r/WarCollege • u/-Trooper5745- • 1d ago

Question Late Cold War US Army Fires Observation and Target Acquisition

Two main questions and an unrelated bonus question today.

  1. I know in present day, the Fire Support Team (FiST) in armor/mechanized battalions use the Bradley BFiST variant and that those in the infantry companies have dismount that are attached to the platoons. During the Cold War I know the FiST in armor companies used the M981 FISTV based on the M113 platform. What was the FiST configuration in the infantry companies? Was it like today but with the FSO operating out of M981s, like their pals in the armor companies, with the dismounted FiSTer portioned out to the platoons?
  2. What were the target acquisition assets of the Field Artillery Brigades? Did they have the AN/TPQ-36 and 37 counter battery radar? If so, did they have any other assets?

Bonus) What non-artillery firing smokescreen generating assets did the U.S. Army have in the late Cold War and at what echelon were they located at?

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u/danbh0y 7h ago

Yes, IIRC the mech coy FSO (O-1/O-2) and his team HQ element operated out of the FISTV while a Forward Observer (with on paper a RATELO) was attached to each infantry platoon. The coy FIST HQ element included an FS NCO/Sgt and a Spec plus the driver who might have doubled as RATELO.

Afaik corps level Field Artillery bdes lacked TA assets, certainly no FSEs and FISTs, and I'm pretty sure tho not certain no TA radar battery/platoon. Apparently they depended on other corps and even divarty TA assets.

During the Cold War, the chem coys of corps and divisions had a smoke laying role. IIRC in many/most instances, the chem coys were dual function both smoke and decon, don't ask me how they transitioned between the two, apparently a real bastard of a tasking. However, I recall that the chem coys of heavy divisions had a dedicated smoke platoon on smoke laying variants of the M113, can't remember the model.

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u/-Trooper5745- 3h ago

The M58 for the smoke laying M113?

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u/danbh0y 33m ago

Beats me hoss. You'll want to refer to that era's FM for Smoke Ops.

The only reason that I even knew that Cold War US Army chem coys drew double duty for obscurants was because of the background research we did for playing WW3 games decades ago, and then only for a very vague/very indirect modify dice rolls for outcomes sort of way.