What changes would you make to the MOS 13F given the opportunity?

1LT William Clardy mortars to pin them down and joint fires to destroy them once they are on station. It was SOP for my FIST

I've got a news flash for you, CPT(P) (Join to see): if you're not trying to destroy them with those mortars, you need to go find another line of work. And if that ground commander is not maneuvering to engage the enemy *in coordination* with those mortar fires, *he* needs to go find another line of work.

Also, if you don't think that well-aimed mortar barrages can do a number an enemy position, then you haven't seen a good mortar section in action.

1LT William Clardy I made what I feel is an innocent comment about the job... I've seen good and bad mortars. It's situation dependent. Mortars can be great and CAS can compliment them or vice versa. The bottom line is that we work in a joint environment.

Agree to disagree. Why you're looking for some kind of argument on the Internet in a beautiful Saturday afternoon is beyond me. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Actually, I wasn't looking for an argument, CPT(P) (Join to see). You just happened to hit a couple of points where I believe the Army seems to have lost part of its institutional knowledge. Not everything is inherently multi-service, especially at the foxhole level, and the purpose of fire support is to support the maneuver commander as he attacks (or defends against) enemy units.

My issue with emphasizing aerial support is that there are a lot of situations where CAS cannot be brought in close enough to be useful, and there are also a lot of situations where calling in CAS on a distant, poorly identified target is a recipe for killing noncombatants. And, even if you're operating in a region where it's CAVU flying conditions 90+ percent of the time, there are a lot of times where birds with bombs and missiles are not available -- and they will be getting scarcer in future conflicts, because there will be fewer birds.

A strong fire-support team will help a commander ensure that his organic fire support is actually positioned where it can effectively support the fight, and do so with minimal wait times. If the operating area is large, he'll help position the organic support to best support the main effort while (hopefully) not leaving the secondary efforts unsupported. In other words, most of the fire-support planning involves maximizing use of organic, not joint, assets because those are the only assets you can count on having (and having controlling).

I hope that you're enjoying your weekend, despite getting barked at by an old and ornery mortarman.