FM 17-98 SCOUT PLATOON

Figure 8-27. Bracketing
Bracketing is a safe technique in that it is sure to bring fire on the target. Time is important, especially when targets
are moving or may move to seek cover when they find fire coming their way. Accurate initial location information
speeds adjustment and makes the requested fire more effective. To shorten adjustment time, the observer should try to
bracket the target quickly (in the first two or three adjusting rounds), then try to adjust on the target with as few
subsequent rounds as possible.
Hasty bracketing. Experience has shown that effectiveness on the target decreases as the number of rounds used in
adjustment increases. An alternative to successive bracketing is hasty bracketing. While successive bracketing
mathematically ensures that the fire-for-effect rounds will strike within 50 meters of the adjusting point, it is a slow
and unresponsive technique. Therefore, if the nature of the target dictates that effective fires are needed faster than
successive bracketing can provide them, hasty bracketing should be used.
The success of hasty bracketing depends on a thorough terrain analysis that gives the observer an accurate initial target