Good job articulating your concern w doctrinal mortar pits always being your highest priority of work.
Doctrine is no more than historical best practices...in previous wars/fights.
I’d say the mortar pit is still applicable when the section/platoon is expected to stay in one spot longer than expected. Guarding Forward Operating Bases, providing security to high value targets (airfields, logistics hubs).
During offensive combat while closing on an enemy, the digging of the pit would be much lower in the priority of work than seating baseplates by hand, establishing wired communications and masking the position from surveillance. Focusing on developing speed for displacement and emplacement is certainly a higher training requirement, but won’t alleviate all tasks. You’ve already identified current timelines of incoming artillery as 10 minutes, so practise getting into and out of new positions with accurate first round affects and displacement out of the firing position (beyond artillery fire and it’s ability to adjust onto you) within 8-9 minutes).
For the training environment, provide indicators to leadership on your learning priorities before they default to the one metric they are used to looking for (mortar pit). Point out your cold to hot firing position plan, allow them to see the movement from cold to hot, dismount, emplacement and time to first accurate shot on target. Demonstrate the proficiency of the FDC is getting the target sheaf correct on first shot even w non-standard layout of the section/Plt (let terrain dictate the layout for Survivability Vice a tape measure). First round affects have the highest effects before becoming suppressive only. Speed to first shot increases the likelihood of those affects.
As the Commander, you still have to teach and measure the mortar pit for your Platoon at some point in the training cycle to ensure everyone knows what right looks like. Perhaps that’s only once per 2 year cycle with higher priorities of work targeting the Survivability method of camouflage (creative use of non standard aiming stakes that blend in), displacement, emplacement, establishing comms, gaining rapid first round affects and signature management of all facets of the platoon, not just the guns themselves.
Perhaps the best answer is that of the LAV-mortar variant (enhanced). Perhaps w the change of war caused by the proliferation of drones and better satellite imagery, truck mounted mortars need to become obsolete, or at least give way to more mobile platforms that eliminate emplacement and displacement in lieu of speed into and out of their positions. The acquisitions cycle is too slow to keep up with the environmental conditions (foot mobile likely works better in urban areas, whereas vehicle mounted best in low population deserts).
The key takeaway is for Survivability, we can’t stay in place too long. That’s true until we manage to counter the new drone problem. Once we do counter this new disruptive force and regain full 3D mutual support, the mortar pit suddenly increases in value over constant movement.
Thanks for writing and kickstarting the conversation
Here's an example of using terrain creatively to hide mortars and keep the platoon alive - Ukrainian heavy mortars using hide-and-shoot tactics in Bakhmut. Hide(s) and perhaps the FDC are in underground cellars, tubes are staged at camouflaged firing points (time permitting there should be alt and dummy FPs as well) and the crews expose themselves only as long as necessary to lay the tubes and hang the rounds. By now the Russians have likely adapted to counter this tactic, but it's illustrative, not prescriptive. The situation always dictates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lpe1OgCbCY
Good job articulating your concern w doctrinal mortar pits always being your highest priority of work.
Doctrine is no more than historical best practices...in previous wars/fights.
I’d say the mortar pit is still applicable when the section/platoon is expected to stay in one spot longer than expected. Guarding Forward Operating Bases, providing security to high value targets (airfields, logistics hubs).
During offensive combat while closing on an enemy, the digging of the pit would be much lower in the priority of work than seating baseplates by hand, establishing wired communications and masking the position from surveillance. Focusing on developing speed for displacement and emplacement is certainly a higher training requirement, but won’t alleviate all tasks. You’ve already identified current timelines of incoming artillery as 10 minutes, so practise getting into and out of new positions with accurate first round affects and displacement out of the firing position (beyond artillery fire and it’s ability to adjust onto you) within 8-9 minutes).
For the training environment, provide indicators to leadership on your learning priorities before they default to the one metric they are used to looking for (mortar pit). Point out your cold to hot firing position plan, allow them to see the movement from cold to hot, dismount, emplacement and time to first accurate shot on target. Demonstrate the proficiency of the FDC is getting the target sheaf correct on first shot even w non-standard layout of the section/Plt (let terrain dictate the layout for Survivability Vice a tape measure). First round affects have the highest effects before becoming suppressive only. Speed to first shot increases the likelihood of those affects.
As the Commander, you still have to teach and measure the mortar pit for your Platoon at some point in the training cycle to ensure everyone knows what right looks like. Perhaps that’s only once per 2 year cycle with higher priorities of work targeting the Survivability method of camouflage (creative use of non standard aiming stakes that blend in), displacement, emplacement, establishing comms, gaining rapid first round affects and signature management of all facets of the platoon, not just the guns themselves.
Perhaps the best answer is that of the LAV-mortar variant (enhanced). Perhaps w the change of war caused by the proliferation of drones and better satellite imagery, truck mounted mortars need to become obsolete, or at least give way to more mobile platforms that eliminate emplacement and displacement in lieu of speed into and out of their positions. The acquisitions cycle is too slow to keep up with the environmental conditions (foot mobile likely works better in urban areas, whereas vehicle mounted best in low population deserts).
The key takeaway is for Survivability, we can’t stay in place too long. That’s true until we manage to counter the new drone problem. Once we do counter this new disruptive force and regain full 3D mutual support, the mortar pit suddenly increases in value over constant movement.
Thanks for writing and kickstarting the conversation
Semper Fidelis
Jeff
From a former BN mortar PL in the Airborne Infantry:
Fully Agree.
Luckily I had great NCOs who shaped me and good leaders who allowed us to be effective.
We had towed 120s and this is where we focused our deliberate defense efforts.
In fact we did a defense LFX where we established a fire base in a triangle formation that culminated with a FPF and displacement.
But the 81s (and 60s) were always prioritized for hip shoots and set in a wood line with minimum necessary masking and overhead clearance.
Somewhere along the way, GWOT convinced the force we need 360 degree fires from mortars, and that’s just not sound in LSCO.
Great article CPT
Here's an example of using terrain creatively to hide mortars and keep the platoon alive - Ukrainian heavy mortars using hide-and-shoot tactics in Bakhmut. Hide(s) and perhaps the FDC are in underground cellars, tubes are staged at camouflaged firing points (time permitting there should be alt and dummy FPs as well) and the crews expose themselves only as long as necessary to lay the tubes and hang the rounds. By now the Russians have likely adapted to counter this tactic, but it's illustrative, not prescriptive. The situation always dictates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lpe1OgCbCY
In defense you should consider pits, while on the offense not flexible enough.
In Beirut I had a 360 degree responsibility. 6 Guns in one direction, 2 guns opposite.