Quote Originally Posted by jcustis View Post
Was that success due to registered targets and shift from known point missions?

What I was basing my comment off of is the difficulty on the FOs end, especially if he is not a FO with those primary duties and commensurate degree of training.
I'll use this to segue into a point I'd like to discuss - training specialists within the squad. Looking at the USMC squad composition and likely future missions, I'm considering task organizing my squads to create a squad headquarters with some specialist training, using one of the three organic fire teams. Keep in mind that these "specialists" will be cross-trained 0311s. I envision it looking something like this:

Squad Leader
Assistant Squad Leader
Radio Operator
Forward Observer
Intel Specialist

The other two fireteams would stay organized traditionally. Obviously I'm assuming some risk by concentrating these skill sets, but I don't intend to keep everyone else ignorant of radio operation, call for fire, or SSE. I do intend to have designated personnel focused on those skills, however. These specialists should ideally be mature and experienced, with a deployment under their belt, so they have a solid grounding in basic 0311 individual tasks. Most of the limiting factors that I've identified come from the practical constraints of training a company, namely a limited number of experienced infantrymen who can master these skills.

I believe the biggest benefit would be freeing the squad leader to lead his squad without worrying about the details of transmitting routine reports, conducting CFF and all of the mental calculations that go with it, or keeping track of all of the information requirements from higher. This way, he can focus on the commander's intent. Unfortunately, the fire support initiatives I have seen geared towards increasing squad capabilities have focused on training the squad leader, which I think is a bad idea. Communications, fire support, and intelligence are all becoming increasingly technical, requiring more time to achieve mastery.

I've been out of an infantry company for five years now, so I'm a little unsure of how practical this will be once my vision collides with reality. Any thoughts so far?