Assessing the Effects of Fires

Anyone who has ever done any sort of small-unit tactics training can remember “covering” a buddy while they move. This is good to learn, but there can be a bit of misunderstanding as to what actually constitutes “covering fire” or “suppression”. Just because you are putting rounds downrange does not necessarily mean that you have “covering fire,” and assessing the effects of fires is a very important skill for any rifleman, but especially team leaders.

Defining Some Terms

Before I explain how this is done, it is first necessary for me to define some terminology to avoid confusion going forward.

• Fire: The act of putting rounds or ordnance downrange in order to create a desired effect. Can be pluralized (e.g. “fires”) when referring to the actions of a unit firing several weapons at once.
• Effective fire: Fire that is accurate enough and heavy enough to have an effect on the element being fired upon (forcing them to take cover, stop/slow movement, or take casualties).
• Suppression: The result of effective fires on an element that prevents them from moving, shooting back, or otherwise doing their jobs for fear of getting hit/killed.

Okay, now that we’ve squared away the jargon, let’s discuss the effects of fires.

Effective vs. Ineffective Fire

Effects are everything on the battlefield. It matters not so much how many bullets you shoot at the enemy or of what caliber they be, so much as it matters what effect those bullets have on the enemy. Did you inflict casualties? Did you suppress their movement? Did you disrupt their plans in any way? What effects did you desire, and did you create that effect? If the answer is yes, then nothing else actually matters.

We use effectiveness to gauge the severity of incoming fire. The phrases below are some of the ways to communicate the severity of incoming fires:

• Effective fire: rounds are impacting close enough or heavy enough to have an effect on our actions (e.g. force us to take cover, inflict casualties, etc.)
• Sporadic but effective fire: the volume of incoming fire is light, but still accurate enough to have an effect (think well-aimed sniper fire)
• Sporadic and ineffective fire: rounds are occasionally impacting in our general vicinity, but are inaccurate enough that we are able to accept the risk and power through to continue mission.

Many factors play into how effective fires are, but the biggest one is training. A green, inexperienced unit will be more easily suppressed by a few potshots than a group of seasoned veterans who understand better what incoming fire actually poses a risk to them. What would be considered effective fires on the first unit may be dismissed as sporadic and ineffective by the second. This only works so far, though. No amount of training can make you bulletproof.

On the other side of the coin, the level of training of the firing unit also has a direct impact on how effective their fires are. A properly trained team with a good team leader will be able to communicate where their targets are to ensure that their rounds impact as close to the enemy as possible, which greatly improves the effectiveness of their fires. An untrained or poorly trained squad may simply call “CONTACT LEFT” and leave it at that, with everybody firing into the general “left” side with no further fire commands. See my article “Rates of Fire for the Rifleman” for more on how this is done.

Assessing the Effects of Fires

In small-unit tactics drills, one element suppresses the enemy while the other element moves, protected by the firing element. As the golden rule of fire and movement goes:

“Movement without suppression is suicide. Suppression without movement is a waste of ammunition”

Suppression isn’t just fire, it is effective fire with the desired effect of keeping the enemy’s head down enough that he is not placing effective fires on you. Before any movement is initiated, the firing element should first assess the effects of their fires before telling the maneuvering element that they are safe to move.

There are a few ways to assess the effects of your fires. First, determine if the enemy is still placing effective fires on you. If so, movement is suicide, and you need to increase your rate of fire to gain fire superiority and achieve suppression. Once the enemy fire ceases or at least becomes “sporadic and ineffective”, then you know that suppression has been achieved and the maneuver element can now move. In urban areas, you may even have visual cues where you actually see the enemy duck behind cover. If engaged at night, a reduction in the number of observed muzzle flashes may be an indicator of effective suppression.

However you do it, it is vital that you assess the effects of your suppression before initiating movement. Failing to include this step in small-unit tactical training is training to run headlong into accurate, well-aimed rifle fire. Take your time, get fire superiority, then move. There are, of course, certain exceptions to this principle, and some drills (such as reaction to a near ambush) must be executed swiftly regardless of fire superiority. These are acts of desperation, however, and should not be the default response to all contact.

The same applies when employing smoke screens, which is another type of “fires”. Assess first whether the smoke is actually doing what you need it to do before relying on it for concealment. Remember, when it comes to smoke grenades, one is never enough.

Summary

Understanding the effects of fires is important for the aspiring tactician. Assessing the effects of fires should be a part of battle drills, which is why I teach it in my classes. If you’re the firing element, it is your responsibility to assess the effects of your own fires before telling your buddy(s) in the maneuver element that they are good to move. Ensure that your team knows how to do this and train accordingly.