Fire support base

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A fire support base of the Third Marine Division in Vietnam in 1968. The cannons are 105mm howitzers .

A fire support base ( English base Fire support, FSB ) is a temporary military camp , from which with artillery  indirect fire support to reach operating infantry is granted, which is located beyond the reach of their own base camp. A fire support base can vary in structure, shape and construction depending on the terrain.

The  concept developed and intensively implemented during the Vietnam War (1955–1975) was further developed in subsequent military operations such as in Afghanistan.

Construction during the Vietnam War

Crook Fire Support Base, Vietnam, 1969
FSB Danger, headquarters of the 4 / 39th Infantry of the 9th US Infantry Division , Dinh Tuong, Vietnam, 1969
FSB, 23rd Artillery Group, Vietnam , 1971

A fire support base was originally just a temporary fire base for artillery, although many evolved into longer-term camps. The main components varied depending on their size: a typical FSB normally comprised a battery of six field howitzers  with either a caliber of 105 millimeters ( M101 ) or 155 mm ( M114 ), a train of pioneers who permanently take care of maintenance and repairs, at least two helipads , a command post ( Tactical Operations Center (TOC)), a field hospital manned with field medic, a communications bunker and a company of infantry to protect the garrison. Large FSBs can include two artillery batteries and one infantry battalion .

arrangement

In accordance with the original concept of an artillery fire support base, a six-gun battery is placed around a centrally located howitzer that fires battlefield lights during night attacks and acts as the base's main registration gun . The other five howitzers are arranged in a pentagon shape. Smaller FSBs with only two to four howitzers of different caliber (usually 105 mm and 155 mm at battalion level ) deviate significantly from this arrangement and are distributed in fortified firing positions. Smaller bases with only four or three guns arranged these guns square or triangular where possible.

defense

A fortified fire support base was vulnerable to steep fire and enemies who could attack in large numbers from all sides. The artillery units had neither the crews nor the equipment and qualifications to defend their position, so infantry combat troops protected the position. In order to keep the outer line of defense as short as possible, the infantry units built their defensive positions of trenches and bunkers as close as possible around the guns, the desired shape being a circle, which was, however, subject to the restrictions of the area. In vorderster series were barbed wire pulled and with anti-personnel mines of the type M18 Claymore secured and alarm lighting bodies.

In defense in addition to the defenses and regular reconnaissance and combat patrols were in the vicinity of the spying of enemy forces or to turn off by snipers and mortar and anti-aircraft threatening the air supply mobile.

Authority

The commander of an FSB was either an artillery or infantry officer, depending on the higher rank . Both branches of service decided by mutual agreement on the exact location of the FSB. In order to achieve a free field of fire, 360 degree coverage and a greater range, FSBs were mostly strategically located on hills that were near airfields or fortified structures and were easier to defend. Tube artillery is the only fire support that can react immediately, is continuously available (because it is independent of daylight and weather) and is reliable.

American forces set up one of the first fire support bases in October 1965: the 1st Cavalry Division  fixed the FSB Bill immediately after arriving in South Vietnam . Based on the original concept developed by this division, fire support bases should change position every two days in order to minimize the need for safety precautions and semi-permanent facilities. Over time, however, this concept developed in favor of small, longer-term fortresses with all the necessary defensive measures. Firebase Bastogne was an American fire base established in 1968 by the 101st Airborne Division . Firebase Mary Ann was built by elements of the 23rd Infantry Division "Americal" and was typical of a smaller FSB.

Afghanistan

In Afghanistan  , fire support bases were established when the  fighting  began in 2001 by the US-led coalition forces . These bases provided fire support to allied infantry forces in their search for Taliban fighters primarily along the Pakistani border .

  • Kunar Province : Firebase Phoenix
  • Province Helmand : Fire Base Fiddler's Green
  • Province Nangarhar : Forward Operating Base Torkham (abandoned), Fire Base Thomas
  • Firebase Tinsley next to Char Chiehna, formerly FOB Cobra.

Syria

Offensives in the deir-ezzor campaign in north-eastern Syria

As part of the campaign in the Deir ez-Zor governorate (English Deir ez-Zor campaign ) in Syria, fire support in the context of Operation Inherent Resolve partially switched from air strikes to mobile artillery. Most of the fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were pushed back to the eastern side of the central Euphrates River in 2018. To prevent them from retreating eastward towards Iraq, a number of fire support bases were set up on Iraqi territory and fired at movements in their direction. With attacks from the north, the ISIL front was then pushed south between the river and the Iraqi border until the final skirmish in the battle of Baghuz .

Positions known from reports:

  • Base Bell, south of the Jabal Sinjar ridge, with 150 soldiers and 155m M777 Alpha 1.
  • Base Um Joras was in operation for 34 days.
  • Saham base, fired at the Battle of Baghuz for months

literature

  • JD Coleman: Pleiku: The Dawn of Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam. New York . St Martin's Press, 1988, ISBN 978-0-312-01807-8 , pp. 315 (English).
  • Keith William Nolan: Sappers in the Wire: The life and death of Firebase Mary Ann . Texas A&M University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-89096-657-5 (English).
  • Shelby L. Stanton: Anatomy of a Division: 1st Cav in Vietnam . Presidio Press, Novato, CA 1987, ISBN 978-0-7394-0372-3 , pp. 268 (English).

Web links

Commons : Fire Support Bases  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Major General David Ewing Ott: Vietnam Studies • Field Artillery, 1954-1973 • Chapter 3: In Order to Win. (PDF; 25 MB) In: United States Army Center of Military History . 1975, accessed September 5, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Coleman, pp. 113-114.
  3. ↑ Nolan, pp. 136-137. Nolan describes the floor plan of the FSB Mary Ann.
  4. ↑ Ott, p. 59.
  5. ^ Shelby Stanton: Anatomy of a Division • The 1st Cav in Vietnam . Presidio Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-7394-0372-3 , pp. 218 (English).
  6. ^ Coleman, p. 113.
  7. ^ John Pike: Asadabad. In: GlobalSecurity.org . Retrieved September 5, 2018 .
  8. ^ Tom Bowman: Special Forces Travel A Difficult Road In Afghanistan. In: National Public Radio . June 10, 2009, accessed September 5, 2018 .
  9. ↑ https://www.npr.org/2018/07/02/625406747/along-the-iraq-syria-border-us-troops-focus-on-defeating-isis
  10. ↑ https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-is-shelling-isis-from-a-new-fire-base-at-iraqs-syrian-border-2018-7
  11. ↑ https://dod.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1574026/coalition-iraqi-artillery-support-operation-roundup/
  12. ^ 'Intense' clashes as SDF make last push against ISIS . Retrieved February 16, 2019.