ARTILLERY INCIDENT
REPORTS
No one ever said that
Artillery Gunnery was easy,
that rounds always land where you want them, or that
problems of every nature won't occur
This is a collection of
Incident Reports circulated to
alert all artillery units of procedural or command deficiencies
Note that the IR's do not
specify the unit involved
MULTIPLE ERRORS FOUND
WRONG CHARGE; FIRING PROCEDURES LACKING
SERIOUS MISCOMMUNICATION
POLITICAL CLEARANCES
HIGH ANGLE VS. LOW ANGLE FIRING
MIXING H&I FIRES WITH FIRE MISSIONS
METRO-DEFLECTION CORRECTION, MIXED DATA TO
GUNS
Re: the attack of the 25th -
Permission was given to fire (I gave it - over some objections) and Battery A
fired two volleys some of which landed in a refugee camp. The CMR fix on
the location was a major factor in deciding to do so. There were civilian
casualties, but the incoming mortars ceased firing immediately thereafter.
Best I recall, the 175mm unit lost at least one gun, not to mortars but to RPG
or recoilless rifle fire - observed and confirmed by one of our folks on top
of the mountain. That fire also ceased with the second volley. There was
a 106mm RR up there, but I don't think it was able to depress enough to do
direct counter-fire.
Doug Johnson - then Bde LnO
DEF-CONS NOT FIRED IN; ADJUSTING FIRE IN
DARKNESS
MIXED-UP H&I TARGET NUMBERS
