2022
The Manual Nobody Asked For
Fire-support doctrine is scattered across hundreds of pages of dense, reference-style text. Victor Kiani rewrote it into something a Marine would actually sit down with: structured around the decisions you make, in sequence. No one asked him to.
The scenario
His MOS was Mortarman (0341); his billet was Forward Observer at Weapons Company, 2d Battalion, 25th Marines: the Marine on the ground who locates targets and calls for fire from supporting arms. He had just completed the Basic Forward Observation Course (MCI) and the Joint Fires course (JKO). The procedures were fresh; the source materials were not.
A Marine will read 20 pages. They won't read 400.
Drawing primarily on the Basic Forward Observation Procedures MCI, he wrote a condensed reference: something peers could teach from, and something he could use to keep the material sharp.
Restructure around the decision, not the subject
Most doctrine is organized by topic: one chapter per asset, one per procedure. He reorganized it around the decision a Marine has to make, in sequence:
- 01Which asset fits this target? Compare trajectory, rate of fire, range, and effect across the four main indirect-fire systems.
- 02Who do you call to get it? Understand the fire-support team (Forward Observer, Fire Direction Center, Fire Support Coordinator) and the order they sequence in.
- 03How do you describe the target? Choose a direction method based on your position and mobility.
- 04What effect do you want? Pick between destruction, neutralization, and suppression.
Four systems, one decision
Mortars
Light artillery
- Trajectory
- High
- Rate
- Up to 20 rpm
- Range
- Short: near the forward line
- Best for
- Entrenched / reverse-slope targets
Howitzers
M777 · 155mm
- Trajectory
- Medium (high or flat)
- Rate
- 2–3 rpm · massed fires
- Range
- Medium
- Best for
- Armor, hardened structures, GPS-precision
Naval gunfire
5-inch / 54 cal
- Trajectory
- Flat, high velocity
- Rate
- Up to 20 rpm · 600 rds/gun
- Range
- Long · ship-dependent
- Best for
- Vertical-face material targets
HIMARS
M142 rocket system
- Trajectory
- Medium to low
- Rate
- 1–6 rockets / pod
- Range
- 2–300 km by munition
- Best for
- Precision · troop concentrations · bunkers
Three ways to define success
- Destruction: target destroyed, or 30%+ casualties
- High cost · rarely fired
- Neutralization: effectiveness disrupted, ~10%+ casualties
- Low cost · most common
- Suppression: element temporarily stops functioning
- Low cost · no lasting effect
Call for fire: five transmissions
- 01Position report (FO → FDC)"FDC // FO, Standby POSREP, OVER."
- 02Warning order (FO → FDC)"FDC // FO, Standby Call for Fire / Adjust Fire, OVER."
- 03Fire mission (FO → FDC)"FDC // FO, Adjust Fire Polar, Direction 3644, Distance 880m, OVER."
- 04Target & shell/fuze (FO → FDC)"TARGET description + Shell/Fuze, OVER." A request; the FSO has the final call.
- 05MTO readback (FDC → FO)Read back the Message to Observer verbatim: firing unit, rounds in adjust, rounds in effect, target number.
Four ways to point at a target
- OT Line (observer → target): stationary ground observer with line-of-sight. Most common.
- GT Line (gun → target): aerial observer (drone or helicopter), whose orientation keeps shifting.
- Cardinal: the eight compass directions. No compass, no map; least accurate.
- ARF (Arbitrary Reference Feature): used when transmitting an OT line would compromise your position.
Knowledge management, with the stakes made literal
Strip away the jargon and this was a content problem: dense reference material, restructured into something a reader would actually open.
- Field manuals that cover everything and teach nothing
- Internal wikis that onboard no one
- Formal training that fades after the course
- Onboarding that fades by week three
- Tacit NCO knowledge about which asset to call
- Tribal knowledge about which runbook to reach for
- A condensed reference a Marine would sit down with
- A one-pager a new hire would actually open
The work is the same. The stakes are just quieter.
Why it matters
- Rank doesn't gate clarity. The people closest to how a document gets used are the ones best positioned to improve it, in any organization.
- Structure follows decisions, not topics. Reorganizing dense material around the choices a reader actually has to make is what turns a reference no one opens into one they use.
- Writing for voluntary readers is a skill. Length and hierarchy matter more than coverage. It transfers to any internal document you want opened rather than ignored.