![]() When an infantry lieutenant in Afghanistan looks out of his platoon’s night defensive position, at first light, lifts his binoculars and sees about 300 Taliban spread out across the side of the mountain and moving in his direction, he yells “CALL FOR FIRE”! This is about what he means and to whom he is talking. Platoon FO’s have been known to report valuable intelligence information directly to brigade headquarters. In mechanized infantry the FIST team rides in the platoon leader’s vehicle, but during an actual operation, the FIST team will probably be out of the vehicle and in a position to observe terrain and targets. In light infantry, the FIST team moves with the platoon leader. In the field a platoon FO’s boss is the platoon leader. They are assigned to the artillery, but they don’t train and travel with the Artillery, they move with the infantry. The FIST isn’t assigned to that platoon, or that company, or that battalion. In the event a unit finds itself outnumbered or surrounded, the FO is the equalizer, who can make it rain fire and steel on the enemy. ![]() The FO has at his fingertips, not only mortars and artillery, but also, helicopter gunships, Air Force tactical aircraft, and off shore Navy gun boats. Often that FO is the most important asset that Platoon Leader has, because that FO knows every big gun capable of reaching his area of operation, including how fast they can fire, what kind of rounds they have and the effects those rounds have on targets. They are that platoon’s Fire Support Team, called the FIST team. Both are MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) 13F Joint Fire Support Specialist. One is a sergeant forward observer (FO), although often a specialist is in the job, and the other is his or her radio operator. When a 40 soldier infantry platoon goes to the field, and always when it goes on an actual combat operation, there are two soldiers attached.
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