1963 US Army Vietnam War Armor Operations ... - Survival Books

WWW.SURVIVALEBOOKS.COM(5) Exercises staff supervision of com- (3) Preparing battalion plans of fire supmunicationactivities of attached port.units.(4) Coordinating all supporting fires, in-(6) Works under the staff supervision of cluding certain aspects of close airthe S3, and coordinates with other support and air-delivered nuclearstaff officers as appropriate.weapons (in conjunction with S3).(7) Is located physically at the command (5) Keeping supporting artillery units inpost.formed of the battalion situation.d. The Maintenance Officer. His general dutiesare as shown in (1) through (3) below.(6) Planning and coordinating air defenseaccording to the policy established by(For specific duties, see par. 116).higher headquarters and the battalion(1) Supervises and coordinates the main- commander's directives.tenance activities of the battalion, exceptmedical and signal.72. Other Special Staff Officers(2)Commands the battalion maintenance Tables of organization do not provide sepaplatoon.rate special staff officers for such functions as(3) Works under the staff supervision of safety, claims, postal officers, etc. The comtheS4 and coordinates with other mander may appoint one of his staff or otherstaff officers staff as appropriate.officersofficers to serve in a special staff capacity inaddition to his other duties.70. Support Platoon Leadera. The support platoon leader commands the 73 Staff Intrarelationsbattalion/squadron support platoon and func- Figure 2 shows the general relationship betionsas the assistant S4 and ammunition tween the unit and special staffs. Though notofficer.indicated in the diagram, special staff officersb. The duties and functions of the support have direct access to all members of the unitplatoon leader are discussed in chapter 6. staff on matters within their primary responsibilities.During staff functioning-71. Fire Support Coordinator (FSCOORD) a. The unit staff insures that the special staffa. The brigade fire support coordinator is is informed of the plans, policies, and decisionsnormally the commander of the division artillerybattalion supporting the brigade, or hisof the commander. It obtains information, es-timates, and recommendations from the specialdesignated representative. The battalion fire staff and uses this data in preparing integratedsupport coordinator is normally an artillery reports, estimates, recommendations, and plansliaison officer from the same artillery battalion, for the commander. Staff officers, both unitb. The fire support coordinator operates and special, must keep each other informed onunder the staff supervision of the S3 and ad- matters of common interest.vises and assists the commander and his staff b. A special staff officer usually deals withon fire support planning and coordination. the commander through the appropriate unitc. When no artillery officer is available, the staff officer; however, technical considerationsbattalion commander usually designates the of a particular problem may make it desirablemortar and Davy Crockett platoon leader as for him to present information and recommendationsdirectly to the commander. Wheneverd. The fire support coordinator's duties in- a special staff officer has direct contact withclude-the commander, he should inform the appropri-(1) Advising the commander and staff on ate staff officer or officers of the informationall fire support matters. exchanged and the recommendations made(2) Preparing the fire support part of thebattalion SOP.when appropriate.AGO 9139A 35