36. Meaning and importance.-a. Meaning.-Fire discipline is a state of order, coolness, efficiency, and obedience, existing among troops engaged in a fire fight. When fire discipline is good, men fight as they have been trained to fight and they obey orders promptly and carefully. Each man does his work in an accurate and effective manner. He resists and overcomes the influence of danger, excitement, and confusion and does not allow these conditions to interfere with his work.

b. Importance.-Without fire discipline, perfection in other training is of no value, for the action of troops in battle will be governed by fear and excitement and they will put little, if any, of their training into effect. Fire discipline is necessary for proper control by leaders and upon this control depend teamwork and the effectiveness of the collective fire of the unit.

37. How developed.-a. Battle is the only real test of fire discipline. In training there are two general considerations: First, the training of the individual, and second, the methods of maintaining fire discipline in battle.

b. The individual must be so thoroughly trained that correct action will become a fixed habit instinctively followed in battle. More important than this is the encouragement and development of a soldierly character of great strength. The soldier must place duty above life and go into battle with a fixed determination to play the part of a soldier and a man.

c. The training necessary to insure good fire discipline can not be given during the brief period of a course in musketry. Training in fire discipline starts with the soldier's first drill and continues throughout his military training. Any drill or exercise which develops the habit of obedience or other soldierly qualities will aid in developing the character essential to fire discipline.

d. When the test of battle comes the best fire discipline will be found in those organizations whose leaders have the confidence of their men and who have always insisted on prompt execution of orders, careful attention to the details of training, and the development of soldierly qualities.

38. Execution and transmission of orders.—a. During the fire fight all orders must be promptly obeyed and passed on. Orders and signals are repeated back to the sender. Men on the firing line receive orders from the squad leader direct or from one of the men next in line. Orders received from a man next in line are passed on to the man on the other side. When the squad leader desires an order passed on he so directs, and in this case it is passed both to the right and left.

b. Orders intended for a single man only refer to him by name; for example, Tell Jones to watch the tracers and get on the target.

c. Source of orders stated.—In the confusion of battle there is danger that one of the enemy disguised in one of our own uniforms will work his way into our lines and

give false orders, such as Cease firing or To the rear, which, if obeyed and passed on, will result in disaster. To avoid this danger, the name of the leader giving such orders will be stated as the order is passed along. If the source of the order is not stated, the authority for it is verified at once.

d. In very rare cases it may happen that a man, to conceal his own desertion in the face of the enemy, will try to start a general retreat by yelling out false orders. He may even give the supposed source of the order, as Sgt. Smith says to fall back to the woods. Falling back under fire will be very rare, and all orders to retreat will be open to suspicion. Each man must assure himself that such orders have the approval of his squad and section leaders before he obeys them. This precaution, combined with the alertness and prompt action of leaders, will prevent disaster caused by false orders. The spy or traitor who gives such false orders in combat can expect to be shot.

39. Marksmanship applied.-a. A section may be composed largely of expert riflemen, but it can not be taken for granted that the battle firing of the section will be accurate and effective. Danger, excitement, and confusion will make their firing wild and erratic unless, through fire discipline, they are able to keep cool under the most disturbing conditions and shoot as they have learned to shoot on the target range.

b. The application of marksmanship principles in musketry and in combat is intended in a common-sense way. The conditions will be different from those that exist on the target range.

c. It will often be impracticable to keep the sights blackened in combat, although it will be of advantage to do so when possible.

d. On the target range the soldier is expressly prohibited from resting his rifle against a number stake or other unauthorized rest while firing. In battle the soldier takes advantage of trees, rocks, or any other rest which will make his fire more accurate.

e. The positions used in rifle marksmanship are used in combat whenever the ground will permit, but on rough ground it is often necessary to modify them in order to get a comfortable and steady position.

f. Sling. The loop sling is preferable except

(1) In the standing position.

(2) When the situation requires readiness for immediate use of the bayonet. (3) In emergencies demanding immediate fire without time for adjustment of the loop sling.

g. In short, the principles of rifle marksmanship are followed in so far as they fit the conditions, but whenever the conditions make a modification of the principles more effective than strict and detailed compliance with them, such modification is properly made.

h. No training in adapting the principles of rifle marksmanship to various conditions is necessary. The leader will often find his men disregarding their training in marksmanship, but will seldom find them following this training too closely. It is sufficient for the leader to insist on an intelligent and practical application of the principles of rifle marksmanship, at the same time realizing that slight modification is often desirable.

40. Economy of ammunition.-a. The soldier habitually fires at the rate most effective under the existing conditions. To exceed this rate is a waste of ammunition. At times a slower rate may be prescribed by leaders to save ammunition.

b. The ammunition of men who are casualties is used to replace expended ammunition.

41. Observation of the enemy.-Observation of the enemy is necessary in order to note the effect of fire, take advantage of fleeting targets, and to save ammunition when targets disappear behind cover. Careful observation is not reserved for scouts and leaders but is the duty, of all members of the squad. New targets are called to the attention of the squad leader.

42. Use of cover.—a. The use of available cover is important for two reasons. The man who neglects the use of cover will be seen and hit. His squad not only loses the fire effect of one rifle, but its position is unnecessarily disclosed and other casualties may follow.

b. The individual use of cover and concealment is taught in scouting and patrolling. In musketry the principles are the same, except that the ability to see and fire on the target is of more importance than concealment and cover.

c. In seeking cover in a firing position men may move a few yards in any direction, but they must not be allowed to bunch together behind concealment which does not

Firing from fold of ground- Unnecessary exposure by reason of position on top of fold as
shown in Fig B

Firing from fold of ground Correct method. - Nole position of firer in rear of fold D

Plate 17.

afford protection from fire. Neither should they move out of their relative positions unless so directed by the squad leader. They avoid positions which will mask the fire of others or cause their own fire to be dangerous to other men of their unit. The use of cover by men in firing position is illustrated in Plate 17.

43. Replacement of casualties.-a. In musketry training the replacement of casualties is limited to the replacement of leaders and automatic riflemen who are caused to fall out during exercises to simulate casualties. The squad must always have a leader and the automatic rifle should be manned so long as it can be kept in action.

b. Replacement of casualties is the element of fire discipline which keeps the squad or section working as a team in spite of losses.

c. Training in replacement of casualties gives experience in the duties of the next higher grade.

44. How maintained.- -a. Fire discipline is maintained by leaders chiefly by their example of coolness and courage. Any breaches of fire discipline are checked by orders, commands, signals, or physical means, if necessary.

b. Fire discipline in the squad is maintained by the squad leader. His position in rear of the squad permits him to observe its members easily. In emergency the squad leader may call on members of the squad for assistance. Normally these members give their entire attention to the target.

c. Fire discipline in the section is maintained by the section guide. While the responsibility for fire discipline remains with the section leader, it is best that he should be free to devote his entire attention to the enemy and to the general control of the fire of his section. It is for this reason that the section guide is expressly charged with the duty of maintaining fire discipline. The section guide sees that the squad leaders properly perform their duties, and any breaches of discipline in a squad are checked preferably through the squad leader concerned.

45. Initiative. a. In an emergency, or when control by the section leader is impracticable, the squad leader acts on his own initiative in carrying out what he believes to be the desire of the section leader.

b. Similarly, if any group of individuals find themselves without a leader, it is proper for one of them to assume leadership of the group and carry out its mission or attach it to the nearest organized unit.

c. An individual separated from his squad fights on his own initiative only when he has reason to believe that his single effort will accomplish some important result. Otherwise he reports to the nearest leader at once.

46. Meaning and importance.—a. Meaning.-Fire control is the regulation of rifle fire by section and squad leaders. It enables leaders to bring the fire of the rifles and automatic rifles of their units to bear on a designated target using the proper class of fire. With fire control, leaders can cause all or a desired portion of their men to cease firing promptly or to engage a new target. Leaders can also increase or decrease the rate of fire.

b. Importance.-Fire control is essential to teamwork and the effectiveness of collective fire. Without fire control, men can not intelligently help to carry out the plan of the leader of the unit. They will not know when the leader desires them to fire, upon what he wants them to fire, or when he wants them to cease firing. Uncontrolled fire is often worse than useless. It wastes ammunition and discloses the position of troops to the enemy with no corresponding advantage.

47. Formations while firing.-a. Before entering the fire fight the section is deployed in accordance with the principles of TR 420–85 (Chapter IX). In a general way this deployed formation is retained while the section is delivering fire. The right squad remains the right squad and the left squad remains the left squad of the section. In the squad the men normally retain their original order from left to right.

Conforming to the original formation to this extent avoids confusion and makes control easier. The squad leader may direct the automatic rifleman to move to a flank of the squad or to take a better firing position.

b. The skirmish line of extended order drill may be a fairly straight and regular line, the intervals between men being approximately equal. This will seldom be the case when the section or squad is firing, because such a formation in line is easily seen and hit by the enemy and usually fails to take full advantages of available natural cover.

c. The section leader generally occupies a certain area with his section and assigns portions of that area to each squad in such manner that the squads will not be on line with each other. There is no attempt to make the intervals between squads uniform. There may at times be an interval of 50 yards between the center and left squads and no interval at all between the center and right squads. Similarly within the squad the men avoid forming a line and the intervals between men are not generally uniform.

d. The chief considerations governing the placing of squads in the section area and of individuals in the squad area are—

(1) Good field of fire to the front.

(2) Use of cover and concealment.

(3) An indefinite and inconspicuous formation which will be hard to see and hit. (4) Ability of squad and section leaders to control the fire of their units.

(5) Character and direction of fire which may be expected from the enemy. When these requirements conflict it is the duty of leaders to weigh the importance of each and make the best dispositions possible under the conditions.

e. In all exercises in fire control the positions of squads and men will be selected in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph. The habitual use of a regular skirmish line would give an incomplete idea of the problems of fire control.

48. How exercised.-a. Squad and section leaders exercise fire control by means of orders, commands, and signals. When there is a great deal of noise, it will sometimes be necessary for the squad leader to crawl over to a man firing and grasp his ankle so that he will look around and understand the order or signal.

b. The effectiveness of the section leader's control of the section will depend very largely on the alertness of the squad leaders in glancing frequently at the section leader for signals. At times when there is considerable noise and signals are to be expected the squad leaders glance at the section leader about once every 10 or 15 seconds. This takes only 2 or 3 seconds and may save the section leader from the necessity of crawling over to a squad leader or of hitting him with a pebble to attract his attention.

c. The signals most frequently used in fire control are

Signals for range.

Fire at will.

Fire faster.

Fire slower.

Suspend firing.

Cease firing.

Change target.
Are you ready?
I am ready.
Squad rush.

Fix bayonets.