteer for Rangers in AIT if a recruiter comes. At the minimum, you can go to airborne school and drop out if you dont actually want to become a ranger. You'll get more out of the army and more likely to do cool shit or be stationed overseas. Dont rank chase in this MOS. It's a combat gig. Being put in charge of lives because you can memorize lines is irresponsible and you'll never be taken seriously, despite your actual potential to lead. And most important, always have the best hair. Fisters and FOs always get in trouble because they're jealous of our superior hair. It probably has nothing to do with hair being out of regulation but that's not what's important.
Jesse Christensen thanks for the advice. Were you a FO? If so how’d u like the MOS and do u actually get to use what you’ve been trained to do on a deployment
@@jacetwardowski264 My advice to you is to save ALL your paperwork, ESPECIALLY if you get injured - especially in basic and AIT (they destroy all your records after you graduate). Trying to get supporting documentation after you're out of the military is extremely difficult and it's the main reason why veterans get denied coverage from the VA.
Nice vid... brought back memories... After winning the battalion Land-Nav compotation when with NMCB-21, I was appointed as the Battalion FO... I was USMC field and weapons trained at Camp Lejeune and had my classroom training at Camp Geiger. (Semper Fi)... it was some of the best training I ever received and thoroughly enjoyed all of it... We did not make decisions on "strikes" we just relayed the information discovered , and some zero would decide what to do...
When I was in mortars in the Marine Corps, we didn't have FOs for the 60mm mortar section in the rifle company, but the 81mm mortar platoon in the battalion's H&S company (they hadn't created Weapons Company yet) attached an FO to the company command element of each rifle company - we also had an independent FO, a job I had at one time. It was a one-man job - I carried my own radio and rifle; no team involved. I had to know how to call in artillery and air, and I was even expected to be able to adjust naval gunfire.
Being an FO is a mind game. You're trying to find a place to set up where you can see the area you need to see, but that isn't where the enemy would look around, expect you to be hiding, and drop a lot of their own mortars and artillery on that spot to kill you. They, in turn, are trying to hide from you, as well as looking around and asking themselves, "If I were the enemy FO, where would I be?" and blowing up whatever place they think is the answer.
I guess you can stay well hidden even while you rain fire on enemy heads. But you can see them, at least when they fire. Do they send snipers to find you?
One of the best videos I’ve seen on FO, keep up the great work.
I would never use a 6 digit grid for a fire mission. That’s an infantry or cav thing. A real fister gives an 8 digit grid to get round closer on target and less room for error
My son is an FO. SO PROUD! KEEP FORWARD!
"everyones heard of the R-deans offensive." you've never heard of the Ardennes (pronounced Are-den) lol.
ya got me, thanks for the check : X
Nah man, he's talking about R-Deen's offensive rap music.
Yeah, I heard that too, thinking who is R-Deans? Some rap star maybe?
Current platoon FO/JFO. This makes me happy.
When I was in Recon in The Corps (2nd Battalion at LeJeune...our barracks were beachfront)...we did lots of training in the hills around Lejeune and on occasion we would run into the Combat Forward Air Observers school training Marines. I was always impressed with their training tempo and the quality of their Marines...they were very good troops and their training regimen pretty much mirrored ours, without the direct action mission elements.
watching this in 2022 - after binging about 20 of your vids. Your presentation skills have definitely improved. Love the channel.
FO is the artist of battlefield. They can make masterpiece of fire anywhere, anytime. Greeting from s.korea army FO :>
the director for the actors of he artillery.
That was my job & MOS, 13F! Loved it!! Nothing better than watching “steel on steel!”
Actually the 3rd method (polar) was how we received most firing missions when I was a 13E (Fire Direction Center). It was my job to make sure we took what the FO saw and make it into what the guns would "see." We dropped warheads on foreheads very accurately with that method. Now it's all GPS based and the 13E's are phased out. Hearing that ol' firing mission language got me all tingly in my nether regions though.
interesting , the sources I read said they like to avoid that. thanks for the insight
fdc is still a thing, atleast in heavy units. all we get/need is quadrant and deflection and the gun does its own thing now. but we're still taught how to do everything manually just in case.
-13banger
@@travis8044 Yeah. back to basics manual is good. GPS can fail, satellites be shot, radios and GPS signal jammed, Laser run out of batteries (also shining a targeting laser around is an invite sign of "HELLO ENEMY; SOMETHING IMPORTANT HERE; SHOOT AT THIS DIRECTION; BEFORE WHATEVER WEAPON THAT RANGE WAS DONE FOR HAS TIME TO SHOOT", since Range Finder means heavy weapon asset (vehicle mounted weapon or heavy weapon with fancy targeting on ground tripod) or observing element (and observing elements don't shoot lasers for fun, so rounds incoming, shoot the observers, before they can observe the initial rounds and send corrections). Any Laser warning receiver picks that laser beam shining and all the big guns in the area will follow that beam line back to the laser and it's user.
A optical coincidence range finder, map, quadrant and fire correction circle never run out of batteries and as long as striker hits the primer, guns will go bang. If need be have message runner deliver those orders by hand. Basic map of the area, flat sheet of millimeter paper, couple rulers, pen, compass, 50 meter steel cable length and an FO team can locate itself in the most adverse conditions in total electrical black out and give them said coincidence range finder (working fine since WWI and WWII) and they can rain steel on any point they observe. Whole point is to know, where one is, so one can know where the target is.
Always assume and prepare for worst, then be extremely glad, that the real situation turns out better. The first thing any serious military enemy will do is to deploy their Electronical Warfare assets to jam the hell out of radios and any other radio frequency based assets.
That's all they taught when I took FDC school at Ft. Sill in 1969.
@@Taskandpurpose polar is the easiest way to do CFF since they should already have your friendly positions, the FIST HQ and FDC is battle tracking friendly positions to prevent other FOs from CFF on friendlies so all you're doing is popping out your compass, getting a direction and estimating a distance. no map, no protractor, nada. just hey you this is me, (laser) polar AF/FFE, direction and distance, tgt description. don't even need to give an altitude, the FDO in the fdc will extract one for you based off the map spot. Its basically like shift from known point except that known point is you. There's no reason why polar is "unsafe".
I was a FO for years, it was the best job!
Being a good FO is as much an art as training. You have to get the feel for the fall of shot and adjust accordingly. Well, that was before GPS and laser rangefinders. If you "felt" where the ranging shot landed you could short-cut the procedure and save one or two ranging shots. Which made the Colonel always really nervous but also happy when it worked. I got quite a reputation for being "lucky" so much that at the annual battalion evaluation tests, I got temporarily assigned to the battery being tested, so they all could profit from my luck.
Old grunt here! We LOVED our FOs!
6:46
Says "Marine"
Shows Canadian Army
Like I know MARPAT is knockoff CADPAT, but come on...
Matthew Connelly Actually MARPAT was designed first...
@@north7764 LMAO no it wasn't.
"Its design and concept are based on the Canadian CADPAT pattern."
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARPAT
The U.S. military was absolutely experimenting with digital camouflage before the Canadian military, but when it came to finalizing designs the Marines just did a slight palette-swap of CADPAT and called it a day. Hell, development of MARPAT started in 2000, which is well after Canada's involvement in the Clothe the Soldier project in the mid-90s.
TL;DR: you have no idea what you're talking about, kid.
@@Kindhamster Dust off this is Medic 1 need a medevac
Matthew Connelly That’s not technically true. The MARPAT by all means an original design , yes it is influenced by the CADPAT (all they had was one piece that they requested from the Canadian Army) but all of the color and pattern was original design. Source is on militarymorons if you wanna check that out, pretty cool story of one of the designers!
@Dominick Smith okay here's a page from the company that made CADPAT: www.hyperstealth.com/CADPAT-MARPAT.htm
I received my enlistment date to begin training as an Artillery/Forward Observer in the Australian Army. Wish me the best of luck and I needed to hear this, I'm even more hyped now to begin training.
If you aren't a degenerate, you will be soon. Loved working with the Aussie FOs, dudes were awesome. You're going to have a blast.
@@orion8981 I JOINED US MARINES FEW DAYS AFTER I TURNED 17. LEARNED TO CUSS AND DRINK AND SWAGGER GO FOR IT.
Here is how they operate in garrison:
In the Infantry Battalion HQ: Where are the FOs? Oh, they told me they had critical artillery training over at the artillery HQ.
In the Artillery Battalion HQ: Where the hell are all the FOs?? I heard they had a roadmarch with the grunts.
Real answer? Only those in the know can say, but rumor has it they went home for a nap after pt but should show up for lunch.
Sincerely, a career Infantry officer
FISTER lunch means we went home for the day lol
The E-4 mafia knows all.........
We weren't policing butts. That's for sure.
Fuck they're onto us.
What a great job, Cappy! Thanks for the content. Always glad to see new vids
I took my first step to becoming a Royal Marines Commando today! My goal is to specialise in long range reconnaissance, artic warfare and mountain climbing with Brigade Reconnaissance Troop
Good luck!
Man, you are really good at what U`r doing. Respect to your Team.
No, a cff does not sound like that... not even close...
lol
Yeah, it's been 20+ years since I was an FSO and it still hurt my ears! ;)
The most easily understood explanation I've heard.
thanks hope others found it easy to follow too !
Your cff was said like it was done by a 0311 that has never touched a radio lol
I've had the honor and the privilege of knowing a couple of FO's. They were hands down the most competent people in the room.
Iraqi FOs wore leather jackets, loafers and called in observation on a cell phone.
They were the artillery
My dad ran comm for a tracked 105 battalion. He ran wire across France. The fo radio would only go a very short range and the batteries died quickly. So he would string wire from the battalion hq to the companies. Then run up toward where the front was. Over the wire they used Morse code. Over the radio they used a code that changed. So he would talk, listen ,convert to Morse, then type it in. When he could they didn't use the radios and the fo just stood near dad's jeep. He memorized Morse so much he would talk in it with other old vets.
13F was 8 years old when I joined the army in 1981. the 6-30 was maybe 3/8" thick and held together with staples. I helped with the integration of the GVLLD and the DMD, and the testing of the Copperhead rounds in White Sands, NM. When I got out Singars raidos were just coming in about 1993, the 6-30 was about 2" thick and I helped write most of it. I wrote what became SOP for the 25th (Light) and the 10th Mtn Div for call for fire.
I was there in white sands in 1982 13F .
That's wild bro I was a FO at drum
@@chrisanthony7906 I got out of the army in 1993 at Ft Drum 2/7FA
I was an FO with the 3/319FA assigned to B and A Cos 3/503 173rd ABN Brigade 1969, Viet Nam. What fun.
In the beginning there was chaos and the chaos was the
infantry, for the infantry was alone.
And fear was with the infantry and they cried unto the
Lord saying, "Lord, save us for we are afraid."
And the Lord heard their grunts and set some of the
infantry on beasts of burden and these he called
cavalry, and the cavalry became armor.
And when the lord had seen what he had done, he laughed
saying, "Well, you can't win them all."
The infantry and the armor again cried out to the Lord
saying, "Lord, save us for we are afraid." And the Lord
heard their cries and decided to end their weepings.
And the Lord said unto them, "Lo and behold, I send you
a race of men noble in heart and spirit," and the Lord
created the Gunners.
And the Lord said unto the infantry and armor, "When
it gets dark, the Gunners shall light your way."
"And when you need smoke, there shall be smoke, and
when you need HE, WP, H & I and counter battery fire,
all this ye shall have."
And the Lord gave the Gunners big guns, and field guns,
and the infantry and armor were jealous for they had
naught.
And the infantry cried out saying, "Lord, thou hast
created the infantry as Queen of Battles, and now thou
has made the Gunners King of Battles and well knowest
thou what the King does to the Queen."
And the Lord replied, "Right On!"
And the Lord gave unto the Artillery rockets and
missiles and, best of all, nukes. And when the infantry
and armor saw this they fell to their knees in wonder
saying, "Surely God is on the side of the greatest
-The Gunners."
And the Lord sayeth, "You got that right."
Now abideth infantry, armor and Artillery but the
greatest of these is Artillery.
And then the lord God said "I shall give you one of my own, my angels, to walk with you." And lo he sent them the angel of death to walk amongst the Infantry and Armor. They saw this and stood in awe. For this was the FO. Walking in both worlds, but belonging soley to none.
- Author Unknown
The redlegs and the doc. Every platoon's best friends.
Observed Fire was one of my courses of study as a new 2LT in FAOBC at Ft. Sill, OK. Class 1-71. We were given an M1 lensatic compass, a pair of binoculars, a map, and a PRC-10 radio. The goal was to "bracket" the target, then "fire for effect". Depending on the nature of the target, the result was often spectacular.
Army and Marine Corps Forward Observers, as well as Air Force TACP and Special Tactics CCT, are a vital asset to bring on the thunder and lightning in the form of Artillery, Air and Naval Gunfire, for Troops Downrange in Action and Active Combat Operations. DANGER CLOSE SUPERINTENSIFIED!!🇺🇸🦅🗽🗡️⚔️🔫💣💥🔥☠️💀
My dad was 1st Anglico
My dad wanted to be a Marine pilot and ended up in radio school and was a forward radio operator for an 81 mm mortar platoon in the 28tg rgt, 5th Marines on Iwo Jima. He said he started covering his whip antenna with his jacket because he was getting fire before he crested a rise. I’m sure it saved his life. I’m sure he would be amazed at the technology now available.
I was infantry for 5 years, went 13F for 3. Finished that last contract with a leader who told us that FIST stands for Finest Infantry Soldier To-date and honestly I couldnt have said it better. Calling for fire is in the EIB, but damn near nobody knows what the hell they're doing till they have to train up for EIB lmao and you better be able to keep up with your 11B brothers.
All in all, I loved both professions, but watching an immediate suppression you called in makes you feel pretty badass lmao moreso than shooting a .50 cal or TOW missile and thats saying something lol
was FiST/JFO 2003-2006, fun times
FIST stands for Fire Support Team, because the FO is supposed to have an RTO.......but we know that never happens lol.
@@billymurray1334
Brother you ain't lying lol. We were so undermanned I became a platoon FO as an E1 when I first got to my unit lol.
I was an FO as an E-3 because there weren't enough of us. Promotion points to E-5 were 350. I spent six months as an E-4 so I went from E-1 to E-5 in 26 months.
@@tysonl79 Pramoting in that manor in the marine corps is unheard of. We had E5 AS PLATOON COMMANDER E-4 SQUAD LEADERS, EVERY OTHER POSITION E-3 DOWN FOR 6 MONTHS . RAN LIKE A CLOCK. YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO WITH WHAT YOU GOT.
As a former FO and FSC I thoroughly enjoyed the video.