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Essay six
Time on Target
I mentioned in Essay One, "The Fire Direction Center", that the FDC was the American
addition to the art of gunnery, enabling a battalion to mass, or concentrate, the fire of all three
batteries on one target. It also made it possible to call for fire from all the other battalions within
range of the target and available by telephone. The Corps Artillery FDC sometimes fired what
was called a "Serenade." [the Corps was the next headquarters higher than the Division, and it
usually had quite a few - not a fixed number like a Division Artillery - of artillery battalions.
Their specialty was firing at enemy artillery, called "counter-battery" fire, but they often
reinforced our fire also.]
A Serenade consisted of a number of battalions - typically all within range - firing at the
same target at more or less the same time. It was supposed to be devastating to any enemy in the
target area, and I am sure it was.
A further refinement of the principle of mass fire was "Time on Target" (TOT) fire. It
was regulated so that not only did everyone fire together at the same target, but it is also timed so
that every round from every battery arrives at the target at the same second! The TOT was
assumed to be even more devastating to the enemy because there was no warning so that he
could take cover before too late. Actually, howitzer shells travel at less than the speed of sound,
so one can hear shells coming in before they arrive and burst, but not for more than a second or
two.
The TOT was made possible by use of the field artilleryman's friend, the little book of
firing tables, which includes a column that shows to the nearest second the time of flight of a
projectile fired at each possible elevation and with each possible charge.
The procedure ran more or less like this: The S-3 of the battalion originating the TOT
would call the FDC of each battalion he wanted to involve. "Upstart, get me Urban Fire
Direction ... Hello, Urban FDC? This is Upstart 3. Fire Mission! Coordinates 572-468, enemy
chow line, request battalion one volley, TOT at my command, report when ready to fire." He
turns the crank on the field phone to ring off. "Upstart, now get me Umber Fire Direction ... "
etc.
When each unit called back to report "Ready to Fire" the S-3 would say "Stand by," and
tell the switchboard operator to hook them all into a conference call. Then, when all battalions,
including his own, had reported he would stand with a telephone in one hand and a stop-watch in
the other and say into the former: "TOT in one minute from now! Fifty-five seconds ... fifty
seconds ... forty-five seconds ... forty seconds .. Charley, fire! .. thirty five seconds .. Able, fire!
Baker, fire! thirty seconds ... twenty five seconds ... twenty seconds ... fifteen seconds ... ten
seconds, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, Now! Time on Target."
Meanwhile, the S-3 of each of the other battalions involved would be listening with his
own stop watch and a list of the times of flight for each of his batteries, and would give the
command to fire to the appropriate battery when it was the right number of seconds before Time
on Target.
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