Fire and Movement
Encyclopedia
Fire and movement or fire and manoeuvre is a military tactic
Military tactics
Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...

 that uses suppressive fire
Suppressive fire
In military science, suppressive fire is a fire that degrades the performance of a target below the level needed to fulfill its mission. Suppression is usually only effective for the duration of the fire. Suppressive fire is not always a direct form of fire towards targets; it can be an effective...

, or threat thereof, to decrease the enemy's ability to return fire, organization and unit cohesion
Unit cohesion
Unit cohesion is a military concept, defined by one former United States Chief of staff in the early 1980s as "the bonding together of soldiers in such a way as to sustain their will and commitment to each other, the unit, and mission accomplishment, despite combat or mission stress"...

, and morale
Morale
Morale, also known as esprit de corps when discussing the morale of a group, is an intangible term used to describe the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal, or even in oneself and others...

. The tactic is used by small unit commanders on the modern battlefield. The "movement" part of the action consists of a separate organizational unit moving forward in greater safety afforded by the suppressive fire laid down on the enemy.
The tactic is often assigned to the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...

 and King
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...

 Gustavus Adolfus as he probably was the first to use the tactic in wartime. This he did in the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

 against his Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 opponents.

Overview

Fire and movement can be performed by units of whatever size appropriate: by as few as two soldiers up to companies or larger. It works when a military unit suppresses
Suppressive fire
In military science, suppressive fire is a fire that degrades the performance of a target below the level needed to fulfill its mission. Suppression is usually only effective for the duration of the fire. Suppressive fire is not always a direct form of fire towards targets; it can be an effective...

 the enemy with an appropriate level of fire, while at the same time, another military unit advances. After a short time, the advancing unit will halt and begin suppressing, allowing the previously suppressing unit to advance to a new position and begin the cycle again. Enemy suppression can also be achieved with direct and/or indirect fire from combat support units. Artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

, mortars
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....

 and armor are a few examples of combat support units often used in fire and movement.

In the United States Military, a basic fire and movement tactic is called overwatch
Overwatch
In modern warfare, overwatch is the state of one small unit or military vehicle supporting another unit, while they are executing fire and movement tactics. An overwatching, or supporting unit has taken a position where it can observe the terrain ahead, especially likely enemy positions. This...

. There also exists several variations of overwatch, generally adding further description to more accurately describe the specific maneuver.

A unit fires upon an enemy to distract or suppress them allowing another unit to assault, flank or encircle the enemy. The enemy will be pinned down and can not react, and will be forced to take cover until the flanking unit engages them.

Suppression

Heavy and continuous suppression fire keeps an opponent suppressed and therefore limits the overall firepower of a unit (if a platoon has 30 soldiers, but only 15 are shooting back because the other 15 are being suppressed, that unit's firepower has been reduced by 50%). The fire cuts down on an enemy's intelligence in that they are not able to assess the situation clearly.

Advance

While a base of fire
Base of fire
A base of fire is a military term for a supporting force that provides overwatch and covering fire to other advancing units while they are executing fire and movement tactics. A base of fire can be a platoon during company fire and movement, by individual armoured fighting vehicles A base of fire...

 is set up, the second unit will advance to cover in front, in the process setting up a new base of fire at this point. After a new base of fire has been set up, the first unit will advance, under cover of the new fire base, to a new position and set up another base of fire.

Assault

These actions are repeated until the units have closed upon the enemy position. At this point a unit will close in on the enemy and destroy them, often by throwing grenades, close-quarters battle techniques, and hand-to-hand combat.
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